Thoughts in Captivity

The name of my blog as a whole is “Thoughts in Captivity.” While I love a good play on words since this is, after all, a collection of my thoughts, I landed on this title specifically because of Paul’s charge in 2 Corinthians 10:5(b):

… we take every thought captive to obey Christ. (CSB)

Just before this call to take thoughts captive, Paul reminds the Corinthians that our real enemy cannot be fought according to the flesh, with weapons of the flesh. No, our real war is a spiritual war against the devil and his demonic army.

And since you and I cannot jump back and forth between realms like Danny Phantom (a nod to my fellow millennials), it begs the question where this “war” is taking place and what “weapons” we are supposed to be using.

Spoiler alert – the war is inside your mind.

(I could spend a long time unpacking that, but there are some amazing books out there that explain it more eloquently than I ever could. See Live No Lies by John Mark Comer or Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table by Louie Giglio, just to name a couple.)

Ok, back to the point.

The war is inside our minds, and the enemy uses thoughts like little Trojan horses, seemingly innocent and maybe even to our own benefit but, ultimately, packed full of lies and destruction.

And while most of us probably scoff at how quickly we would’ve been the wiser had we been in Troy at the time of the Trojan War – you wouldn’t have fooled me with that wooden horse stunt! – we fall victim to that same tactic every day.

Example. I see an ad for some cute athletic clothes and a thought crosses my mind, “I need to start working out again.” Seems like a good thought, right? I mean, taking care of my physical body is a good thing, right? But I don’t make that thought obedient to Christ, and it quickly turns into all the things I don’t like about my appearance. And then under the pretense of taking care of myself, I rob a few minutes from my daily quiet time (or even abandon it altogether) so I can work out just a little longer. And now I realize my athletic clothes are so last season, so I should refresh my wardrobe a little. And then… well, you get the idea.

Not necessarily a bad thought outright, but if not made obedient to Christ, the enemy will gladly unveil all the lies and distractions he’s hidden behind the curtain.

This is why Paul says take every thought captive. Emphasis on every. We can’t always tell what is good from what is bad.

What is legit from what is counterfeit.

What is truth from what is a lie.

Hey again, Millennials. Remember that bowl of fake fruit on your grandma’s table? (Like, seriously. Why was that ever a thing?!) It looked so real and so tasty, but left you gagging on plastic after taking a bite out of the fake pear. And then turning it around in hopes that she wouldn’t see your teeth marks.

So, if I can’t always distinguish what’s good from bad in the physical world, how much more difficult is it in the spiritual world?

But Paul already gave us the solution. If I take every thought captive and put every thought to the test, I open up space for the Lord to guide me. I don’t lean on my own understanding, but His. Through the Holy Spirit, I will be equipped to toss out lies and cling to truths. The more truths I hold in captivity in my mind, the less room for the lies at all.

One more analogy.

I spent most of my childhood on a ranch in Northeast Texas. We pretty much always had horses and had cows when the weather conditions were favorable (meaning no droughts). I also raised goats in the FFA. Having livestock meant having feed in the barn. Having feed in the barn meant having rats. Having rats meant having the occasional snake. Though a domesticated rat at the pet store might be kind of cute to an animal-lover (yes, me), the feral kind usually elicited a mild screech, and stumbling upon a snake would certainly cause me to jump out of my skin.

But then we did what every American dad is terrified of… (dun-dun-dun!)

We started feeding the outdoor cat. (gasp!)

And like every good barn cat, he naturally helped ward off the rats and snakes.

Having open sacks of feed is part of life on the ranch, but feeding the right kind of animal (the barn cat) kept the undesirable animals (rats and snakes) from destroying things.

Having thoughts is part of the human condition, but feeding the right thoughts (truths) will keep the wrong thoughts (lies) from destroying you.

This analogy could keep going since cats are just small lions... but I digress.

Anyway, welcome to my blog where I hope to share with you some of the thoughts I’m holding in captivity.