by: David Owens
“…perilous times shall come.” “…men of corrupt minds.” 1 Timothy 3:1, 8
Have you been brainwashed? Why not? Perhaps we are afraid of the term “brainwashed” because it is often used in a negative setting. Maybe we ourselves have been accused of being brainwashed only because we put God first. The truth is, everyone has been brainwashed and will continue to be. Don’t miss this, the question is really not, have you been brainwashed, the question should be, by whom have you been brainwashed? We, as God’s people, are to be constantly washing our brain.
It is advisable to use an anti-virus program on a computer not only to stop a virus before it infects the computer, but one that can find and clean any viruses that have previously infected it. All computer users should also know not to open email attachments unless you know and trust the sender. Is your computer and it’s hard drive more valuable than you are? We want to keep our computers clean of infections so that they function properly for us, but we are not concerned enough to keep our brains clean so that we can function properly for God.
In the Garden of Eden, God’s plan was for man to know only good, to have a clean brain, a clean mind, a clean heart. Satan came along and introduced a virus. Adam and Eve allowed Satan to wash the life right out of them by infecting them with the virus of sin. “… Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, …” 1 Corinthians 5:6-7.
We were all born with a mind infected by sin. “…from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” Psalm 58:3. As he did with Adam and Eve, Satan will work hard to infect all of God’s people not only with sin, but also with viruses of false doctrine. We are warned to beware of false prophets, wolves in sheep’s clothing. You will probably not be fooled by the Jehovah’s Witness or the Mormons. False doctrine is most dangerous when it is set forth by those we trust; therefore, no human being is the final authority of right or wrong.
Many people who were saved later in life struggle with past sins and even false doctrine because they were infected years ago. Brainwashing ought to be a never ending process. We need to be sure that we use God’s anti-virus, anti-sin, anti-false doctrine program and keep it updated and running. We need to allow God to keep the wash cycle running in our mind.
The Christian’s life and mind are not self-cleaning at salvation. I believe the biggest struggle in a Christian’s growth is not cleaning up the outside, that is fairly easy because our outside is what others see. It is the inside of us, it is our mind that is not as obvious to others that is hard to clean and keep clean. Yet Scripture teaches us that our inside is who we really are. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:..” Proverbs 23:7. Look at Christ’s rebuke to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:25-28 as it says, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
Some reasons that we all need constant brainwashing.
1. You need to be brainwashed because we are commanded to wash our brains. “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:8. “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;” Ephesians 4:23. The Psalmist asked, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” Psalm 119:9, because we need constant washing. David begged God in Psalm 19:12 “…cleanse thou me from secret faults.” and in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart.”
2. We need to be brainwashed because our past has left us already infected with sin, wrong thinking and false doctrine. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind…not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance.” 1 Peter 1:13-14. The unsaved mind is defiled. “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving (You believe in your mind.) is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” Titus 1:15. At salvation we received eternal life as a gift and are sealed with the Holy Spirit, but our minds were not magically cleansed of sin and false doctrine. Our minds will stay defiled after salvation if we don’t clean the iniquity and false doctrine out of them.
3. You need to be constantly brainwashing because the virus grows if neglected. 1 Corinthians 5:6 says, “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” Give a computer virus a little time and it will control the whole computer. Give a dirty mind some time and it will control your whole being. A spiritual Christian will constantly be judging who and what is influencing them, as well as what has already influenced them. That statement may sound critical or negative, but it is actually scriptural for 1 Corinthians 2:15 says, “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things…” Many have responded, “I don’t want to be critical.” Let me say, the Bible is a book of judgement. There is a difference between critical and judgement. Scriptural judgement has a solution but criticism is finding fault without a scriptural remedy.
4. You need to be constantly brainwashing because viruses can come from many unsuspecting sources even after salvation. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Colossians 2:8. Churches, ministries and even “good Christians” can be guilty of injecting human traditions. If you don’t want your mind, direction and service to God spoiled, then never put yourself under the influence of any church, ministry, book, program or man who is not following Christ. Beware, as Eve trusted the serpent in the Garden, good men become corrupt because they trust some man, ministry or church that may appear legitimate in some areas because perhaps we have trusted them in the past. We falsely believe that we are strong enough to accept the good while rejecting the bad, but that never happens. A virus normally comes in with the good and gradually takes over.
5. You need to be brainwashed because you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19. How dare us force the Holy Spirit, whom God has so graciously given to indwell and seal us, to have to live so close to the sin or false doctrine within us.
6. We need to be brainwashed because we are double minded. James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Be careful of compromise! Compromise happens when we know better but weaken our stand for the sake of convenience, security or association. We compromise because it is easier or to “protect” ourselves or so we don’t offend someone else. In being double minded one of the minds has to be cleaned out.
7. We need to be brainwashed because our understanding is fuzzy or darkened. We are warned that our understanding can be similar to a lost person, yes, even a Christian can have a blinded heart. We are commanded not to be like the lost. Ephesians 4:17-18 “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”
8. We need to be brainwashed because we all have secret faults. Psalm 19:12 says, “Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.” We will not dwell on this point because these faults are secret, but nothing is secret from God!
9. You need to be brainwashed because it is easy to have a bad attitude. David asked God to “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit (attitude) within me.” Psalm 51:10. As Cain’s sin affected his countenance, our inward wrongs affect our attitude. A bad attitude is a funny thing because we most often cannot discern a bad attitude in ourselves. A bad attitude will hinder us from understanding that we are infected with sin or wrong doctrine. A person with a bad attitude denies that they have a problem. A Christian with a good attitude is open to judgement and can be helped.
So HOW do we get Biblically brainwashed?
1. Stay away from any more of the world’s (Satan’s) influence. This includes sin as well as any possible influence of false doctrine. Why bother cleaning yourself while in the hog pen hugging the hogs? Get out first! Why clean a computer of viruses while at the same time opening corrupted files and browsing sinful sites?
Ephesians 4:22-23 says, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;”
Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
2. Put Christ’s mind in you. You can’t clean yourself. Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” Being sinners, we are unable to clean our own minds. This is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:16, “…we have the mind of Christ.” He understood that his own human mind was not qualified to discern between the natural and the spiritual. He was not the judge between false doctrine and Bible doctrine, God is.
3. The Word of God is a must. Psalm 119:9 “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Notice that God did not tell us to allow any man to clean us but the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Jesus explained to his disciples in John 15:3 “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
4. Check for cleanliness by comparing any advice or counsel to the Word, even from those you trust or who appear good. A good spiritual brainwashing is just the beginning, now we must fill our minds with godliness, making no room for filth to enter back in. A washing is not just to get rid of the dirt, it is to replace the dirt with cleanliness. God’s cleanliness (or godliness) repels dirt. Guard against viruses which are introduced to us by someone we trust.
What happens if we fail to keep our brain washed?
The Apostle Paul warned us of perilous times and described men of “corrupt minds” in 2 Timothy 3:1-8. Read some of the other traits of an unwashed brain:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.”
Who has brainwashed you? That is the question!
Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way (Christian life) everlasting.”
David Owens
Pastor
Westside Baptist Church
Pacifica, CA