As I listened to the sermon last week my attention was drawn to “control.”
The scripture is familiar to me, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). I grew up in a Baptist church and that verse is always used to teach of the evil of alcohol, which is a misinterpretation, but that’s a side issue. That verse is seldom tied to the preceding verses, which is, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do” (15-17).
People who are controlled by alcohol don’t make wise decisions, they make poor choices. But booze is not the only thing that controls people and I began thinking about the things that has power over people these days, what is it that controls me?
This is Thanksgiving week and you can’t think about Thanksgiving without thinking about food. But for many people food is not just a holiday event, it’s what controls them everyday. As my dad was fond of saying, “Some people eat to live, other people live to eat.” Gluttony is an indicator of deeper psychological, emotional and even spiritual problems. When one is controlled by food they cannot be controlled by the Holy Spirit.
As the pastor spoke I made a list of things that control thinking, things that so dominate us that we make poor decisions. The Internet (especially Facebook these days), sports, TV, talk radio, music. None of these things within themselves are wrong, but just like wine, if these things dominate us we run the risk of missing the opportunities that God would have for us if our mind were not cluttered with other things.
Of course the darker side of alcohol leads to even more serious consequences. So, too, does other destructive habits, like lust, which leads to pornography and illicit activity; bitterness, which leads to broken relationships; covetousness, which leads to debt; self-loathing, which leads to depression; obesity, which leads to physical breakdown and disease; fear, which leads one to paranoia and disastrous decisions; self-importance, which is another form of self-loathing which draws one away from reliance on God.
One does not have to be a “crackhead,” to be dependent, controlled. In the days we live the addictions are subtler, but they are just as destructive. To know the will of God, to make the choices He would like us to make, to seize the opportunities that are before us, we must have a clear mind. Reining in wasteful habits is the path to clear thinking and being filled with the One who will guide us through a rich and fulfilling life.
