Is the Brain Hard-wired to be Narrow Minded? (Part 2 - God Isn't Like Us...)

Following up on last week's post (Is the Brain Hard-wired to be Narrow Minded?), I want to share briefly about how awareness of our bent towards narrow-mindedness and of God's open-mindedness can help us who are followers of Jesus.

If it's true that we are born mortal and therefore fearful of death, it shouldn't surprise us that our brain's default reaction to perceived or real threats is the 'fight or flight' mode. If we realize that fear causes us to respond aggressively (or passive aggressively) towards anything we perceive to be a threat to our way of life or way of thinking, then it's easier to step back and give space for the neo-cortex (reasoning) part of the brain to activate. This allows us to see the situation with greater objectivity rather than with purely subjective reactions. In other words, we give ourselves the chance to look at the situation through God's perspective rather than through our own narrow-minded perspective.

I want to suggest two underlying truths that we need to be aware of in our journey towards Christ-likeness:

First, we must be aware that we are prone towards fear, therefore we cannot trust our automatic fear and discomfort responses when we encounter opinions/thoughts/ideas that differ from ours (Proverbs 3:5). Romans 12:2 admonishes us to be transformed by the process of the reforming of our minds, and part of that is a continual rewiring of our brain responses from fear based reaction to love motivated response.

Second, we must be aware of the fact that God loves ALL people without partiality and fear. His perfect and impartial love for all humans drives out fear and supersedes all else, meaning that whatever good arguments I may have for self-preservation and self-protection are subservient to the love of God for all, including those that I feel threatened by.

In other words, because of our bent towards fearful responses to threats of any sort, we live with closed and restricted hearts. God isn't like us; God is like Jesus and lives and operates with a wide open heart and mind towards all.

These two basic truths, if remembered and contemplated regularly, will help us as followers of the Lamb to pause long enough to begin to reshape our responses to our fears.

Next week I will conclude thoughts on this topic by talking about a few practical ways to help rewire (renew) the brain so that we cooperate with the Spirit of God in our walk with Him and others.