INTENTIONALITY

Webster’s 1828 American dictionary defines the word “intention” as follows:



“Primarily, a stretching or bending of the mind towards an object; hence, uncommon exertion of the intellectual faculties; closeness of application; fixedness of attention; earnestness. Intention is when the mind, with great earnestness and of choice, fixes its view on any idea, considers it on every side, and will not be called off by the ordinary solicitation of other ideas.”


Typically, people are very intentional in many areas of life. Good athletes are intentional about the activities that will make them faster and stronger, leading to improved performance. A good business owner is intentional about building the brand of the business, in hope of attracting her target market. Good teachers are intentional when preparing their lesson plans; in order to assure that the educational objective is accomplished.


In everyday life, we are intentional about eating, brushing our teeth, exercising, going to church, driving our cars. Now you may be thinking that these things don’t require much “intentionality” – these are more like habits. That may be so, but think about when you first learned to drive, Isn’t it true that you had to “bend your mind” toward the task, concentrate, and really apply yourself? I certainly hope so!


I have been thinking about how critical intentionality is in the life of a believer, and how often I fail to be so. Sometimes I am very unintentional about the disciplines and practices that will better equip me to run the race set before me. No runner can expect to perform well come race time if they have not been extremely intentional in training, and I believe this to be true of the Christian life as well.


Look with me again to Webster’s definition. For the believer, Intention is primarily the “bending of the mind” towards God. It’s probably just me, but I find that sometimes my mind is less bent toward God than at others. More about why that is so later.


This bending of the mind leads to “uncommon exercise of the intellectual faculties”. One of the many hazards of life in 2011 is that the pace of life leaves us little time to think – really think. If my mind is truly bent toward God, I want to hear what he has to say and I incline my ear toward Him and his message. Then, having heard His message, I must apply my intellectual capacities in an uncommon way, by thinking about what his word communicates to me, rolling it over and over in my mind. I should think about how it applies in my marriage, in my work, and in my relationships. When I read the newspaper, I must read through the lens of scripture, and think about the news of the day with a mind informed by the divinely inspired word of God.


When I do this my life will be characterized by “closeness of application”, which implies considered action; “fixedness of attention” (focus); and earnestness (as Webster defines it: “ardent in the pursuit of an object; eager to obtain.”).


I know that I am intentional about my walk with Christ when the primary bent of my mind is toward God, and I choose to fix my eyes on Him, considering every aspect of His character and nature as it is revealed to me in scripture. I am intentional when I refuse to be called off by the “ordinary solicitation of other ideas.” Therein lays the great challenge…


“The ordinary solicitation of other ideas.” Each day of my life I am bombarded by “other ideas”. These are the false truth claims of the world – and are so ubiquitous that they begin to seem ordinary. I am exposed these ideas from the time I wake in the morning to when I fall asleep at night. These ideas can be found across a broad spectrum - from the advertising that attempts to convince me that my identity is somehow related to the kind of car I drive or the clothes I wear, to the news media that presents the demands of homosexual “rights” groups in a way that seems logical and worthy of empathy. I must be very careful that this constant barrage of other ideas does not bend my mind away from God and toward the world, “for everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world.” (I Jn 2:16)


Although I recognize the need for intentionality in my life, I know that this does not happen as a mere act of the will. It is dependent not upon my level of self discipline, but upon the grace of God who has given me everything I need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3).

As I write these words, the sun is beginning to rise, and my mind is bent toward God.


May it remain so…


In Christ –


John


Soli Deo Gloria