The Manic Pursuit of a Trouble-Free Life

My purpose in this forum is to encourage others by making application of Scriptural principles to leadership and ‘real life’ subject matter.”--RT

[Excerpt from The Discipleship Dilemma, by R. Templeton]

The Manic Pursuit of a Trouble-Free Life

Joshua 24:15, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

           If you did not recognize yourself in the last section, it is because you are not looking hard enough. Worse still, it may be because you are stuck in a merry-go-round of self-delusion or denial (not the river in Egypt, by the way). It is possible, however, that a few have recognized your anger, determined to be free from it, engaged it head-on and intentionally, and are living in the joyful result of successful transformation!  In one of my favorite teachings from his repertoire, Graham Cooke points out that anger is ultimately a choice. “Think about it,” Graham says, “you have all of the Fruit of the Spirit at your fingertips to choose from, and instead you choose anger! What a pelican!” 

To defeat anger and its minions, one must understand from where it comes, where it hides when you are not aware of it, and how subliminal[1] anger and the carnal mind engages our spiritual mind in the discipleship dilemma process: 

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Romans 8:67)  [emphasis mine]

TheDiscipleship Dilemma (DD) is the space between the carnal mind and the Spiritual mind! It is the place of choice.  It is the proverbial “fork in the road.” It is the place of revelation and submission--or not!  It is “choose this day whom you will serve,” God or god (Joshua 24:15),  life and peace or death. In this one short passage, Paul gives us the clear reason—and hopefully, motivation—to engage in the battle for our soul, e.g., our mind, will and emotions. It is vital that you understand the nexus between anger and joy! First, I will state the relationship, and then I will explain in the following paragraphs the mechanics of the process: Anger (not sadness) is the opposite of joy. Anger is the response of our carnal mind—usually lurking in our unconscious judgments and assumptions—that produce rage and anger (and other chaotic by-products, actually) in our conscious mind that blocks our experience of life and peace. Here is a quick review to tie our rationale together. Recall that our Sin nature is separation/independence; sin is not primarily bad behavior, it is separation!  We sin because we are separated; we are not separated because we sin. It helps to understand the problem in this context: before Adam sinned, he had perfect fellowship and communion with God and walked with Him in the Garden of Eden. But once man fell, first he hid from God, attempted to cover himself, and ultimately then God sent him out of the Garden and placed a guard at the gate of entry to keep man from accessing the tree of life, and living forever in a fallen state (Genesis 3:22-24). Up until that time, Adam’s predominate life force was his union with God in the spirit. But Adam’s entry into “the transgression” immediately dropped a heavy veil over his heart, and over the heart of all of his progeny. It is that veil of separation in the form of our flesh and our carnal mind (Romans 8:6-7). After the fall, after his separation from God’s fellowship, man’s behavior and navigation in the world became overwhelmed by the curse of the very flesh—the container—in which his precious life dwelt. In addition to being overpowered by the flesh, man was now under the legal power of and subservient to Satan (Romans 6:16). Moreover, if that all of that were not enough, now he had to work for a living!

Separation gives rise to the “independent self;” the “independent self,” then, pronounces itself as the sole and authoritative arbiter of good and evil—that is the carnal mind in action!  The carnal mind only considers the effect of events and circumstances in terms of their effect on it! In its new role as “god,” the “independent self” usurps prerogatives reserved for God the Father. It becomes, in essence, the center of the universe—or, at least, the center of its own universe! As the center of its own universe, the “independent self” has in residence at all times this unconscious thought: “My life should be smooth and trouble-free; I should be celebrated.” Whether we are aware or not, our unconscious mind feels entitled to a life of convenience and ease. We believe others should defer to us, accommodate us, and provide us the amenities we desire, if not deserve. That is the rightful due of the one occupying the center of all things. Any circumstance that we encounter that constitutes an obstacle, impediment, inconvenience, or slows down our drive for instant gratification is interpreted in our carnal mind as “suffering.” 

Why is it important for us to become acquainted with our unconscious thoughts and motivations? Because when that bear gets poked, someone is going to feel the “wrath of god;” when our carnal mind is thwarted, it responds in anger. When it is challenged, it pitches a fit; when it is inconvenienced, it pouts and punishes. When the road gets bumpy, my carnal mind gets bitchy! In the tool chest portion of the book we will examine in detail the chain of response from anger to joy, and a similar chain of response for each of the Fruits of the Spirit. For now, James 1:2-3 expresses the formula, the journey from anger to joy, and can be understood by the following maxim:

• Trials and difficult circumstances challenge my unconscious, carnal mind assumption that my life should be trouble-free; therefore,
• Frustration and any obstruction of or in my path produces anger; however,
• Understanding and embracing suffering, obstruction, opposition, impediments and inconvenience (e.g., “various trials) and breaking the unconscious cycle enables a joy response; so
• Moving in the opposite spirit (joy) rather than anger overcomes the independent self, builds our union relationship with the Father, and ultimately produces the Fruit of the Spirit of both joy and patience.

[1] Subliminal (adjective) “existing or operating below the threshold of consciousness; being or employing stimuli insufficiently intense to produce a discrete sensation but often being or designed to be intense enough to influence the mental processes or the behavior of the individual.” https://www.dictionary.com/browse/subliminal