The Value of a Wandering Mind
Clive Thompson always has interesting things to say. His latest piece in Wired is thought provoking. Perhaps it’s a good thing for our minds to wander.
Our modern info-culture lionizes those who possess laserlike focus, particularly at work. Drifting off into a reverie is considered the enemy of productivity, which is partly why some companies control employee access to the Internet…
But what if we’re wrong about daydreaming? What if it’s crucial to solving problems in our personal lives and at work?
Brain scientists are beginning to suspect that it is. And if they’re right, we might need to rethink the way we work — perhaps even develop tools that actually encourage mental drift.
For years, brain scientists viewed a wandering mind as merely a lapse in cognition. But recent studies have found that we lose concentration shockingly often. A 2007 study by Michael Kane of the University of North Carolina found that our minds drift away from our tasks fully one-third of the time. And this suggests that daydreaming can actually be useful — because if it were such a bad thing, it’s unlikely that we’d do it so often.
Why do our minds wander? Brain-scanning technology has uncovered some clues. It turns out that when your mind drifts, your temporal lobes — which are associated with processing long-term memories — become busier. So when you float off into a reverie, you’re actually doing important data-storage work.
Daydreaming isn’t just the mind’s way of processing information, though. Other scans have found that the wandering mind also utilizes the prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain that’s involved in problem-solving. The upshot, says Jonathan Schooler, a professor of psychology at UC Santa Barbara who is studying this area, is that your idling mind is likely doing deeply creative work, tackling your hairiest long-term tasks — projects you’ve been trying to address for months, the arc of your career, the state of your marriage. “Mind-wandering is actually a very involved task,” Schooler says. “You leave the here and now and focus on more remote concerns that nevertheless might be more important. We’ve been focusing on the downside of this, but we need to think about the upside.”
Commit Magazine
A few weeks ago we launched the first issue of Commit magazine, a gospel-centered magazine engaging vital issues of our time, written (mostly) by young, ordinary Christians living in the San Francisco Bay Area. This first issue is devoted to the Gospel. A bunch of friends from my church and D.A. Carson contributed to this inaugural issue of Commit.
We’ve almost sold out of the first printing. To order copies of Commit and to read 2 sample articles online, go here.
A Plain, Ordinary Christian
What is an evangelical? John Stott once said, “An evangelical is a plain, ordinary Christian.” Justin Taylor summarizes a lengthier answer John Stott gave to this question in a lecture many years ago:
1. The Claim of Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is not a novelty, and it is not a deviation. It is neither neither new nor odd.
2. The Distinctives of Evangelicalism
At the center of the evangelical faith lies the Bible as our authority and the cross as our salvation.
By what authority do we believe what we believe?
* Catholics emphasize the church, the magisterium and the role of tradition.
* Liberals emphasize reason, conscience, and experience
* Evangelicals recognize tradition and reason, but as subordinate authorities to the only supreme authority, Scripture
How can I, a lost and guilty sinner, stand before a just and holy God?
* Catholics emphasize the priesthood and the sacraments as necessary to meditate salvation between God and us
* Liberals emphasize good works, individual and social righteousness, as at least contributing to our salvation
* Evangelicals affirm ministry, sacraments, and good works, but our focus is on the cross–what God has done in Christ for us
We affirm two unpopular but important words: inerrancy (Scripture in the original is without error in all that it affirms when interpreted correctly) and substitution (Christ died not only on our behalf but in our place, with the result that substitution is the very essence of atonement (not just a theory among many)
3. The Concern of Evangelicalism
As evangelicals we desire to bear witness to the unique glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Insisting on our distinctives in not on account of having a sinful party spirit, or because we are arrogant, angular, awkward, uncooperative, obstinate by temperament. No, it’s precisely because we are determined to proclaim and defend the unique glory of Jesus Christ.
We believe God has spoken fully and finally in Jesus Christ.
We believe God has acted fully and finally in Jesus Christ, especially in the finished work of the cross.
In Christ we have God’s last word to the world (revelation), and God’s last deed for the world (redemption). God’s word and work in and through Jesus Christ are hapax—final and finished once and for all and forever. Hapax (once for all and forever) in Christ is the essence of evangelicalism.
4. The Essence of Evangelicalism
The essence of evangelicalism is humility.
God’s revelation is necessary because we could not know God in any other way; God’s redemption is necessary because we could not achieve it by ourselves, or even contribute to it.
Without revelation we would be lost in our ignorance; without redemption we would be lost in our guilt.
Evangelicalism denies self-salvation and magnifies the grace of God.
If we are to commend evangelicalism, nothing greater is needed than humility.
Bookends Sermon Series
This year at CPC we’re doing a sermon series called Bookends, preaching through both Genesis and Revelation. Here’s a video of my fellow pastors and me introducing the series.
