Brainwashed!

by Tad Lindley

Conversations like this have been happening for the last 2,000 years now:

“Dude, I just scored a few grams, come over and we’ll smoke some bowls and play PubG!”

“Nope on the dope, sorry Bro, I’m going to church! You want to come with me?”

“Church, church, church. Dude you are getting so brainwashed. I don’t know what’s happened to you, but you better be careful.”

“Actually, old friend, my brain needed washing! And yours does too!”

They are brainwashing you

When you experience biblical salvation you change both outwardly and inwardly. It is impossible for people not to notice that something has happened to you. Being born again is the greatest thing that can ever happen to a person, but not everybody will be excited for you when it happens. They may not know about the prayers you prayed. They may not have been there when you were baptized under water in Jesus’ name for the remission of sin. They may not have witnessed you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave you utterance (see Acts 2:1-4). But they have noticed extreme changes in your behavior: your addictions are done, your language has changed, you have walked away from sinful things they still are bound by. All of this bothers many people. Instead of being provoked to deal with their own sin, they begin to say things like, “Poor Bro. Lindley, started going to church, and all of the sudden he really changed, I think they are brainwashing him!”

Folks, my brain needed washing

The prophet, Jeremiah, wrote, The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (17:9) I haven’t lived in your head, but I have lived in mine, and I can tell you that my brain used to be a toxic place. It was a place of constant fear, of deep resentment, of shame, of addictions, of rebellious attitudes, of harsh judgment, and even hate. My mind and my own best thinking have led me to make every single mistake I have ever made in my life. Every crime I ever committed against man and/or God originated in my mind. My brain needed washing.

Jesus wants to brainwash you

Jesus wants to brainwash us. The Bible makes that plain and simple. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Another place the Bible says, If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new (II Corinthians 5:17). He wants to change your mind: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Romans 12:2). If that isn’t brainwashing, then what is it?

He isn’t the only one that wants to brainwash you

Hollywood wants to brainwash you too. If you ever visit my house you will notice that we have no television. Neither do I go to movie theaters or watch Hollywood on my phone. They have a real agenda that they would like to normalize. They want you to vote like them, degrade women like them, behave like them, and believe like them. The same could be said for the music industry. The alcoholic beverage industry wants your brain to believe that the key to having a relaxing evening starts with cracking open a cold one. Your local neighborhood undocumented pharmacist wants your brain to believe that all you need is a speedball to be the next superman.

Let’s look at the data

You may not believe me, but think about this. In the movie, Forrest Gump, (which I did watch before I got into church), the mom prostituted herself to get her son into school, and we were supposed to laugh at that. In the modern TV series, Game of Thrones, (which I have never seen) people are being brainwashed to get comfortable with the degradation of women. Here is the data for nudity in that program: Season 1: 33 naked people (88% women, 12% men) Season 2: 16 naked people (100% women, 0% men) Season 3: 19 naked people (79%, 21% men) Season 4: 23 naked people (91% women, 9% men). I have never even seen the shows and I can see quite clearly that, whether the actors mean to brainwash people or not, they are clearly normalizing pornography, and the degradation of women. If you are involved in worldly entertainment, I am afraid that you are the one being brainwashed.v

Basic Bible instructions for brainwashing

If you have a real desire to have the mind of Christ, to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and to become a new creation in him, then you need to be brainwashed. I am always quoting Acts 2:38, because it so nicely captures the pathway to salvation in one single verse: Then Peter said unto them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” What are you waiting for?

Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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