Critical Thinkers

Who has time for critical thinking? We have work to do! This statement is like starting on a long journey with an empty gas tank but deciding you don't have time to stop and fuel up. For over thirty years, one of the highest-level concerns among world leaders has been the deficiency in quality thinking skills. Critical thinking has little to do with a person's IQ, but everything to do with our mind-set.

Author G. Janice Miller links critical thinking and spirituality. If a complete stranger were to observe my actions and listen to my conversations for twenty-four hours with no other information available, what would they conclude concerning who or what I worship? Shallow thinking has taken many people down a path of idolatry without even realizing it.

Awake! Our enemy, Satan, takes advantage of shallow, fragmented thinking to promote his agenda. It is an enemy of Ephesians 4:13, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

Our culture encourages us to form and vocalize opinions and judgments before we have an adequate foundation to understand the topic. We tend to train our minds to think in sound bites and 280-character tweets. Couple this with the human tendency to overestimate our ability, and it results in perpetuating fragmentation.

God is calling us to wake up and see what the enemy of our souls is doing. We must be sober and diligent. Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 6:10, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." We need a solid foundation that the enemy cannot penetrate.