Wholehearted [part iv]

Here we are today wrapping up this series on wholeheartedness. We started off by noting the way our society is having such a hard time dealing with anxiety and stress. It is obvious that communities are torn and fractured. But we also noted that this happens because we as individual people are torn and fractured on the inside. And so we have been looking the past several weeks at the greatest command we find in scripture—to love the LORD with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

There has been one major feature we developed about this command to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength. Rather than this command being seen as a categorical checklist, we have noted instead that this command is—in fact—an invitation from Jesus to be whole; that the fractures and cracks in our own life trace back to disconnects between our own heart, soul, mind, and body. God invites us in a loving relationship with him to be whole again, to be wholehearted people.

is there anything I can do to cultivate wholeheartedness?

Last time I left us with this observation. It is God who sanctifies us and makes us whole. But we also left last week hanging with a question. Is there anything you and I can do to cultivate and nourish and grow this wholeheartedness that comes to us through Jesus? That’s what we are considering today. Maybe all this discussion the past several weeks about wholeness has left you feeling a little bit bewildered. It all sounds so wonderful to have a life that is being healed from the fractures and anxieties that rip apart your heart and soul and mind and body. But maybe you just haven’t been able to experience that healing even though God is inviting you into this life of wholeness. Is there anything you can do about that? The answer is YES.

We can cultivate wholeheartedness. Think of it like gardening. When I put seeds into the ground in my garden in the spring, I cannot make those seeds turn into plants. Only God causes the seeds to grow and become plants. Yet at the same time, there are some things I can do as a gardener to cultivate those growing plants. There are nutrients I can put into the soil. I can make sure the garden gets enough water. I make sure the garden is in a place that gets enough sunlight. I cannot make a plant grow, but I can do some things to place just the right conditions around that plant so that when it does grow, it can be as healthy and productive as possible.

But just so you know that I am not an awesome gardener, the opposite is true as well. If I deprive that growing seed of nutrient rich soil, water, and sunlight, the plant will not grow healthy and won’t last long. Let’s consider today what the Bible has to say about cultivating wholeheartedness.

Philippians 4:4–13 NIV

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. 10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Matthew 11:28–30 NIV

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

results that come out of a wholehearted life — rejoice, be gentle, pray, give thanks, don’t be anxious

Cultivating wholeheartedness. Let’s consider from these words of scripture how we might have lives that place just the right conditions around our heart, soul, mind, and body so that the invitation from Jesus to be whole can flourish and abound within us. Verses 4-7 recount something of a familiar list. In fact, we saw something quite similar last week from the end of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Rejoice, be gentle, pray, give thanks, and don’t be anxious. Like we noted last week from Thessalonians, I place these qualities we see in verses 4-7 as the fruit that is produced by a life that is wholehearted. These are not the ingredients that go into making a wholehearted life; these are the results that come out of a wholehearted life. Paul is just telling us how we know a wholehearted life when we see it.

Replacement

vs 8 — whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy—think about these things

How, then, can we cultivate a wholehearted life that gets there? Look at what Paul says next starting in verse 8. Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy—think about these things. The Greek word here which is translated as ‘think about’ is logizomai. It means to ponder or meditate upon or reason with. There is an old cliché that says “you are what you eat.” The idea behind that saying is an acknowledgement that whatever you surround yourself with in your life you will eventually become. Whatever you fill your head with all day long, those are the things that will either cultivate and build up wholeheartedness, or tear apart wholeheartedness.

What is it you are filling your head with day after day?

I was chatting with colleague who pastors at another church. He was lamenting a frustration with an individual who is causing some bitter conflict in his church. His frustration mounts from knowing that the one hour of Bible this man gets in church on Sunday is completely drowned out by the eight hours each day he spends listening to angry talk radio shows all day long while driving a delivery truck. What is it you are filling your head with day after day? Several studies have shown that over half of the information shared on social media as ‘news’ is conclusively false. You know how Facebook’s algorithm works; whatever you start clicking on is the kind of thing that will eventually take over and fill your news feed. If we spend our days filling our heads with lies, it will be pretty tough to cultivate a wholehearted life that binds together heart, should, mind, and body.

about more than what thoughts and ideas we put in our heads — expanded to everything we put into our lives

Allow me to stretch this idea a little further. This month I have been reading the book, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk in which he notes the interconnectedness between the brain, memory, emotion, and our physical bodies as it relates to trauma. These instructions we read from Paul in Philippians 4:8 shouldn’t be limited to just our minds; it is about more than what thoughts and ideas we put in our heads. It should be expanded to everything we put into our lives—heart, soul, mind, and body—because, as we have noted, we are whole beings in which heart, soul, mind, and body are connected.

