Anxiety and the mind of Christ
“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with your thoughts? Maybe you’ve told yourself you are a bad pastor despite a myriad of evidence to the contrary. Maybe you’ve told yourself the chairman of your board hates you and wants you fired. Whatever the thought – and those are real thoughts I have heard from pastors in the counselling office – often we find ourselves sitting and stewing in anxious thoughts, running over them repeatedly without gaining traction like tires spinning in mud.
If you have, you are not alone. Statistics show that men and women in ministry, as well as the general population, tend to struggle with overthinking and excessive rumination, the kinds of thought patterns that are often a response and a catalyst for heightened anxiety among other hard feelings. Most of the time, the thoughts are disordered and distortions of what is true.
In 2005, research by the National Science Foundation showed that the average person has between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80 per cent are negative and 95 per cent are the same repetitive thoughts as the day before.
Have you noticed this trend in your life? It is important for us to pay attention to our thoughts and to steward them well. We are not called to have the same mind as non-Christians – steeped in negativity and rumination. God wants us to be free from troubling and anxious thoughts.
What is an anxious thought? Anxiety itself tends to be the emotion we feel that is attached to the uncertain future, a dread we feel in our abdomen that signals to us that bad things are coming our way. Like predictions of the future, anxious thoughts are the things we tell ourselves about bad things that may be coming. Being anxious can feel like being stuck – it can make life feel like you are wading through mud instead of pressing ahead on solid ground. And, if we feel stuck for long enough, we may even find ourselves feeling trapped in our ways of thinking.
We have the tools we need to confront, accept and rise above our anxious thoughts. And they are not just baked into the Word – the answers are hard-wired into our new nature in Christ.
The mind of Christ
“For, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
I encourage you to read 1 Corinthians 2 in its entirety. What do we know about the nature of the mind of Christ? Of interest to us in this discussion, it is distinct from human patterns of thinking and helps us have perspective and discernment.
The mind of Christ and patterns
Anxious thinking can be disordered, repetitive and scattered. God in his omniscience is the very definition of clarity. The mind of Christ – the mind of God – is most definitely not disordered. What a gift to know that we can have access (albeit limited) to the thoughts and ways of God that can motivate us to develop ordered thinking patterns. We can grow in being like him by maturing in our thought lives, taking each thought captive, and holding it up not only against the Word, but the reality that is around us.
To do this, it can be helpful to write your thoughts down. What are you telling yourself about your situation, about the perceived threat, the perceived problem? The very nature of expression via writing or dialogue brings order to the thoughts that are bandying about in our heads.
The mind of Christ and perspective
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2)
Anxious thoughts can lack perspective. Our anxieties confront us in a very immediate sense and can stymie our view of our reality. Once we get them down on paper, we can give ourselves the space to adjust our perspective. Are these cycling thoughts reflective of what is true? Is it true that you are a fraud? Is it true that the board is conspiring against you? We can further divide our responses into small “t” and big “T” truths. Let me give a simplified example:
Event: Jim told me my sermon was weak.
Disordered Thought: I am a bad preacher.
Small “t” truth: I did my best. I faithfully brought them the word of God. Jim had some good points, but they were very subjective. In a room of 10, 50, 100 or 1,000 people, it is likely some will like various aspects of the service more than others. Even when listening to the Holy Spirit, I will not always write a sermon that is 10/10.
Big “T” Truth: I know that the Word of God does not return void. God will work in the hearts of those that are open to him. These sufferings are passing. Jesus has beaten all of this. God will still use me in the time that I am here. God can use imperfect sermons to accomplish his purposes.
Conclusion
Healthy thinking patterns and perspectives can build in us a growing sense of perseverance as we become more like God, having an ordered and healthy mind of Christ. As we become more like him in our thinking, it helps us manage anxiety well.
The thoughts that develop from having the mind of Christ are sustaining ones. Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard in his Eighteen Upbuilding Discourses suggests:
How, then, should we face the future? When the sailor is out on the ocean, when everything is changing all around him, when the waves are born and die, he does not stare down into the waves, because they are changing. He looks up at the stars. Why? Because they are faithful; they have the same location now that they had for our ancestors and will have for generations to come. By what means does he conquer the changeable? By the eternal. By the eternal, one can conquer the future, because the eternal is the ground of the future, and therefore through it the future can be fathomed.
Like the sailor, God encourages us to look up to him and the hope we have beyond the reality of the waves. We cannot ignore the waves – even the sailor, looking at the stars would still feel and hear them against his boat – but that eternal perspective can help us not to sink into them like Peter when he takes his eyes off Christ as he walks on water.
While we do have everything we need in Christ Jesus, sometimes the tools feel clunky and unfamiliar. If you feel like you need help in understanding how to develop the skills, please consider connecting with our counsellors on the Clergy Care Network at 1.800.661.9800.
Luke Campbell is a counsellor with Focus on the Family Canada and a lifelong PK.