The Scrolls is a weekly Bible study written by pastors and other leaders at Central Bible Church, based on that week’s sermon topic. Use The Scrolls as a personal Bible study tool, for family devotions, and for small group discussions. You can read part of it below. The downloadable PDF also includes discussion questions, more in-depth commentary, end notes, and a kids’ page designed for families to study the topic together. This lesson goes with the sermon "A House on a Rock."
Mindfulness is moving into big business. The practices of clearing the mind of all distractions, focusing on the moment, chanting mantras, breathing exercises, yoga and other forms of meditation have become quite popular in the US. Companies like Google, Facebook/Meta, General Mills, Intel and Aetna have all offered “mindfulness” classes and seminars in the hopes of reducing workplace stress and improving productivity. The Mindfulness Meditation Market, which includes smartphone applications, corporate training seminars, food and clothing lines is estimated to generate 5 to 6 billion dollars in the US in 2023 and is projected to grow to 15 billion by 2030. The trendy fitness apparel company Lululemon sells “mindful” apparel and offers meditation rooms at many of its retail stores. You can purchase Mindful Meats and Mindful Mints, and Sherwin-Williams offers a paint color called Mindful Gray. Walmart even offers Earth Balance Mindful Mayo for $4.49 a jar.
Mindfulness takes on a number of different forms. However, some use the term to describe mind focus or techniques to improve memory and remove an overload of mental stimuli. Some exercises in this discipline might actually be helpful. Much of corporate mindfulness has been secularly sanitized for the West. Most of the practice of mindfulness comes from the influence of Zen Buddhism. Transcendental Meditation promotes the practice of clearing the mind of all distractions, removing all judgments and the releasing of all desires. Mindfulness is really all about “mind-less-ness.” The goal is for the mind to reach a state of “Nirvana” which is described as becoming in your mind like a drop of water returning back to the ocean. To think of nothing, to want nothing and to become nothing is the illusive prize of mindfulness. The promise of such “mind-flushing” is a reduction in personal anxiety and an increase in personal happiness or life satisfaction. Some practices of mindfulness encourage gratitude affirmations or “lovingkindness” rehearsal, but even these meditations are steps toward the ultimate goal of releasing all desires, even good ones to the point of extreme selflessness. The irony of such intense self-resignation is that the betterment of self is the ultimate goal.
Jesus’ teaching as detailed in the New Testament offers something markedly better and different from modern-day mindfulness. A follower of Christ seeks to do the opposite of “emptying” the mind. Instead, Christians are challenged by Jesus and the Apostles to “fill” the mind with truth (Jn. 8:32) and the “words of Jesus” (Lk. 6:47). Jesus said the antidote to anxiety or worry is “to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Mt. 6:25-34). Paul said, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8).
The practice of Christian meditation is the habit of filling our minds with the thoughts of God as found in God’s Word through repeated Bible study, Bible memorization, prayer and introspective reflection. Beyond all this mind and heart work, the practice of applying or obeying what God’s Word instructs us to do brings the practice of Christian meditation to its full flower. From the overflow of private devotional times in God’s Word should come the ever-expanding fruit of the Spirit that impacts how we treat God, others and ourselves. The ultimate goal of Christian “single-mindedness” is the exaltation and worship of the one true God. We may or may not experience lower levels of anxiety as the byproduct of such an experience. The Christian seeks to focus not on “nothingness” but on “God and His priorities for our lives.” Thinking God’s thoughts and living God’s ways are the ticket to meaning and purpose. “Mindlessness” is a dead end. Single-mindedness with its focus on Christ is the path to present vitality and ultimate eternal life.
Central Message of the Text:
Live out your faith in Jesus by obeying his Word in order to remain unshaken in the face of even overwhelming destruction.
Family Talk:
I recently went to the beach with my daughter. We looked for shells, scavenged for unique rocks and let the cold waves crash onto our bare feet. It was sensory overload when the sand tickled our toes as it washed away. That’s immediately what I thought of when I read this passage. When the waves crash, the beach washes away and what feels like a firm and solid foundation just crumbles and falls apart. We all know the value of a solid foundation. Just sit down with your preschooler to build a block tower or play Jenga with your elementary kids. If we don’t build on a firm foundation, one that’s strong, faithful and trustworthy, all our efforts will be useless and the tower will crash. Much in the same way, fruitful parenting depends on the foundation on which you build. When we parent to God’s glory with the Word as our solid and strong base, we honor and live out Proverbs 22:6, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” This truly begins with the way we model His character. We practice patience when we’re ready to pull our hair out because the little darlings won’t hurry up and get their shoes on; we show joy even when they spill sticky lemonade on our freshly mopped floor; we offer the gifts of gentleness, mercy and grace when we appropriately discipline. What your kids will know about Jesus depends on the foundation on which you parent. We’re praying for you!