Since retiring in 2017, I’ve read a number of insightful books that helped launch my next season of life along with this blog. Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking Fast and Slow introduced me to the power of cognitive biases. Jonathon Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind introduced me to how tribalism “binds and blinds” through the elephant and rider metaphor. Joseph Lieberman’s book Social: Why our brains are wired connect introduced me to the fascinating world of neurology and how the diversity of that neurology leads to individual differences in how we think and behave.
I learned how our cognitive biases foster pride and create a false sense of certainty. They amplify our fears which then distorts the image of God as seen in others. Our tribalism works like leaven in our lives, as it distorts our loves, our understanding of the world, and how we respond to that world. Through the force of these biases, innate fearfulness, and cultural assimilation, it hides the “Christ in us” as we become aligned with the sensibilities of the world.
Such sensibilities affect how we see people that aren’t like us, how we understand scripture, and how we engage the world. Instead of being “in Christ,” with His Lordship informing every square inch of our lives, our identity is now taken over, driven to adopt the sensibilities of the groups we belong to. We think we are rational beings, able to “rightly divide the word of truth,” all the while unknowingly infected by values and sensibilities that are not of Him.
We must ever be on guard, ever vigilant to its power, especially in how we contend for the truth and engage with others. That vigilance, that on-guardedness is the raison d’etre for this blog as I explore how those biases and tribal allegiances distort and corrupt our faith through the following four interconnecting set of stories, each addressing a different part or perspective of this overall theme.
The Problem with Dying addresses our how our subconscious self, those parts of us which reside under the surface and hence unknown to us, affect our Christian witness in the world. The unrelenting barrage of information we encounter each day makes it impossible to think through every situation we face. We solve this by constructing simplifying rules called heuristics that the brain then uses for processing decisions or judgments. These rules are really mental models or stories we create which enable us to respond instinctively and coherently. But its not without cost as this instinctive thinking leads to biases and distortions to our understandings and judgement with the potential to distort our beliefs and its practice in life.
SALT addresses our calling to be people of influence, Christ-followers embedded in society, empowered by the Spirit, and commissioned to carry God’s redemptive message to our world. Where our attitudes, behaviors and temperament impart a redemptive reshaping to our world through a not I but Christ that lives within me commitment to the gospel.
The Joshua Challenge confronts the evangelical church of today with a call to “choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Its a call once given to the Israelites of old following an admonition to put away the gods of their fathers. The church of today embraces a different set of gods forming a syncretistic gospel fueled by tribalistic values and cognitive biases. Carnal mindsets such as populism, rough politics, right wing authoritarianism, Christian nationalism, Manicheanism, and a rejection of truth have infected the church and through that, distorted the witness of an ecclesia called to show what our God is like. The choice is set before us: either we continue to embrace these cultural sensibilities through our associations with political and secular institutions, or we take a stand of righteousness and say like Joshua did of old, “as for me and my house” we will serve the Lord and Him only shall we serve.
Other stories will include biographical posts, poetry, or observations about life.
Mark Twain once said that “There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him–early.” Nice sarcasm and perhaps he was exaggerating to make a point, but I do think he is wrong. True Christianity has occasionally surfaced with great impact throughout the ages and can do so again through Christ-followers that “put off” the corrupting distortions of these biases and tribal allegiances while recommitting to “put on” Jesus, becoming imitators of Him on a daily basis.
That’s our call, our purpose, a 2 Corinthians 3:18-driven life commitment where “we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.” As you read the posts of this blog, I trust that it challenges you to join me in this journey, to first “consider our ways” and then to “change our ways,” enabling us to seek first His kingdom in our lives and in the world in which we live.
Bio – I am not the most interesting man in the world. I am however, a physicist, biometrician, fishery scientist and administrator (in short, I’m a nerd!) and an everything-in-the-outdoors guy ranging from hunting, fishing, flyfishing, golfing, shellfish harvesting, hiking along with a life-long involvement in various church ministries. I’m also a lifelong Alaskan until moving to Seattle in 2012 and woven through everything is an ardent Christ-follower who is a family first type of guy.