Sometimes this shows up in obvious ways. People who struggle with alcohol or drugs or prescription painkillers are consuming unhealthy amounts of a substance often to escape or numb some kind of mental or emotional trauma; but shows up in ways that impact them emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically—it shows up in heart, soul, mind, and strength. People who struggle with pornography deal with unhealthy and misplaced passions and emotions which impact the way they see and think about other people in devalued ways—it affects the whole being.

And so, cultivating wholeheartedness is about more than just the thoughts we put into our head. It is also about the emotions we embrace in our hearts, the hopes we hold onto in our spirits, and the way we treat our bodies and our physical health. When Paul tells us to cultivate wholeheartedness by saturating ourselves in all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy, this ought to include our thoughts, our feelings, our souls, and our bodies.

what am I feeding into my life mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically?

replace life-draining sources with life-giving habits?

Start there. Take time this week to pay particular attention to what it is you are taking into your life mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Is it life-giving? Or is it life-draining? When you catch yourself taking in something life-draining into your heart, soul, mind, or body, ask yourself how you can replace it with something life-giving instead. Cultivate a wholehearted life by paying attention to what you are taking in.

Contentment

Greek manthano = ‘learn’ — more than simply acquired information; implies gaining knowledge through reflection and experience

The next section of Philippians 4 moves on to the second feature we can embrace which cultivates wholeheartedness: contentment. It is interesting to me that Paul admits in his writing here in Philippians that contentment is something he had to learn. The Greek word is manthano is translated as ‘learn.’ But it means more than simply acquired information; it implies gaining knowledge through reflection and experience. In other words, Paul had to figure this out for himself in his own life. He was the one who had to discover and embrace contentment in his own life.

Greek autarkes = ‘contentment’ — being able to recognize what is sufficient

When the Bible talks about contentment, the Greek word autarkes, it should not be thought of as giving up or settling for less. It is not an excuse to be content with a D- on a test for which you could have gotten an A with the effort of studying and preparation. What the Bible is talking about here is being able to recognize what is sufficient. Paul is writing that he did not always have this; he had to figure this one out and learn it.

hungry or well-fed

The one example given here in scripture is food. Paul says he knows what it is like to be hungry and he knows what it is like to be well fed. I trust that many of us have never really known what it is like to be without food. But we do know what it is like to be insufficient with food. I know there are times when I stuff myself with things that are unhealthy instead of eating a sufficient amount of something healthy. I know there are times when I eat more quantity of food than is sufficient. Contentment is about recognizing and embracing what is sufficient.

unhealthy patterns that are insufficient affect our whole being

do I recognize what is sufficient for heart, soul, mind, and body?

Contentment is key to cultivating wholeheartedness. You see, when I find myself regularly eating food well beyond the level of sufficiency, it affects my body in unhealthy ways. But unhealthy physical habits that do not give our bodies what is sufficient also affect the rest of our being—mind, soul, and spirit. And the same thing is true for each of the others. Unhealthy mental patterns that do not give your mind what is sufficient affect the rest of your being. Unhealthy emotional experiences that do not give your heart what is sufficient affect the rest of your being. And unhealthy spiritual practices that do not give your soul what is sufficient affect the rest of your being.

There has been plenty in the news as of late about supply chain problems. Certain items in the store always seem to out of stock. Price inflation on certain goods because demand is up and supply is down. I read a fascinating article last month in the Atlantic by Amanda Mull. She notes statistics that reveal America has experienced a 17% increase in the rate of imported goods in 2021 over what it was in 2019 (two years ago). The data shows that the supply chain of importing commercial goods this year has not slowed down or bottlenecked or blocked; it’s just the opposite. Mulls observation in her article shows that American consumer demand is the thing that has exploded in 2021. We are a nation of consumers; and after having spent all of 2020 staying away from stores and malls and shopping, we now find ourselves blowing the lid off of this country’s unquenchable appetite to consume everything we can get our hands on.

