At the conclusion of His Premiere Teaching (Matthew 7: houses built on sand and rock), Jesus introduced the concept that Salvation is evident when a person's Right SAY is the same as their DO. It is NOT enough to SAY the Right thing. If you are truly saved...if you have God directing your actions, then you would ALSO DO the Right SAY.
Let's see HOW and WHY this works within the individual...up to a point.
NOTICE: We are saved by grace through faith. Salvation ONLY comes from God because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. However, EVERYONE (saved and unsaved) has a SAY. EVERYONE (saved and unsaved) has a DO. GOD made each of us to operate with a SAY and a DO. The SAY and the DO are ULTIMATELY in the control of the individual and therefore are PROOF of whether we are saved or not.
Since God made us to constantly operate with a SAY and a DO in EVERYTHING, there are implications to our SAY and DO that are SEPARATE from the tie between SAY/DO and Salvation. This section will focus on the implications relative to Salvation...
COUNSELING
In the previous section, we saw that the purpose of counseling is to provide the Right Words to connect with a person's feelings (Unaware Brain). We have seen that when this happens, the Unaware Brain "juices" (gives a euphoric and/or alert feeling to) the individual because the Unaware Brain is understood. Here is my technique for making this connection to the Unaware Brain:
1. I ask the person what they are feeling...however, I do the next step immediately...
2. I reinforce that there are no right or wrong feelings.
We feel what we feel for a reason (WHY). The instant a person expresses their feelings with ANY value judgment words (Right, Wrong, Good, Bad, etc.), they are NOT speaking from their Unaware Brain. They are speaking from their conscious brain. This is going to limit their ability to get the correct words for their feelings. This is going to be destructive if I let them keep me focused on value judgments.
3. I tell the person they won't be held to their WORDS.
I'm trying to give their Unaware Brain freedom and create a safe place where they can blurt out anything without consciously thinking.
4. I may even throw a couple of Words at them to get them to respond emotionally without thinking...without their conscious brain.
If the person responds from their Unaware Brain and THEN instantly brings up value judgment Words, I reinforce that this isn't about right or wrong. If they can't stop mentioning value judgment Words, then I usually stop the discussion because I am causing distress. I am dealing with a person who has a very Unprofitable thought process...they are defensive and their conscious brain is getting in the way.
5. I don't immediately accept the Words they give.
The first two or three Words a person gives to me are considered a starting point. They are actually effects of the causes (beliefs causing their emotions). If they had the Right Words, they wouldn't be in distress.
6. I ask the person if they are willing to consider a couple of scenarios.
This is the modeler in me. If they agree, then I try to give them scenarios (causes) that will result in different emotions. If they look up to the sky and try to feel the scenario, I smile because I know they have accepted the proposed causes.
For example, someone says they feel like they need affirmation from their boss or they get upset or depressed. I may ask them how they would feel if their boss told someone else something good about them while they were present...then when they weren't present. I'm trying to see if they need to see their boss say it or if it needs to be said directly to them or if knowing it was said was enough. This could tell me if they are untrusting/paranoid, prideful, or insecure.
7. Then I pose different Words to explain their feelings.
Every Word I give them is an attempt to help them UNDERSTAND THEIR FEELINGS. They are considering a Word and their Unaware Brain is giving them a physical response. The closer the Word is to describing THEIR FEELINGS, the more dramatic the physical response.
When the Words are Right, everything will "click". Their eyes may even get wide and their face will light up. I call this "getting juiced" by the Unaware Brain. They may even come up with the Words themselves. They UNDERSTAND THEIR FEELINGS.
For example, "I'm insecure about my standing at work, so it causes me to feel paranoid, threatened, defensive." Insecurity is the CAUSE and the feelings are the EFFECTS. Understanding deals with CAUSES.
LAWS AND SIN
In "Modeling God", we looked at what Paul said about Sin and the Law...HOW the Law can "revive sin".
Here is an explanation on HOW Paul's statement in Romans chapter 7 causes sin to be revived:
Once the law comes back, sin uses our awareness of the law to come back to life (revive) itself. How did the commandment come back unless we allowed it to come back?
In fact, this happens all the time with "Christians". Jesus' death allows us to live in grace with Him. However, when someone does something wrong, they can state their will that they don't want to do what they did ("I want to do good")...and they continue growing if they confess and repent.