3 Truths That Change Your Life
The break is over, I’m back to blogging.
Since transferring my blog to Wordpress a few months ago there have been a few technical problems, so you might need to re-subscribe to Buzzard Blog. And, unfortunately, all images were lost in the transfer, so when you read old Buzzard Blog posts you’ll notice that the images are missing. Oh well, new beginnings. If you notice any other technical problems, please let me know. In the coming weeks I plan to develop the content on the tabs.
This fall I’ve been thinking through 3 truths. These 3 truths have been changing my life. If only one or two of these truths were true, the change wouldn’t be dynamic—you need all 3 to be true for the power of fear, anxiety, and insecurity to shrink in your life.
#1. God is Sovereign
God is sovereign. Nearly every page of the Bible proclaims God’s absolute sovereignty, his supremacy and power over all things. Every detail of your life, the decisions of kings and presidents, the lifespan of sparrows, swine flu, today’s weather, and each passing second of human history takes place under the umbrella of God’s sovereignty. God is in control of everything. Nothing is outside of God’s control.
If a single circumstance in the universe could occur outside of God’s sovereign control, then God is not God and he cannot be trusted. But the Scriptures reveal that God is completely sovereign and can be completely trusted.
“For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” (Psalm 135:5-6).
#2 God is Wise
God is wise. Nearly every page of the Bible speaks of God’s infinite wisdom. God looks down upon the galaxies and upon your problems, plans, and prayers with perfect perspective. God is never confused, worried, or uncertain about the course of this world or the course of your future. God never makes mistakes. Yesterday God governed the universe with infallible wisdom. Today God is doing the same. Tomorrow and forever God will govern the galaxies and the ghettos with absolute wisdom.
If God were sovereign, but not wise, we could not trust him. We’d always be worried about him making a mistake, always thinking we know better than God. But from Genesis to Revelation we encounter the portrait of a completely sovereign and completely wise God who can be completely trusted.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes;” (Proverbs 3:5-7a).
#3 God is Good
God is good. Nearly every page of the Bible testifies that God is good, that God is loving. Not an inch of evil, deceit, or indifference dwells in God. God is love. God abounds in steadfast goodness, love, mercy, and grace. The Bible tells a single story of a good God taking relentless action to love, rescue, and bless people who don’t deserve it. God has always been good and always will be good. God’s goodness is not a mood. God’s goodness is not a mood that changes based upon your performance or circumstances, his loving goodness is an eternally-solid attribute that the fires of hell cannot melt.
If God were sovereign and wise, but not good, you could not trust him. People who are powerful and smart, but not loving, scare me. We’d live endlessly insecure lives if we knew God to be sovereign and wise, but not also good. But the Bible consistently presents a threefold picture of God as totally sovereign, wise, and good, as one who can be totally trusted.
“The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Psalm 145:8-9).
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
Preach These 3 Truths to Yourself
For the past few months I’ve been preaching these 3 truths to myself over and over again.
I do this because, by default, I don’t navigate life as though God is sovereign, wise, and good. Over the past year I’ve been convicted that my actions and attitudes reveal that I operate as though God is mostly sovereign, somewhat wise, and kind of good. I would never say I believe this, but my living reveals that I’ve built much of my life of a vision of God that is much smaller than the Bible’s gigantic vision of God as completely sovereign, wise, and good.
I feel Satan has been quick to attack me in this season, quick to lodge in my mind doubts about God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness. And I imagine, in these uncertain times, Satan is quick to attack many of you, quick to tempt you to view God through your circumstances rather than view your circumstances through a biblical lens.
So, join me. Fight back. When you wake up in the morning, when you feel anxious or discouraged, when you’re driving home from work, preach to yourself: “God is Sovereign! God is Wise! God is Good!” Say this to yourself over and over again. Choose to live by faith, rather than by sight.
Forget your past. Forget how you used to operate, how you used to be a prisoner to your circumstances and feelings. Build your life on the truth. Preach more gospel to yourself. Tell yourself every hour that God is sovereign, wise, and good. The truth will set you free. Your emotions will begin to come in line with the truth.
Doubt your old doubts and saturate yourself in the Scriptures. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Read and meditate on and pray through your Bible with this threefold lens, always on the hunt for indications of God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and love. Meditate on Romans 8 or Matthew 6 or Psalm 139. Soak in a book like Jerry Bridges’ Trusting God.
Let your imagination begin to be filled with true images of God. See him as sovereign. See him sitting on his throne, wise and good. See Jesus—behold what he did for you at the cross, the place where God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness show in clearest expression. Never again think of yourself or your problems or your plans without Jesus and his blood shed for you in clear view. Let the Spirit sanctify you and your brain chemistry as you rebuild your life on a true vision of God.
God is Sovereign. God is Wise. God is Good.
These 3 truths have been changing my life. God is changing my life. May he change yours.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
