If Christianity is true, it has lots to say about our psychology (far more than many of us realise) - and it stands to reason that if a man were to analyse himself with clarity he would soon come to realise that through the word of God he has access to a whole new dimension of self-analysis; an analysis which, if pursued, will reveal to him much clearer visions of new beginnings.  I do not wish for you to think that I am just talking about any particular type of person, for everybody has much to learn from examining his or her own psychology; and whatever their position, clarity of mind will help with progression.

 

As we explore human psychology and the theme ‘visions of new beginnings’ in the next few weeks, I think we will begin to see what it is that is causing so many people to be indifferent towards Christianity these days.  It seems that many people have missed the fact that Christianity offers everyone the chance to search for the truth - a truth which is, for many people, much more disquieting than indifference.  You can call it procrastination, you can call it discounting the future if you wish, but that would be, in my view, to throw a blanket over the fire. 

 

Mere descriptions of ‘procrastination’ just won’t do; the indifference or rejection is far more serious than one who disregards Christ’s claims can possibly know.  If we are going to take good care of our psychology, ensuring along the way that every day we are gravitating a little bit closer towards ultimate truths, we are going to have to experience abnegation; that is, the fullest attempt to bring our psychology into near proximity to the divine methods by self-denial. 

 

Those of us who became Christians in adulthood, know very well the psychological difference between knowing God and not knowing Him; thus in seeing the psychological differences, we are able to do two things.  In the first place we are able to grow in Christ by recognising what we once were and what we are now; there will be many moments when the old psychology tries to force its way back into what is now the domain of the new psychology.  To recognise this is to keep a sharp eye on our own personal growth; for those old ways of thinking very often help us to stay focused on the new beginnings which we are working towards.

 

In the second place, it helps us to empathise with the psychological state of atheists, so that we are able to help them out of this futility.  It does not, of course, always seem futile to those whom we are helping, but that does not take anything away from the plight that they are in.  This unawareness of the futility is, itself, part of the futility that we are discussing. 

 

We are all sinners who can be destined for greatness in Christ, and only through the cross can this paradox be resolved.  If these visions of new beginnings are to be explored, one must realise that the only successful life-philosophies will be the ones that have within them recognition of the cross.  And if this sounds extreme - I hope to show you in the next few weeks how every part of thinking, of reasoning, of desiring, of co-ordinating, of sequencing, of loving, and of searching, are, in some way, interrelated with the cross of Christ. 

 

Many people that do not believe in God have a sub-conscious (occasionally conscious) dislike of religion.  They dislike it for two reasons - because there might be something that is true but not currently theirs, and because if it is false it belongs with all those other horrible things that we should be trying to eradicate.  And this is not as wholly irrational as it sounds; if it were all false, I think the world would be a much better place if it were eradicated - for however comforting it might prove to be for some people, it is, in my opinion, quite inauspicious to live a life dedicated to falsehood. 

 

This is a part of why Christ calls upon us to shine His light.  If we can make it more alluring for others, we make it more tempting, and thus, more believable in the process; that is to say, psychologically, tempting things are usually very believable things.  If this sounds cunning, it is not; Christ did not try to entice people with fancy talk - He simply showed people how believable it is.  He confounded many of His critics by showing them miracles.  And this, I think, is what we are called to do - to exhibit the miracle of Christ that is in us, to reflect Him in everything we do. 

 

Doubters will not always be persuaded by seemingly miraculous things (see Matthew 11: 23, 24), but a system of belief which displays a profound understanding of human cognition will very often prove itself to be quite irresistible.  Once again, this is one of the biggest failures of many of the churches, and indeed, many modern Christians; they do not give enough indication that they have a better understanding of human cognition and human nature.  If a man feels that this Christian belief system has true promises of self-understanding, he will very often undertake the psychological prostration necessary for surrendering to Christ.  This prostration is, of course, seen as a weakness by many - but as we shall see in future messages, the true weaknesses of cognition, lie not in prostration, but in self-delusion. 

 

There are visions of new beginnings everywhere we look.  Christ died on the cross so that we could have salvation, and He remains visible in the modern world, through people who know Him, through our own thinking, and through nature itself.  Very often we can pay so much regard to the view through the window but no regard for the window itself, or our ability to see things in the first place.  It is a sequence, each one rumouring new beginnings beyond that of the view itself.  There is a special vision of new beginnings right between that which we see and that which we perceive; in fact, the dialectic between seeing and perceiving is forever giving us hints of new beginnings.  It happens most clearly in love. 

 

Love, of course, has its origins outside of nature, it is not of ourselves but of Christ - but you can experience it both the right way (in Christian love) and the wrong way (in non-Christian love) by stepping into its domain.  If we stand too close we are too involved - thus it produces a mere hazy obfuscation; if we stand too far back we cannot begin to sample its true beauties; but if we are equidistant from both extremes we experience the true power of love’s mystery; that is, the mystery is in its origin - for when we love we are only really imbibing that parts of the divine that He sees fit to bestow upon us.  I hope I am not misunderstood, it is still the most stupendous part of earthly living, but nothing with so much power and from such an awesome source can be anything but hints of the divine, until that is, we are able to experience it in its fullest sense as creatures of the new covenant. 