However, when a person responds to their undesirable behavior by saying, "I can't do that again." they have just made a law! More uncomfortably, they have just made Jesus' death something less! Think about it...the person is saying in effect, "Jesus, I know your death brought me victory, however, in this one area, I NEED TO CREATE A LAW because your guidance isn't enough."
The individual is now relying on themselves...they create a law...a DON'T or CAN'T...and Paul says THAT REVIVES SIN...it brings sin back to life!
Now we know WHY this occurs!
For example, when a person states, "I CAN'T smoke any more", the Unaware Brain applies the four God-given principles to this statement that it observed from the conscious brain and comes to the conclusion: "Actually, you CAN smoke!"
Then, the Unaware Brain juices the individual at EVERY instance where it is possible for the individual to smoke. The individual feels this juicing and calls it a "craving"...and they tend to end up smoking again.
The people who quit "cold turkey" are the ones who state, "I don't WANT to smoke any more." Notice, this is NOT a law AND it is something the Unaware Brain can actively work on helping the individual accomplish. However, if the person SAYS this and doesn't mean it, they are going to DO the OPPOSITE of what they SAY...and their credibility with the Unaware Brain is going to lessen.
This is a very Unprofitable situation! Not only is there a disconnect between the Unaware Brain and the conscious brain; there is also a weakening of the ability that is able to help close this gap! The person's SAY and DO are disconnected AND their ability to resolve this difference is lessening. Thinking back to the conclusion of Jesus' Premiere Teaching, what could be worse than a person's SAY and DO being disconnected AND their ability to reconcile this difference lessening? There is a word for this behavior...
HYPOCRISY
Hypocrisy is shown when a person holds others to a higher standard than they hold themselves. A key characteristic of hypocrites is that they SAY the Right thing and DO the Wrong thing. God can judge these people as guilty because their SAYING the Right thing is PROOF that they know what is Right. Let's look at what Jesus said about hypocrites...
Matthew 15
"7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man."
Jesus stated in verse 8 that hypocrites honor God with their lips (Right SAY), but their heart is far from God (Wrong DO).
Verse 9 shows Jesus stating that hypocrites worship God in vain...without a Profit. The cause? Hypocrites teach as doctrine the beliefs of men! (The foundational point of this work!)
Then Jesus concludes this passage by calling to the multitudes to HEAR AND UNDERSTAND the following: that which proceeds OUT of the mouth (Words) defiles the man. Hypocrites are open to judgment...
JUDGMENT
We are our Mind/Soul. We are in charge of our conscious brain BY our Mind/Soul. I believe Judgment in some respect is going to be based on the difference between our conscious brain and our Unaware Brain. People (non-believers) will say, "I didn't know!" Then God will pull their Unaware Brain out of them, hit "play", and all the information is going to come out. It is in EVERYONE!
However, we get judged according to our conscious brain because it is an effect of our Mind/Soul (who we really are). We are different than the animals. It is as if God gave us the opportunity to PROVE what we DESIRE by seeing what we (Mind/Soul) DO with our conscious brain. The effects are seen in our DO...
Matthew 24
"46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Jesus states that blessed is the believer who God finds DOING when he comes. Jesus' contrastive example is the EVIL servant (unbeliever) who SAYS in his heart that he can have a Wrong DO (smite fellowservants, drink with drunken, etc.) The contrastive example states this person will have his portion WITH THE HYPOCRITES...where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Hypocrites don't go to Heaven.
Luke 12
"1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known."
Luke 12 begins with Jesus talking to "the many thousands of the multitude". He states to beware of the "leaven" of the Pharisees WHICH IS HYPOCRISY. Verse 2 implies that hypocrisy can appear to be "covered up" now (especially if you are Unaware)...but eventually, God will expose the gap between their SAY and DO. Now look at the end of Luke 12...
"54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?"
Jesus again references hypocrisy...
If we are able to know what is Right in the physical world, WHY aren't we able to recognize what is Right concerning God's Plan?
Bottomline: Having a gap in you SAY and DO is Unprofitable...and may be proof that you are not saved!
Our focus ought to be to get our conscious brain to be as similar as possible to our Unaware Brain. There are two ways to do this...
1. Use the four God-given principles to model out all of the influences that are taken in. This progresses the conscious brain towards the Unaware Brain.
