The truth
I recently heard a Christian speaker talk about the power of positive thinking, but I have asked myself if this is a concept that we should embrace as Christians. What do you think?
We can probably all agree that negative thinking isn’t good for our mental health, and we might also recognise that such thoughts may originate from a spiritually dark place rather than from the light. But should we be talking about positive thinking at all? Is this compatible with biblical Christianity? I want to suggest that it is not. Insofar as positive thinking is better than negative thinking, it might be seen as ……. positive, but we shouldn’t see this as a Christian concept. As Christians, our focus is not on positivity but upon truth – we are the people of truth, and sometimes the truth won’t feel positive, although it will have a beneficial effect if both embraced and acted upon.
Facing reality
I am a sinner, albeit a redeemed one. At the time of my salvation, all my sin was washed away, but my sinfulness wasn’t; I remain a sinner as the apostle Paul declares about himself when he speaks about delighting in God’s word, then goes on to mention another law at work in him: Romans 7:21-25. As a result, I need, repeatedly, to come to God, recognising that I have uncharitable thoughts about others, or that I may have done something that dishonours him, or have failed to do what I might have done to serve him. I need to confess my sin and ask for his forgiveness and cleansing. This doesn’t equate to positive thinking, but is a necessary recognition of the truth, from which I can repent and be forgiven. Then I can stand upon the truth of God’s forgiveness and the righteousness of Christ that is credited to me. We do not have the right to feel positively about ourselves when we need to repent and to receive forgiveness – quite the opposite. But once we have come clean with God, his cleansing of us frees us to stand tall; it liberates us once again. Positive thinking would tell us that our sin doesn’t matter, that we should see past this. It will say that our transgressions are small in the great scheme of things, or in comparison with those of other people. But neither of these assertions would have a foundation in truth, and I suggest that we need to recognise where such untruth comes from, namely, the father of lies. True liberation can only come from God, through the work of Jesus on the cross. Without this, positive thinking is a sham; it is self-deceit.
Application
There are other areas where some might use the concept of positive thinking, where scriptural truth is misapplied, misappropriated. I was told when I was weighing up whether to commit my life to God, that he loved me, wanted to bless me and had a purpose for me. I chose to believe this, and have continued my life ever since on this foundational truth. However, my experience is that this truth isn’t a blank cheque that entitles me to expect an easy path. I have learned that God will bless me when I am obedient to the leading of his Spirit, but not necessarily because I fix upon a verse or passage of scripture and claim blessing. It is true that much of scripture speaks to general truths, such as one of my treasured verses in Proverbs 3:5,6. It is also true that we cannot just pluck verses/passages out of context and claim God’s blessing – his approval is dependent upon relationship, upon living in truth and upon our obedience. A disobedient child should not expect to receive benefits but rather, discipline. God is a good father who will not turn a blind eye to our defiance or neglect; he will act positively towards us by confronting us with truth. We might ask if there can be anything more positive!
Blessing
Many years ago, Jean and I were in a church situation that was not good. The result was that for a long time, we only made a minimal financial contribution. There came a point where I felt God speak to me very clearly that we should resume tithing, despite there being no change in the church situation. We agreed together that we should make this change because that was what God had prompted us to do. Very soon after this, I received a totally unexpected increase in income, and Jean learned that she was entitled to a benefit that we were unaware of previously. We were struck by the way that God had blessed our obedience, although we had no expectation of such bounty; we were simply being obedient to what God had told us to do.
Oops
There had been a previous occasion where the reverse had happened. Here, I decided to trust God for financial provision, without having been prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so. The result was that I fell flat on my face and had to sell our car to get us out of the financial difficulty that I had landed us in. The bottom line is that God is trustworthy, but it isn’t good enough to do what we like, or even what we think is the right thing. God’s blessing follows his word – we need to be listening to him and acting upon what he says rather than making assumptions about his bounty. Yes, he will certainly bless his children who listen out for his voice and who step forward in obedience to his Spirit.
A firm foundation
There is nothing more positive than for a Christian to be obedient to God, and no greater blessing than to receive his approval as a result. As Christians, we should live positively and securely, but the foundations for this are truth and the voice of God in directing our paths.