This is something I've been trying to figure out how to articulate. When discussing ideas with people the initial response is almost always an off-the-shelf argument they've been socialized into adopting. 1/ https://twitter.com/PerfInjust/status/1339212704775593985

i.e. "Well, as a white man I think I just need to shut up, listen, and learn." "Christian nationalism is wicked." "Taking the vaccine is how you love your neighbor during this pandemic." "The church in America has made an idol of marriage and family." 2/

It's not until you begin challenging the implications of these arguments that you start to see the gears turn, often for the first time. Most people just haven't thought through the subjects they're "supposed" to have an opinion on. Who has the time? 3/

Most of us don't structure our lives in such a way as to provide the margin for deep thought. It's much easier to grab an argument off-the-shelf from The Gospel Coalition, Desiring God, John MacArthur, or your celebrity pastor of choice. 4/

These aren't necessarily bad resources, but they should be launching pads for deep thought, not subcontractors we outsource our thinking to. 5/

I think we all do this to some extent. Earlier this year, I was challenged on this as I read God's Battle Plan for the Mind by David Saxton on the Puritan practice of meditation. 6/

I began to recognize areas of my own life where my behavior was based on beliefs that I had adopted from somewhere and hadn't really given much thought to. I look back and see countless examples throughout my life. 7/

Contrary to modern notions, meditation is not emptying your mind to achieve a state of peace. It's prolonged, deliberate thinking on a particular subject. 8/

We all meditate on something. It could be our problems, baseball, how to get a promotion at work, whatever TV show we're binging at the moment, etc. Biblical meditation (or the doctrine of Xian thinking) is when we meditate on scripture and how it applies to a given subject. 9/

This is difficult work. It requires effort and planning. It's not easy, but it is commanded in scripture. "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind." Otherwise, we will conform to whatever off-the-shelf ideas are presented to us. 10/

This is not to say that if we all thought deeply we'd all come to the same conclusions about a given subject. We wouldn't, but our conversations would sharpen each other as we are forced to contend with well thought out arguments instead of pre-packaged rhetorical devices. 11/

As Christians committed to Biblical thinking, let's stop and think before we give an answer. Let's commit to thinking deeply and knowing why we believe what we believe. Let's be alert for off-the-shelf arguments and rhetorical devices that have crept into our thinking. 12/

By recovering the practice of Biblical meditation, the church will once again produce the type of thinkers that can faithfully apply God's word to their lives and be equipped to face the unique challenges of our increasingly secular times. 13/13