The pandemic of the decade is not COVID-19. It is double-mindedness. Our nation has become a society of people who can cross their fingers behind their backs and tell bold-faced lies for political expediency, and then in another setting deny they made the comment if it is problematic to their careers.
They can listen to their own voice making the comment and say, “That’s not me. I never said that.” Even though the entire comment is recorded and played in real time. The media can slice and dice any comment into sound bites and spread them like grain to hungry birds, whether the information is true or not.
Slogans scream, “My Body, My Choice” while denying the same right to another body’s choice. “Black Lives Matter,” but black police officers and black businesses can be destroyed by the same people protesting with BLM signs. Leaders lock down businesses and neighborhoods but find a need to use those businesses secretly. Climate change must be controlled, but my jet and my automobile are exempt. Double-mindedness is rampant.
The media and political scene are not the only place we find double-mindedness. If we turn the magnifying glass on ourselves, we will find evidence of double-mindedness. Some smugly say, “I can break the law if I don’t get caught.” We can scream and shake our fists at fellow drivers on the freeway and still consider ourselves to be kind and loving. We vent frustration on our children and expect them to follow the rules. We monitor the movies our children watch because it could negatively impact their minds while we have a daily fare of violent and sexually explicit movies. Double-mindedness is a pandemic.
The symptoms of double-mindedness are not fever, sniffles and the loss of taste and smell, but a loss of perspective and integrity. There are several signs that you might be suffering from this pandemic.
If you have uncontrolled anger, it is a symptom of double-mindedness. Anger is an emotion that digs deep caverns in the heart. Those caverns are places where the fire of anger smolders, waiting to be fanned and energized into a raging blaze at any moment. Each time you rage, the cavern grows, and the fire kills sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings. If not checked, it will lead to violence and finally uncontrollable sorrow. What is the remedy? First, we must realize we have a problem. It is easy to say, “I would not have been angry if he or she had not provoked me. I would control my anger, but that person deserves just what he or she got.”
Often, we feel justified for our actions because that is the reaction of the hero in the movies. But no excuse will do. Anger is fire that will burn and destroy your life and the lives of those around you. Anger is a choice, and the only way you can control it is to make a different choice. Choose to take a deep breath. Choose to count to 10 or 20 before you respond. Choose to make an excuse for the other person rather than for yourself. Turn to Jesus in prayer. He, like a physician, will give you the remedy. Turning to Jesus Christ and our desire for forgiveness can be the fire extinguisher we need to put out the fire of anger and redirect that passion to a better use.
Another symptom of double-mindedness is the lack of forgiveness. Holding a grudge is an obsession. An obsession travels many roads but always ends up in the same location. A grudge takes mind-time and destroys creativity. It causes blindness to the needs of others and blocks out the breath of free thought.
George Herbert said, “He who cannot forgive others destroys the bridge over which he himself must pass.” One time or another in our lives, there comes a moment when we will need to be forgiven and will realize that those who do not forgive suffer much more than those who have wronged us. Sometimes the person we feel has wronged us doesn’t have a clue they have hurt us. Sometimes they do. In either case, clearing the air is the best policy. Go to the person in private and ask, “Why?” Don’t be afraid of the answer. It is a great source of freedom.
As we free our minds, we have added power to seek the things we desire. It breaks the obsession and directs our energy to higher creative thoughts. Sometimes it takes prayer and redirecting our thoughts, especially when the person is not sorry for what they have done. When the thought pattern returns to our injury, take time to sing the Frozen song, “Let it Go.” And consciously think of something else. Give it to Jesus. He is the one who can most help the other person.
Another symptom of double-mindedness is adopting the philosophy that truth is relative and that you can shape it to your advantage. The King James Version Dictionary has a different definition.
TRUTH, n.
- Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be …
- True state of facts or things. The duty of a court of justice is to discover the truth. Witnesses are sworn to declare the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
- Conformity of words to thoughts, which is called moral truth …Shall truth fail to keep her word?
- Veracity; purity from falsehood; practice of speaking truth …
- Correct opinion.
- Fidelity; constancy …
- Honesty; virtue …
- Exactness; conformity to rule …
- Real fact of just principle; real state of things …
- Sincerity …
We can alter our statement about the truth, but we cannot alter the truth. If we try to put our own spin on the truth, we know instantly that we are lying. We start making excuses in our minds as to how we will explain ourselves if someone catches us in the act. We explain our reasoning repeatedly and again until it becomes an obsession. If we do it long enough, we don’t remember what the truth really was, and we fight against anyone who tries to correct our statement. Finally, we come to the point of denial. “I never said that. You misunderstood me.” We weave a tangled web that even we cannot untangle. It is easier to tell the truth in the first place.
Jesus has His own elixir for the double-mindedness pandemic. He said: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (see Matthew 7:12 KJV).” Double-mindedness comes from having a different agenda than what you know is right. We all know it is wrong to harm other people. We all know we are happier when we are honest. Lies tangle our minds into a web of excuses and alibis. We say in our minds, “They will never find out. They deserve how I treat them. I am justified in this case. I will lose my standing if I don’t plan and execute this scheme. I am superior and more educated than other people, so I can do this or that and I will never get caught. I am too far down the path of lies to turn back. I must destroy the evidence. There is no God and no tribunal of justice, so I don’t have to worry. After all, it is the survival of the meanest and the fittest.”
All these excuses are symptoms of the moral pandemic raging in our country, and just as sure as we allow ourselves to get the germ, we will suffer with the disease. Making excuse only postpones the inevitable. Unless we get help, we are doomed. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14: KJV). He also said, “The truth shall make you free” (John 8:32 KJV). Furthermore:
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:22-23 KJV).
