Old Dogs And New Tricks

My wife is in the process of reaching one of her goals - learning how to play the piano. On a recent drive, she stated how challenging adapting to new things can be, specifically the process of re-training the muscles and coordination of her hands to play the correct notes or chords. This caused me to think about the neurology involved and how it is similar to our spiritual challenge of breaking free from the traditions that hinder us from true apostolic authority.

Let me get medically geeky here. In neurology there is the Law of Facilitation which states: When an impulse has passed once through a certain set of neurons (known as the "facilitated section") to the exclusion of others, it will tend to take the same course on a future occasion. Each time an impulse traverses this path, the resistance will be less. This results in a pattern of behavior developing.

Here is a natural example. Let’s say you have to cross a field of 3 foot tall weeds but there is no path. On your first trip across,  you walk through the weeds, pushing them aside and treading them down.  When you return, you would naturally follow the same rough path. Daily as you cross the field, you continue to walk the same path. After a period of time, a dirt path would have been formed. Because of its ease, this would be your normal path to cross the field.

This happens in our nervous system as we practice physical activities. The pianist has to first think about how to move their hands to play a particular chord. However after many hours of practice, when they think to play that chord, the nerve impulses automatically take the path that they have practiced, causing (seemingly unconsciously) the hands to move and play.

This principle is applicable to our spiritual lives. Initially, when we are born again, we must forge new spiritual pathways. These include our prayer, bible study, worship, giving, involvement, ministry and other aspects of how a Christian should live. As we continue, we develop our pattern of spirituality, thus creating well worn paths of spiritual behaviors.

The challenge is that when spiritual enlightenment comes to our lives. To walk in this new enlightenment we must CHOOSE to “walk through the weeds,” and make a new path. This will require INTENTIONAL EFFORTS on our part. We must choose to live different.

The enlightenment of apostolic authority challenges us to examine our spiritual patterns. We must choose to live different in our areas of prayer, our view of “ministry” and the priesthood of believers. There are those who may have to evaluate their level of commitment. This  will require of us the hard work of forging new spiritual pathways. There will be internal resistance. Our nature does not like to change, old habits die hard. It is the proverbial saying; “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” However, this proverb can be proven false by anyone who is hungry and desperate enough to push through their natural resistance.

That is why the Word speaks that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) and that we are to be renewed in the spirits of our minds (Eph 4:23). To walk in spiritual authority and reveal the dominion of the Kingdom of heaven, we must push through the resistance and forge a new way of spiritual thinking that will free us from the old paths of traditions.

Food for thought – Evaluate your spiritual habits. When was the last time there was a major shift in your spiritual lifestyle?

Until next time --

 Martin