Lost Crusader #254 To Be and Not To Be

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8

A man may not be able to serve two masters, but he is able to mentally hold two contradictory opinions as equally true. This is called doublethink. The term doublethink originated in George Orwell’s novel 1984. It is the ability to accept two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct at the same moment. This is true even when these views contradict one’s own sense of reality. Thus, one may accept the “truth” that he is being cheated unfairly while maintaining that there is no objective morality.

As evidenced by James’ use of the idea, Orwell’s term is a description of a behavior already practiced by people everywhere. It’s akin to hypocrisy with a distinct difference. The hypocrite knows his actions and words are at odds. He purposes says that he believes one thing while knowingly doing the opposite.

In Orwell’s novel, doublethink was a result of political indoctrination. The same could be said of cultural, racial, and religious indoctrination. Whichever the case may be, the man who engages in doublethink has exchanged his own mind for a communal one. He still thinks his own thoughts, but those personal thoughts always yield to the prevailing wind. As James points out, this makes him unstable in word, thought, and deed.

Some may object to me comparing Christian teaching to indoctrination. However, Christ is clear in His teaching. We are not to accept Him alongside the political and cultural norms of the day. We are to abandon their “truths”, and through the renewing of our mind, become a new creation.

The Christian experience begins with a change of mind—repentance. The entire journey from that point on amounts to an acquisition of the mind of Christ. Emulation of Him is not “monkey see, monkey do” it is action derived from sharing, as a unique creature, His thoughts. We are not absorbed by God. We remain ourselves thinking as God thinks, loving what God loves, and acting as God acts.

To say that is impossible is true if we have nothing to rely upon but human effort. We have more, much more, we have the Holy Spirit. What is impossible with men, is not only possible with God, but it is God’s plan. As long as we cling to the “human” way, truth, and life, we will experience instability and failure in all we do.

To add a bit of context to our chosen text, James is speaking about wisdom when he warns against being double-minded. God gives liberally, but not to those without expectation of receiving.

Maranatha