Common Sense and Worldliness

That won't help much Mr. Lemming.

Maybe we could define "Common Sense" as the sense that everyone has but hardly anyone uses.

That is the internet joke anyway. If you googlize the words "common sense" you will find a lot of Thomas Paine quotes and also the meme that says "Common sense: so rare it is a superpower." (I got a laugh out of that.)

What is funny about that is that everyone at some point looks at another person doing something crazy and wonders "Don't they know better? They should know better!" Then the part we may not say out loud: "I know better." I saw a guy walk up the street yesterday, dressed up in full costume as a comic book character. As the guy at the table next to me and I joked about how our neighborhood is now a much safer place (from ninjas and invisible pirates), I watched the guy walk down the street and thought "I know better. He should too."

Common sense right?

There is a common sense in this world. There is a sense that everyone has AND that everyone uses. All of the time...and it may be the predominant religion in the world.

I was too afraid to drink this because mountain goats were upstream.

Hiking affords some elegant views of the origin of mountain streams. As I type, water is furiously rushing down the slopes of Mt. Rainier from an ice source at the top of the mountain. Because the ice is pure (for the most part) the stream is pure (for the most part). One thing is true, the water flowing down the mountain will never be more pure than the ice melting at the top.

The source of common sense (don't hate me for saying this) is sin. Now, I am sure that objections come to mind immediately. I have some too, but the reality is that what is most common among people in this world is a sin nature. Even the very best intentions we might have to do the very best things we can think of are born from a sin nature. Come by my place and listen to someone talk about saving the world through recycling or irradicating homelessness (both good things) and, if we lean in to really listen, we can hear the pride of self-righteousness subtly welling up and spilling out of his (my) words.

Let me illustrate it another way. What if some random guy came up to you on the street and said "If you want to learn from me and be like me, you need to die to your deepest desires and come follow me around?" If he was dressed up like a comic book hero we might laugh and then walk on. Most likely, we would be creeped out and then go blog about the insane man we met outside the place we get our morning coffee. What a loon, right?

There are a lot of reasons why we wouldn't take him seriously, but the greatest of these is that what he said goes against our common sense. Our common sense tells us to seek what we think will give us the greatest happiness at the least amount of cost.

Here are other ideas that push back on our common sense:

• Seek to see others as more important than ourselves...and act that way.
• Our greatest joy will only be found in surrendering our deepest desires.
• Move away from safety and security of family and friends to a country where people will reject you because of Who you want them to know.
• Lay up treasures where Jesus is...and, more importantly, treasure Jesus more than the treasures. 
• Live a life that will make sense in 100 million years even if it doesn't seem to today.

So, I am not saying that we need to reject EVERYTHING we know and try to rethink whether it is good to stop at a red light or not. Please, stop at red lights and don't wear Deadpool costumes around the neighborhood.

Stopping is a Good Thing

What I am saying is that maybe we hold on tightly to some things we call "common sense" because we treasure the sin behind the ideas. Maybe we hold on the concepts with a death drip because we cannot believe that what God has said is actual better, more pleasing, than how "the World" has discipled us to this point. Maybe, someone is like me and afraid to pay too much attention.

What we often call "common sense," the Bible often calls "worldliness." All I know right now is that everything that is from God requires that I trust Him with all my heart.

Spirit, please help us discern the difference.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14 ESV)

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV)