The Dumb Generation: Thinking in Chants
Our generation is the dumbest and, at the same time, the most educated generation in history. And while it is easy to say, “Yeah, democrats,” or “Yep, kids these days,” or whatever, the fact we must not miss, which we will be accountable for, is our own ability to think and reason rightly. Right thinking isn’t a “take it or leave it” kind of issue—it is a moral category (Rom 12:2).
Many Christians today have severe cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, they see and affirm the dangerous and false uses of Satan tempting Jesus in Matthew 4. On the other hand, these same Christians will give a hearty “AMEN!” to a statement like this: “There is no sense for the Christian to engage in politics. We cannot serve two masters. We will either love the one and hate the other, or vice versa (Matt 6:24). What's true of God and wealth is true of God and politics.”1 See? Cognitive dissonance.
The voice that says to abandon the things that God created teaches the exact opposite of Christ’s words here. The statement “What's true of God and wealth is true of God and politics” is ambiguous. Since Calvin rightly observes that ambiguity is the fortress of heretics, what we need is clarity. We could swap out anything in that statement, and on the surface, it would be true: “What's true of God and wealth is true of God and family.” It’s true of God and spouse. It’s true of God and child. It’s true of God and vocation. You get the point. Does this mean that we should mark and avoid all of these things that God deems good? Before we start trying to apply Scripture we must first understand what Scripture means. A man can serve (literally slave in the Greek) two masters in sequence—one after another—but not both at once. He can even serve multiple masters if they share the same cause—as a soldier serves his commanding officer, his captain, and his king, because their orders align. But no man can truly serve two masters who stand on opposite sides of the battlefield. You cannot fly the banner of God while marching in your own army. This is precisely the point Jesus is getting at here: you cannot have two ultimate, opposing masters.
Of all people, Christians should be the best thinkers this world has to offer precisely because of the graces God has given us in Christ: new hearts, new minds, new affections, the Word of truth, the Law of God, the Spirit of God, and a genuine love for God in Christ. But we’re not. In fact, many Christians are barely any better at reasoning than leftists. They chant slogans (granted, their slogans are often Scripture verses, so there’s that), but they can’t (or refuse to?) engage in the moral requirement of right reasoning.
Many Christians grew up with that old church tradition of “passive obedience” and “non-resistance”—especially when it came to civil matters, otherwise known as politics. But have you ever stopped to ask why you believe that? For most, it’s a cocktail of affections, ignorance, and borrowed convictions. We genuinely want to please God (praise God for that impulse), but the teachers we trusted to handle the Word rightly in matters of salvation often handed us a muzzle when it came to matters of society. They trained us well in soteriology—and trained us even better in silence.
Borrowed convictions, however, are tailor-made for those who prefer the convenience of pre-packaged piety—the kind that saves you the trouble of thinking, reasoning, or standing. But for those who claim to live and die for truth, borrowed convictions are a ticking liability, waiting to betray you the moment the heat of battle rises. And make no mistake: right reasoning is a moral duty, not a mental hobby. To think rightly about God, man, and civil order is not academic arrogance—it is obedience. To refuse to think biblically about such things is not humility—it is sloth dressed up as reverence. So, before we boast that our passivity is holiness, let’s be honest: it might just be ignorance, or worse yet, cowardice baptized in tradition.
Are you a Christian? Are you a member of a family? Have you ever meditated upon what the relationship between the roles of the family are according to Scripture? Let’s take the stereotypical nuclear family: Dad, Mom, Son, and Daughter. How many unique relationships are there here?
1. Husband to wife
2. Wife to husband
3. Parents to children
4. Children to parents
5. Father to son
6. Son to father
7. Father to daughter
8. Daughter to father
9. Mother to son
10. Son to mother
11. Brother to sister
12. Sister to brother
13. Each person before God
There are no less than 16 unique relationships just in this family! While each of these relationships has some overlapping requirements, each relationship has unique requirements. Do you know what they are? Then consider situations. How many different kinds of situations are possible within a household? For the sake of argument, let’s just say there are only 10 (even though the different kinds of situations are more like an infinite possibility). 16 unique relationships and 10 different kinds of situations. How many is that? The mathematical formula for this scenario is kn, where 𝑘 is the number of situations each relationship can find itself in (10), and 𝑛 is the number of relationships (16). The total number of options is 10,000,000,000,000,000 (ten quadrillion). Now I know most of us need to brush up on our math (Which is probably why you are still wondering how I listed 13 bullet points of family relationships and then said that there are no less than 16! If you think through bullet point #13 and use some addition, it will all make sense).
The point being: have you thought through how to conduct yourself (or shepherd your family) in a way that glorifies God in each of the ten quadrillion ways (which, remember, is more like an infinite number of possibilities)? Thankfully, God does not expect us to foresee and memorize all of that. But He does expect us to be able to think, and that rightly. So, God teaches us principles through His Word that we can apply to any situation. Are you being diligent in your study of God’s Word so that you are able to think, speak, and act in a way that glorifies God in any situation? Or are you just thinking in chants?
Right reasoning is the moral duty of the redeemed mind. “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all (not most of) your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” (Prov 3:5–6). This is not a quaint proverb to embroider on a pillow; it is a summons to intellectual submission for worship in action. To acknowledge God in all your ways means that no path of thought, no moral dilemma, no civil question, and no private affection lies outside His Lordship. You are not free to think as you please; you are under loving authority to think as He commands.
The Puritans called this casuistry—not moral hair-splitting, but the holy art of applying Scripture to every conceivable situation of life. They believed the Gospel trained the conscience to reason from God’s Law and Christ’s Lordship, to walk wisely through the infinite complexity of human relationships and choices. For them, theology was never abstract. It was truth clothed in duty, and duty clothed in delight (Ps. 119:32).
But when times do not change, and hearts grow dull, practical theology becomes relative. Men cease to reason biblically and begin to drift sentimentally. They are like fish who have forgotten what water is—immersed in worldliness, yet blind to its influence. How, then, do you convince the fish that he is wet? You must show him the holiness of the air above the water. You must hold up the purity of God’s truth until he sees his murky world for what it is.
The reason most Christians do not think deeply is not that they are unable—but that they are unwilling. Time and affection are the twin thieves of meditation. We have time for our pleasures, but not for our thoughts. We have affections for comfort, but not for Christ. Inordinate loves produce disordered minds. When you came to Christ, you confessed that everything about your life and thinking was wrong—that your heart, your habits, your judgments, your entire worldview needed redemption and reformation. So how is it, believer, that you have stopped examining the rest of your life? Why have you ceased reforming your thought life by the Word that once shattered your unbelief?
Right reasoning is not an academic exercise; it is a spiritual act of worship. To think God’s thoughts after Him—to bring every idea, every reaction, every affection under the dominion of His Word—is holiness of mind. It is what the Apostle meant when he wrote, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom 12:2). And again, “…we tear down speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” (2 Cor 10:5).
So think, Christian! Think as one who will give an account to the God who gave you a mind to love Him. Think until your logic bows in worship. Think until your reasoning burns with reverence. Think until your theology births obedience. And in all your ways—your study, your politics, your family, your affections—acknowledge Him. For He alone is worthy to govern your thoughts, He alone is worthy to direct your desires, and He alone can make your paths straight.
1. For further help in right thinking, listen to these sermons titled "The Cure for Anxiety: A Trustworthy Father" and "The Glory of the Ordinary: Affections Anchored in Heaven, Laboring for Christ on Earth," in which Pastor Joey addresses the objection in paragraph two of this article in more detail.