2. Intentionally put KNOWN (by the conscious brain) Profitable influences in front of our Unaware Brain. This progresses the Unaware Brain towards the conscious brain.
I'm realizing the Bible is FULL of BOTH of these techniques...whether it is straightforward verses like Romans 12:9...
"9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." ("dissimulation" means "hypocrisy")
OR all the mentions in the Bible of Fellowship!
Notice that Fellowship addresses BOTH methods! In other writings, I have equated Fellowship with the four God-given principles as one of the five behaviors that repair our brain and can lead to physical health! Speaking of health...
There are two KEY points to also remember:
1. The conscious brain (First and Second Feedback Loops) does NOT work when it is overstressed. Make sure you are giving your body time to absorb the adrenaline and your amygdala has stopped firing before you apply the four God-given principles.
2. The conscious brain needs TIME to catch up to the Unaware Brain. Don't make any decisions or take any actions UNTIL YOU HAVE TO.
James 3
"13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."
Say what you want about Bill Clinton, but he was a perfect example of someone who didn't respond while in distress. He was an example at handling stressful situations because he delayed his reaction (KEY point to remember #2) until he had all the information and checked everything out. Eventually, a way out was determined...as long as a bad decision wasn't acted on in the mean time. I Corinthians 10 says,
"13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
STATING YOUR WILL
Stating your will is a way to help others close the gap between their SAY and their DO.
We have learned that our responsibility is to get people to state their will, don't argue with them, and leave them alone. "State your will" means the person expresses out loud a definite "yes" or "no". We have seen that people go out of their way NOT to state their will. Why? The individual wants the benefit of doing something unjust WITHOUT feeling the guilt or pain of being unjust. The first half (before "WITHOUT") of that last sentence is the conscious brain; the second half is the Unaware Brain. Asking people to state their will is causing them to link the two!
The following statement of the will results in Salvation!
Romans 10
"8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
The biggest service we can do for other believers is to confront them when their SAY and DO are disconnected...
Luke 17
"1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him."
Jesus is stating that there is no limit to the amount of times a believer closes the gap between their SAY and DO...even seven times in one day! Notice, without the confrontation, the believer who sins doesn't close the gap between their SAY and DO.
Matthew 18
"14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican."
Jesus is showing that the believer who won't even HEAR from believers who are helping him close the gap between his SAY and DO can eventually lose his Salvation!
Confession and Repentance are statements of the will!
SAY: Confession is an admission of the wrong act.
DO: Repentance is DOING the OPPOSITE to the point of repairing the damage.
The Unaware Brain REWARDS ANY effort to close the gap!
This is HOW/WHY the "placebo effect" is observed. The Unaware Brain can cause an illness. The person takes a pill. The Unaware Brain can believe the conscious brain is making the effort to close the gap, so it can remove the illness.
The pill turned out to be a sugar pill. People end up saying, "Sometime the mind just heals itself". This is a WHAT. The HOW/WHY is that the Unaware Brain can encourage the conscious brain to keep making progress.
However, if the individual doesn't get counseling (for depression) or change their actions (for erectile dysfunction), the Unaware Brain can cause the effects to come back. Now the doctors say the dose needs to be increased, or the prescription needs to be changed, or discontinued. For example, over half of the prescriptions for Viagara do not get refilled.
I see this same effect in the Traditional church. People don't know what they believe and WHY, yet they judge others. The Unaware Brain can sense the disconnect and the believer can get a bed feeling.
The believer begins stating a lot of Right WHAT's (effects)...and this can cause them to feel better. The Unaware Brain can encourage the conscious brain. However, when the individual does not follow through solving their problem, they can end up feeling twice as bad. They could get help and focus on the causes. Or they could state twice as many flowery effects!
The cycle continues until they seem to live in two states: flowery high or discouraged low. How many Traditional-minded people do you know who "talk themselves high" with flowery Biblical effects? How many "Christian" books are written completely in this manner?
These people are NOT attempting to close the gap between their SAY and DO. They are trying to survive by talking themselves high AND NOT have understanding as to the causes...
I Timothy 4
"1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."
Hypocrisy is one of the traits that will become more apparent "in later times"...
Our focus OUGHT to be to get our conscious brain to be as similar as possible to our Unaware Brain. There are two ways to do this...
1. Use the four God-given principles to model out all of the influences that are taken in. This progresses the conscious brain towards the Unaware Brain.
