Every day, billions of humans have thoughts that they never act upon or speak out loud. We don’t have a pre-crime bureau, as in the 2002 Tom Cruise movie, Minority Report, where people are arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for their thoughts (or what they “might” do). We generally judge people based on what they do, and not what they think.
All of us have had thoughts that we would never want anyone to know. Years ago, as I was driving to nearby Defiance, I pulled up to the traffic light at the corner of Clinton St and State Hwy 15. The light was red, so my eyes turned toward the drugstore on the corner. As I surveyed its parking lot, I noticed a large dumpster. I thought, “That sure would be a good place to dump a body”! WTF, right? Where in the world did that thought come from? Am I a hopeful serial killer? Not likely. It was just a random thought, likely fueled by my TV viewing habits. Should I have been arrested for my thoughts? Of course not. I have had numerous crazy thoughts over the years; fleeting moments where my thought processes turned dark. As a depressive, I have had countless suicidal thoughts. Should I be arrested to keep me from harming myself? Most people would say no. Most people ponder killing themselves at one time or another. These thoughts come and go for most people, who don’t act upon them. I suspect most of us don’t want to live in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four world; a world where people are routinely arrested for their thoughts by the Thought Police.
Unfortunately, many Evangelical Christians are taught that God does, indeed, judge us for our thoughts. In Proverbs 23, the Bible talks about a ruler, saying, in verse 7a, ” So as he thinks in his heart so is he (KJV). This verse is often mistranslated, misinterpreted, or misapplied, but generally, Evangelical preachers use this verse to say that “we are what we think.” They justify this use or interpretation by quoting the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:27-28:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Jesus said that if a man looks at a woman and lusts after her, he has committed adultery with her in his heart. In other words, Jesus judges a man for what he thinks, and not just for what he does. Just because a man looks at a woman and has a lustful thought, it doesn’t follow that he will have adulterous sex with her. Imagine if this were really true. Most of us would have committed fornication or adultery with countless people.
Talk to people who spent their formative years in Evangelicalism and you will hear how they were taught that they could sin with their thoughts; that just having a sinful thought will bring God’s judgment upon you. Evangelicals are encouraged to fill their minds with Bible verses, prayer, sermons, Christian literature, and Christ-honoring music. And when these methods fail to keep “bad” thoughts at bay, either Satan is blamed for our failure or our “flesh” is.
Were you taught that your thoughts could be “sinful”? Please share in the comment section how this thinking affected you.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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