Who shapes your thinking? Where do you get the way you view
the world from? Most Americans get their information from the media. They
decide what car to buy, what ice cream to eat, where to vacation from the
information they see in advertisements. They get their politics, their
worldviews, their spirituality from their favorite talking head, their friends
and from their latest guru. The world around us works hard to get us to buy
their goods.
St. Paul addressed this reality in these words:
“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own
mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in
practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves
towards the goal of true maturity” (Romans 12:1-2 J.B. Phillips translation).
Many years ago a friend told me about his son’s graduation
ceremony from a very liberal, free-thinking university. The ceremony was held
in the wood. My friend shared that each of the graduates told about how the
university had helped them become free thinkers. He said, “I looked at the
group of graduates. I was struck by how they all were dressed the same with identical
jewelry and haircuts. There was no originality in the group.” These young
people had allowed their world to squeeze them into its world.
What is shaping your thinking?
Ronald Friesen © 2015
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