Having the mind of christ - conclusion

"So now what? How do these core truths become the paradigms we live from and the lenses through which we look at the world? In this conclusion, we will first explore our confusion about what it means to believe, then we'll look at a couple biblical examples of what faith looks like in real life, and finally we will lay out a practical model for taking small, concrete steps of trust that result in real transformation." (p.153)

I was intending to conclude my reading of Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke's book 'Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms To Cultivate A Robust Faith' with a nice little sum-up. However, the conclusion itself is packed full of good stuff! The title is "Acting As If It's True."

I'm just going to do a list and see where it goes...

• "We believe something when we act as if it were true." - Dallas Willard
• "You can live opposite of what you profess, but you cannot live opposite of what you believe." - Dallas Willard
• "We treat beliefs as though they have magical power, as though merely believing something makes it so... The truth is, merely believing Jesus is Lord no more makes him Lord of my life than believing Kim Jong-Il is the leaders of North Korea makes me his follower... The belief itself is not the surrender. The important question, therefore, is not what you believe. The important question is what you decide to do, moment-by-moment, on the basis of what you believe." - Greg Boyd
• "Biblically speaking, then, believing in God is not so much a matter of agreeing with the facts about God. Instead, it is active, personal trust in God. To believe is not to trust something, but to trust someone." (followed by an interesting differentiation between covenants and contracts on pp.156-157)
• "People enter into covenants because they trust one another; people enter into legally binding contracts precisely because they don't." - Greg Boyd (p.157)
• "Simply put, to believe in God is to trust what God says about reality, and to act, on the basis of that trust, in allegiance to God's authority. The evidence of our trust is embodied action." (.157)
• "This is often the pattern in the Gospels: Jesus invites someone to trust him for healing or deliverance by acting as if healing has happened... In other words, there aren't two things here: faith and then action. There's just one thing: faithful action." (p.159)
• **A MODEL FOR ACTING AS IF IT'S TRUE (pp.160-167):
• Compassionate awareness - "being free to be curious about your reactions without judgment or justification. It's the ability to stand at a distance from our own thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, and the stories we tell ourselves about them, rather than identifying with them or trusting them to tell us the truth about ourselves and others."
• Creative Alignment - "noticing the automatic stories we tell about ourselves, others, and God, and bringing them into the light of the gospel... You know you're engaging in creative alignment when you feel a sense of freedom and joy in your life with God, rather than anxiety or striving." ("You are free to not know what to do and show up anyway."** p.163)
  
• Cooperative Action - "simply a reasonable response to the truth proclaimed in creative alignment. This is where we imagine what it would look like practically to act as if the truth is true. If this truth is more than just nice words to help me feel better, if it's actually a description of reality, how do I trust that reality with my body, in my practical actions?"
• **The following are a few practical questions that often help people imagine what cooperative action could look like:
• If I truly believed this good news, what would I do that I wouldn't have done otherwise?
• What would this truth empower me to do in a new way? What would it empower me to start doing, or stop doing?
• How would my engagement in this relationship change if I truly believed this good news? Can I respond in a new way this week?
• What sorts of habits has this lie formed within me? How do I being to walk in the freedom that this truth offers me?
• What godly habit can I begin to cultivate in light of this truth?
• How can I share what I'm learning with someone else?
• "This highlights one last important aspect of this model: it's best practiced in community." (p.167) 

So, yeah, that's quite a conclusion. I almost feel like that could have been an axiom in itself! Anyway, overall, I am thinking this is one of those books I need to read again. Maybe more than once. It packs a lot, and there's a lot to swallow. Or maybe I'm simply that slow on the uptake. Either way, I'm glad I read it and would recommend it to anyone that wants to have a more robust faith.

***

 Psalm 119:30

“I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.”