A New Mind. A New Heart.

​​Change your mind, and your heart will follow. Change your heart and the world will be transformed.

It seemed like yesterday Joan Jett was screaming into a microphone “I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation. Living in the past. It’s a new generation.”

She would join the ranks of the Ramones, the Clash, X, and others who would shape me, and my generation.
 
Some 45 years later that song still rocks. Despite the irony - of living in the past - I love hearing it played. It is "My Generation" for my generation.

​While we are on the topic of living in the past, I remember when Facebook was still fairly new, a friend from high school posted, “I wish we could go back to the good old days of Ronald Reagan.”
 
I couldn’t help but to reply, "Like when interest rates and unemployment were at their highest? Or when minimum wage was less than $3 an hour?”

I knew what she meant, so I added “Why stop there? Let’s go back before women’s suffrage and Jim Crow.” She wasn't fond of my response. And on that day, I discovered I was a pioneer - getting unfriended years before it was fashionable to do so.
 
We all have moments when we long for the past. But the truth is—we can’t go back. The past no longer exists. All we have is this moment. This is where we’re “becoming” - who we are, and who we will be.

The thing evolution teaches us is that life isn’t static. It's not supposed to be. It’s constantly unfolding, always pushing us forward.

Yet, we resist - holding onto old mindsets, old grudges, old ways of being that no longer serve us.
 
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul reminds the good folks at his new church that this is not the way. Neither our bad reputation or living in the past will suffice. Below is an edited version of what Paul has to say:
 

...put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth...Be angry but...do not let the sun go down on your anger, ... labor, doing good work with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths ...so that your words may give grace to those who hear....Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander...Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.                      Ephesians 4:22-5:2

My wife rightly believes that every marriage should be re-evaluated every ten years—because people change.

Our interests evolve, our responsibilities shift, and if we’re not intentional, we can become stuck in patterns that at best no longer serve our relationships. And at worst can do harm to others.
 
Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Paul knew if the early church was going to survive, it had to move away from the old ways of living - its bad reputation. And step into something new.
 
A new mind. A new heart. Which when put together they can lead to a new way of being.
 
You might recall Jesus kicked off his ministry calling people to repent. This doesn’t just mean to say sorry but to change your mind. To see and do things differently so there's nothing to be sorry about.
 
Paul describes this action as being the likeness of God in all that is true, right, and holy. But this is more than making moral improvements or a religious commitment. It’s about discovering and living into your new awaken self —the Christ consciousness that transforms us into who God created us to be. The beloved.
 
Paul says, “Clothe yourself in your new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
 
This sounds great, right, until you realize this is going to require something from you. A kind of wardrobe change. Not from your closet, but from your mind, heart and soul. No longer can we cling to our egos or maintain control over anything, especially others.
 
As we’ve been learning through this letter, this new way of dress requires trusting God’s grace enough to live a life built on transformative power of love.

A new mind must lead to a new heart. And a new heart must inspires us to awaken the world to its Christ consciousness —the way of Jesus, the way of God’s will and righteousness.
 
This doesn’t mean the old way is going to give up that easily.

Each one of my siblings knows exactly which buttons to push to make me feel small, and stupid. They know all the backend ways to trigger my insecurities and ire. And it always seems to begin with my ego - which has a bad reputation to be quick to anger, always ready to defend itself.
 
Jesus says, what’s the point. Turn the other cheek. Walk away. Anger only begets more of the same. In all the ways Jesus demonstrates love, he reveals a truth that we’re all children of God—the beloved—part of the same divine family.

Realizing this and accepting this truth as my reality has allowed that connectedness to be the doorway to my new self. Now, when someone pisses me off, the Christ in me is able to recognize and meet the Christ in them, with love.
 
When we stop seeing people as the other—racially, politically, socially— recognizing we all belong to God, we can finally move forward, in “in true righteousness and holiness.”

This might not be as hard as you think.

Paul gives us practical ways to live into our Christ consciousness.

​Choose honesty over lying. Be transparent, and vulnerable in your relationships. Let go of anger before the day is over. Release resentment. Don’t let bitterness take root in your heart.

Share with those in need. Speak words that build up. Use your voice to heal, not to harm.
 
Live in love, just as Christ has loved you. Imitate God’s holy and righteous love and grace that has been given to you — with no string attached.

​Change your mind, and your heart will follow. Change your heart and the world will be transformed.
 
This is the work of the church. Not to go back to the good old days when the pews were full. But to go out into this day as a mirror of God’s glory to help others find their seat in the heart of God’s house.
 
Pope Francis once said, “We can make the church great again, or we can live by the marrow of the Gospel.” In other words, we can focus on keeping our old tired ways on life support. Or we can spend our time giving birth to the new. Jesus sends us into the world to birth the Gospel in the ordinary moments of life.
 
Like showing patience to an exhausted mother in the checkout line who can’t find her credit card while her baby melts down. Or practicing peacemaking among co-workers who constantly belittle and backstab one another. You can use your time moving toward healing your relationships instead of avoiding or blaming.
 
The old self holds grudges. The new self chooses forgiveness.
 
The old self reacts in fear. The new self operates in love.
 
The old self hoards. The new self shares.
 
Living in Christ-consciousness is more than just having an open mind. It is about having an open heart and open hands too.

It’s about being little Christ in every space we enter. Christ is the cornerstone we build a community of love upon. Just like Jesus was, we are called to mirror God’s love—to embody God’s justice, kindness, and grace.
 
“Love is how we practice God’s religion,” write the Sufi poet Rumi. It’s in the way we love God, love others and serve both that we confront the powers that hold us back and embrace the life that moves forward.
 
Salvation is not about believing in Jesus. It’s about becoming like him. But in order to embody his self-giving love, we must give up our old self and become new.
 
If I’m being honest, folks in 12-step programs do a much better job at this than most Christians who profess to follow Jesus. People in recovery know that letting go of the old self is the only way to survive. They know they have to wear this newness not just day-by-day, but second-by-second.

How many Christians honor and worship a homeless man on Sunday, but then completely ignore him on Monday?
 
In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul writes, “In Christ, …old things have passed away…all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
 
Christ is already in you. You are already God’s beloved. And like everyone else in this holy family, you are held in grace. Loved unconditionally. And sent to do the same to one another.

Our job, on this journey of faith, is to live in that reality.
 
To let go of everything that keeps us bound to the old and step fully into the world as imitators of God.

With a new mind…a new heart…and a new life in Christ.