2. Intentionally put KNOWN (by the conscious brain) Profitable influences in front of our Unaware Brain. This progresses the Unaware Brain towards the conscious brain.
I'm realizing the Bible is FULL of BOTH of these techniques. Notice that Fellowship addresses BOTH methods!
At first blush it looks like Jesus was focused on #1: Modeling everything we take in.
It looks like the Epistles were focused on #2: Intentionally putting Profitable influences in front of our Unaware Brain.
Jesus was a rebel who walked among a lot of bad influences and was constantly modeling them. THAT is a complicated lesson to teach!
The Apostles and Paul were stressing the easier lesson to teach. Notice all of the themes that are mentioned:
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." (Philippians 4:6-9)
"Think on these things"!
It is as if God made us in a way that encourages us to communicate for our own benefit! Fellowship, community, Church, Marriage...the Meaning of Life!
This section reviewed a lot of Scripture that was presented earlier in this work. We now see that the Ultimate cause is thinking!
Let's look at a couple more applications before concluding this section...
We saw that the amygdala was a part of the Second Feedback Loop. The amygdala is also a part of the Unaware Brain! This is where the conscious brain and Unaware Brain overlap. Consequently, it is possible to intentionally change a person's emotional reaction to a situation.
This is called REHEARSING! The person intentionally IMAGINES a scenario that could happen. They intentionally see the situation (for example, an Unprofitable exchange they had with another person). They intentionally go through the verbal exchange with the other person in their head. This is done either by having someone else stand-in for the other person OR by bringing one of the senses into the REHEARSAL. This intentionally puts the experience in the amygdala (Unaware Brain). Then when the experience ACTUALLY happens, the amygdala acts the way it REHEARSED because to it, there is no difference between a REAL event and an IMAGINARY event!
Another application has to do with "church"...
Our Unaware Brain is a MODELER. It works according to the four principles and determines the CONCLUSION.
Our conscious brain does NOT do this, so there is a distance between our Unaware Brain and our conscious brain. The conscious brain has three choices...
1. Do NOT try to figure things out. (Emergent church) This guarantees that the individual's conscious brain will end up serving the enemy, however, this takes time for it to happen.
2. Try to figure it out according to the Wrong (man-made) HOW/WHY. This is destructive and causes the individual's conscious brain to serve the enemy fairly soon. These people are the ones I wrote about during the explanation on Abuse...these people end up not only taking themselves down but a lot of other people with them. (Traditional church)
I hope you can see WHY someone would rationalize that doing #1 is MUCH BETTER than #2.
It is interesting...my first post on my blog more than three years ago dealt with how Christians believe there are two options and how they swing back and forth between these options every 20 years. Recently, "an obituary" was written for the Emergent church and it stated it was 21 years old.
My first post on that blog asked whether we want to continue the same destructive pattern or do the third option which is what the Bible presented....which is:
3. Try to figure out according to the Right HOW/WHY...which is MODELING. The WAY to MODEL is ACCORDING to the four God-given principles!
So, basically, our conscious brains are CONSTANTLY falling behind our Unaware Brains. The ONLY way to intentionally keep them closer together is for the conscious brain to work according to the same principles as the Unaware Brain!
Finally, there is a HUGE IMPLICATION to the information in this section...
Paul's definition of Spiritual Warfare (2 Corinthians 10) states that it is not physical. Spiritual Warfare consists of taking THOUGHTS and IMAGINATIONS captive. In the brain, THOUGHTS and IMAGINATIONS consist of Words. In the next book, we will see that the examples of Spiritual Warfare in the Bible consist of Words.
An Unprofitable thought process is due both to genetics and learned behavior. The First and Second Feedback Loops are the results of genetics and surroundings. We learn our thought process from our surroundings. In fact, the Unaware Brain is primed from our surroundings. For example, people OUGHT to confess and repent, yet they LEARN to rationalize and be hypocritical.
Unprofitable behavior that is exhibited by our ancestors that is not dealt with through confession and repentance is the VERY DEFINITION of a "Generational Curse".
We have seen numerous examples of HOW to use the Unaware Brain to repair an Unprofitable thought process. Next, let's look at HOW to repair an Unprofitable thought process in the conscious brain. Let's begin with the First Feedback Loop...
Next Section at Book Level: Improving The First Feedback Loop
Chapter Summary
Part III Table of Contents
Part I Table of Contents
