Well, that seems entirely fictional to the point of silliness. Indeed it was funny. He loved her mind because that was her only attribute. They communicated their love by telepathy. If that could happen, it would be cause for concern. However, is it truly that strange?
People have two loves. They love who they want to be and who they are. Just as the doctor hid his affair with a brain, many Christians hide their affair with their other "brain." I'm writing of the dualism inside Christians of which Paul wrote: "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Mat 26:41). The unregenerated have one mind; their thoughts are on the satisfaction of the flesh nearly all the time. On the other hand, the regenerated have a spiritual mind as well. They want to be righteous but their alter-ego interferes. Sinning Christians have two personalities; their ego is in love with their alter ego. Hence, the man with two brains.
A Christian's ego wants to be content and feel safe. On the other hand, his alter ego desires pleasure and plenty of it. Speaking for men, that love affair is a huge problem, and I gamble that it is for women as well. Christians keep their alter ego in a dark closet and only let them out when no one else is around, except when in the presence of another person with two brains. Sinning Christians are Jekylls and Hydes. The world calls them "hypocrites", and they have a right to. Satan has the unregenerate already and they have nothing to hide!
Christians feel a sense of shame when they fail God. That is guilt. If you remember, Adam and Eve made aprons of fig leaves (Gen 3:7). They were covering their shame with aprons but much of the flesh was still exposed. By grace, God killed an innocent animal, likely a lamb, and made them coats of skin (Gen 3:21). Their entire alter ego was covered except for their brains. They retained their love affair with themselves although God "saved" their skin. Christians still do the same thing.
Don't be hard on hypocrites. All Christians are. Most try to cover their love affair with their alter ego with fig leaves but it shows. A really crafty Christian puts on a coat of righteousness. Unfortunately, most don't want to do that but are ashamed that they still love themselves more than God. Paul wrote of that as well (I use the English Standard Version for this passage because the King James is even harder to comprehend):
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Rom 7:14-20, ESV, italics mine)Paul struggled with his alter ego. He was a man with two brains. He was attracted to the things of the flesh but he wanted not to be. That was from a righteous man. He admitted it, and was not a hypocrite. I admit my love for my alter ego, and fight every day with my unrequited love. Although I am in love with my other mind, that mind does not love me. I am not loved by my flesh because I emancipated myself by regeneration. My other mind did not like that, so it pesters me. My alter ego is male, so his love is for females. He's a fickle mind as he loves power, wealth, and prestige as well as carnal pleasures. He and I wrestle every day, and nearly all the time!
Those who have not been born again have a lover as well. They love their alter ego so much that they refuse to cease the relationship. Their self-love is so great that they at best hide their alter ego from the world, and have a covert relationship. They are the hypocrites because they keep their other mind in the closet. The most honest are the reprobates who proudly display their alter egos even to the extent of parading. Their self love is reprobate. Sure, it seems that they love the person of their affection, but deep down inside their conscience, they are in love with themselves.
Adam and Eve were ashamed of their self-love and used fig leaves to conceal the romance. They were foolish as they exposed themselves by using the leaves of the very tree of which they had just fornicated (It is likely the Tree of Knowledge was a fig tree.) God saw right through their scam, and made them a durable coat to cover and protect. From there on, they lived in safety. Their super ego was still there, but they were ashamed of self-love.
One mind desires lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and has the pride of being alive (1 John 2:16). The other mind wants to please God. One mind is unwilling and unrelenting while the other mind is willing and persevering. Serving God is putting the alter ego on the cross and crucifying him or her. God does the deed, but Christians must submit.
Why are Christians to do that? We are all guilty of attempted murder of God, and for that the mind that did that must be destroyed. God judges the mind and provides the justice. People don't want to see the old fellow go; they keep looking back at the fun they had together (Lot's wife, for instance), and die because they won't submit their second love.
Jesus is to be our first love (Rev 2:4), but even Christians have a second love. Jesus knew that, and it is spiritual fornication with ourselves. Rather than please God, most Christians attempt to please themselves. Christians feel the sensory pleasures obtained from their second love, but try to enjoy contentment with their righteous mind. What is your pleasure? To have fun and still feel safe from death. That is the mind serving two masters (Mat 6:24). You are going to abandon the master of one mind or another.
Sanctification begins when Christians hand their alter egos over to God for crucifixion. It takes a lifetime to crucify the alter ego, but God can and will do that.
Some prefer to cohabitate with their alter egos. They are spiritually adulterous!
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (Jas 4:7-8).The beginning of a right relationship with Jesus is taking the mind with whom you pleasure, and submitting him or her to God. Purification of the heart is circumcising that old guy or gal away (Rom 2:29). You take the sword of the Word (Ephes 6:17) and allow the Spirit of God to cut the old guy's flesh away. That is Jesus crucifying the alter ego.
The first step is admitting that you have two loves. Those who love the flesh, hang onto the old guy, and just won't submit. If that is done too many times, the new guy's heart becomes "calloused" and the old guy still lives within. That situation may result in a change of masters - apostasy. With that, there is no longer resistance to the Devil, and you may be his.
Double-mindedness is what Orwell called "doublethink" - holding two conflicting thoughts at the same time. Double-minded Christians want to be willing but are rebellious. They enjoy the flesh but desire the safety of the Spirit. It's as if the soul went to a brothel, enjoyed the pleasures there, but hid from God in shame. Wait a second; that's what Adam and Eve did when they fornicated against God! Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.
Doublemindedness or doublethink has a psychological description as well; it is "cognitive dissonance." People actually kill themselves because of the chaos in their minds. God is the Creator of order, and Satan changes what was "very good" (Gen 2:29) into chaos. He does that in the minds of people, and their identity is the alter ego. The ego is not God-centered; think how evil the alter ego is!
I have admitted; at times if someone read my mind they would scream. I'm not proud of that, but ridding oneself of the other mind is hard work. Steve Martin, to be faithful to his wife, should have handed that brain in a jar to the garbage man. We should hand our double mind over to the Holy Ghost. He knows what to do with garbage!
No comments:
Post a Comment