"Stinking Thinking"

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 

Paul is confronting the Corinthians who are saying that Paul seems bold in his writing but face to face not so much.  They are trying to use words manipulatively to discredit his ministry and creating "naysayers" that would create division in the Corinthians church. Paul could have been tempted to fight back motivated by resentment and fear of his reputation being ruined, but he took the high road.  In doing so, he talked about a more powerful form of weapon. 

"The weapons of the world Paul refuses were not material weapons such as swords and spears. The weapons of the world he renounced were the manipulative and deceitful ways his opponents used. Paul would not defend his apostolic credentials with weapons of the world others used."

John Calvin, the Swiss reformer, says something similar in a different way, “For nothing is more opposed to the spiritual wisdom of God than the wisdom of the flesh, and nothing more opposed to His grace than man’s natural ability.” 

The bottom line is that our thinking is what often gets us in trouble.  In A.A., and other 12 step groups, they call this "stinking thinking".  Before an alcoholic goes back out to drink they think of every reason why it wouldn't be a bad idea, even though it has never ended well before.  Their stinking thinking leads them to choose to drink rationalizing by thinking "I can handle it".  Of course, we know where this goes.  But this is basic to all of us and our human nature.  We think we are smart and sometimes use our minds to our own detriment. 

Paul gives us for a cure for "stinking thinking".  He says we should, "Take every thought and make it captive to Christ".  Paul tells us that our transformation of our bodies starts in the renewal of our minds.  One of the ways God changes us from the inside out is to change the way we think. Instead of always thinking of self preservation, or what it is in it for me, we can re-frame the way we think.  We can take our thoughts and put them through the lens of Jesus.  Jesus what would you do if you were me is the question we should ask as his follower.  As we learn to make our minds obedient to Christ it will save us a lot of headaches from "stinking thinking"!