not have a supply chain problem, but an overconsumption problem — we have failed to recognize sufficiency

use the word ‘enough’ more often

America has 330 million people according to the 2020 census. That’s 4.3% of the world’s population. America imports and consumes over 50% of the world’s material goods. We do not have a supply chain problem; we have an overconsumption problem; we have failed to recognize sufficiency. Learning contentment cultivates wholeheartedness. Here is one thing you can do to take some steps in that direction. Start using the word ‘enough’ more often. Sometimes ‘enough’ will be a cut-off: one helping of dinner is enough; that’s enough TV for today; that’s enough time at the office this week. Sometimes ‘enough’ will signal more: I am not getting enough sleep for my body to be rested, I am not spending enough time with my family, I am not reading enough of the Bible.

Using the word ‘enough’ helps to identify sufficiency. Identifying sufficiency helps embracing contentment. Embracing contentment cultivates wholeheartedness.

Rest

everything just needs to shut down every once in a while in order for it to work right

There’s one more thing we can do to cultivate wholeheartedness; it comes from Matthew 11. Rest. Every now and then one of my kids will come to me and say that their phone or some other electronic device is not working right or something like that. My first response is always the same, “did you try restarting it? turn it off and turn it back on again; reboot.” Nine times out ten that seems to fix it. Everything just needs to shut down every once in a while in order for it to work right.

Of all the Ten Commandments we read in Exodus 20 there is one that continues a pattern which God himself establishes. The sabbath. God tells his people to carry on a pattern of resting once every seven days because this is what God reveals about himself in the creation story—that God rested on the seventh day. Jesus reminds us of this in Matthew 11. Rest cultivates wholeheartedness.

sabbath is rest for our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls

We have been talking holistically all the way along in this series. Rest is no different. Maybe we think of sabbath as rest for our bodies—we take a break from physical work. But sabbath is also rest for our minds and hearts and souls. Rest is about stopping; restarting; rebooting; turning everything off and then on again. Think of it this way, rest is letting go. Letting go of agenda. Letting go of control.

rest takes a break and lets go of agendas, lets go of controlling outcomes and plans

When we rest our bodies we let go of any agenda of what else our bodies are busy doing. When we rest our minds we let go of any agenda of planning and thinking and analyzing what it is we are up to and where our plans go next. When we rest our hearts we let go of any agenda of how I feel about this thing or that person or this event or that circumstance. When we rest our souls we let go of any agenda which seeks to find meaning and purpose and relevance in ourselves. Rest takes a break and lets go of agendas and lets go of controlling outcomes and plans. Rest takes a break and lets go of tomorrow and the next day and the next day for a little while. Rest takes a break and lets go yesterday and the day before and the day before for a little while.

rest helps you be fully present right here in the moment

Here is what rest helps you do. Rest helps you be fully present right here in the moment. Without distraction of all that has happened in your day and week and month which you’re still trying to work through; without distraction of all that is coming up and will need attention in the next day and week and month; rest allows your heart, soul, mind, and body to collectively gather in a wholeness of the present moment.

what is preventing me from being fully present with God?

regularly take moments to stop everything

I love autumn. I would say it is my favorite of the four seasons here in Michigan that I enjoy. I love the cooler crisp air, the changing of leaves, the harvest of fresh Michigan Apples. I love moments of rest when I can go walk in the woods behind my house in this season. If my mind were racing in a million directions instead of resting in the moment, I might not notice the deer standing out in the field or the fox darting across the trail around the corner. I might otherwise miss this grand display of God’s creation existing in a moment of harmony and beauty. I might otherwise miss this reminder from God that, at that moment, I am standing right there as part of the harmony and beauty which God has created—right there with my whole being in fellowship with God: heart, soul, mind, and body. Experiencing a moment of loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength—not as an obligation to God’s command, but as a response to God’s invitation to be whole. Rest cultivates wholeheartedness.

Find those moments in your life to cultivate wholeheartedness. Pay attention to all that is life-draining around you and replace those things with all that is life-giving. Use the word ‘enough’ to find sufficiency and learn contentment. Make a pattern of rest which helps you let go of agendas and control so that you may be fully present—heart, soul, mind, and body—with God. Cultivate that, and you will see God produce fruit through a life made whole.

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