 

The part of romantic love to which I am referring is, of course, the part that can absorb (to the best of human ability) Christ and the beloved; so that His love can be transferred to one beloved from another.  All human lovers know that, in love, there is only really one indivisible point which truly encapsulates love; for all the rest tend to human weakness and insecurities. 

 

Non-Christian thinking tyrannises a person, taking over his or her whole body, just as a dictator tyrannises the inhabitants of his nation.  His autocracy is founded and sustained on the misfortune and mis-education of the people; in fact, all the biggest tyrannies, dictatorships and empires in the history of the world (including the pseudo-benevolent ones like the British Empire) are founded on human weakness.  This is also true of almost all non-Christian thinking, for it shows itself in quiet moments to be supported by the most fragile of fabrics.  Human weakness reveals itself in all aspects of thought to be the processor of human denial; thus we see people looking to the world for various methods of attacking those weaknesses. 

 

But Christianity, true as ever in revealing the futility of such attacks, diminishes the weaknesses in another way altogether; it shows us the inevitability of human weakness; it shows us that our afflictions and insecurities are really our blessing; and that our realisation both of the weaknesses and how to rely on Christ’s great strength to overcome them are, in fact, our biggest and most admirable qualities.  Those that spend their lives trying to impress other men are the ones who truly exhibit the fragility of the human fabric - the weakness of trying to combat insecurity with self-delusion.  It is not just in Christian searching that this occurs, or even in everyday life, it is easy to be more sympathetic to a particular weakness when the person to whom the weakness belongs is not aware of its existence. 

 

Modern day life consists of many distractions - they are very much part of the devil’s plans; distractions stop a man from seeing his true plight.  We can see in all men the real fragility of such a situation - nothing could lead him further away from his own soul than to be caught in the net of diversions and take pleasure from their existence.  And we see that the unhelpful diversions of the world are stopping many people from coming to Christ.  One who fails to observe the world’s meanness must himself be quite mean, and equally one who fails to observe the distractions of the world must himself be quite distracted. 

 

And this type of observation is prevalent in many other things.  A man’s lack of awareness of, say, self-centredness, pride, vanity, or the dangers of obeying every instinct, usually reveals in his character a prevalence of these things.  And in the same way, to not realise the absence of Christ, both in the self and in other things, is to not realise the need for His presence.  Sensible analysis, when the distractions have become secondary, might lead a man to become quite disconsolate; thus leading him straight back to the net of diversions once again.  It is an unfortunate tautology - but one that can be stopped with careful examination of the primary and secondary needs of the self. 

 

But of course, these thoughts, even to one like myself who is establishing them, do not sound at all interesting or appealing.  For most people (myself included) the prospect of solitary analysis, of sitting quietly alone working out these things sounds quite boring - helpful but boring, for who these days can find the time for such things?  It is not always realised that lucidity does not automatically come from the analysis itself - it is just as likely that self-analysis can bring about bad judgements.  Creative vision, insight, and perception are the three predominant faculties in man - creative, not as Da Vinci creates the Mona Lisa, but as imaginative resources create directives and purposes for us - some of which are good and some of which are bad.  The good leads us progressively but the bad very often produces deception; for it is deceptive by its inconsistency more than anything else.  I do not wish for you to think that I am speaking of fools here; you will see it operating most in men and women for whom intelligent thought appears to them to be quite a dominant faculty in their own make-up. 

 

Rational enquiry can do much in the world of imaginative needs; it can separate real authentic progression from creative delusion, but it can never establish the value of something without first establishing the worthlessness of its opposite or its alternative.  This, I think, is the principal reason why people have become so indifferent towards Christianity. They have missed the truth of His glory by overlooking the consequences of not living for Christ; and in doing so, many have missed what Christianity has to offer them - that it is the only pathway to the truth. 

 

Perhaps it is true that many of the social texts and cultural fabrics of this day do not make much room for the bigger questions of ultimate truth, certainly not in the minds of those imbibing them.  But we can be sure of one thing - whatever distractions occur along the way, it can be said of everybody, whether happy or unhappy, rich or poor, successful or unsuccessful, scholarly or unscholarly, that they have an in-built desire for something far greater than any of these earthly things can provide.  We were told by our Lord to ‘make disciples of all nations’ - and this is one of the areas in which our own psychology is vitally important; that is to say, those who are progressing well on their own journey with Christ are the ones who will be best equipped to assist and encourage others to be His disciples and share in His glory. 

 

Click here to read the next part of this series: Creative Delusion

The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norwich, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users. We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted below, upon the ideas expressed here. You can also contact the author direct at james.knight@norfolk.gov.uk 

James is a Norwich local government officer, author and Proclaimers church member in Norwich. 

Meanwhile, if you want to find out more about Christianity, visit: www.rejesus.co.uk