Primed Mind

Imagine that I have invited you into my office for a brief meeting.  You walk down a long corridor and through my doorway where I ask you to sit down at a table nearby.  I then hand you a piece of paper and a pen.  On the paper is a list of five-word sets.  I ask you to make a grammatical four-word sentence as quickly as possible out of each set.  Ready?

• him was worried she always
• from are Florida oranges temperature
• ball the throw toss silently
• shoes give replace old the
• he observes occassionally people watches
• be will sweat lonely they
• sky the seamless gray is
• should now withdraw forgetful we
• us bingo sing play let
• sunlight makes temperature wrinkle raisins

Simple right?  In fact you probably were thinking of sentences using those words as you read them.  Here’s where this gets weird though.  When you leave my office after this test, you will walk slower down the hallway going out than you did when you came in.  Why?  Because I primed your mind using my test to think you were old.

Within the word sets you were reading words like “worried,” “Florida,” “old,” “lonely,” “gray,” “bingo,” and “wrinkle.”  These words will have the effect of priming your mind to think about being old and you will therefore walk more slowly down the hallway as a result.  Don’t believe me?

This experiment was actually performed by psychologist John Bargh and was discussed in the fascinating book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.  It seems that our minds are easily primed for action by subtle suggestion in the forms of words and images.  Why else would you want a hamburger at 2:00 am after watching a commercial showing one looking all appetizing and hearing words like “juicy,” and “delicious?”

This phenomenon should make us a little more cautious and a lot more deliberate about what we allow to prime our minds don’t you think?

 

  The apostle Paul seemed to understand this perfectly when he wrote to the Philippian church:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. (Philippians 4:8, NIV, emphasis mine)

Or what about his word to us in Romans?

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8, NIV)

So how do we prime our minds with thoughts that will be pleasing and honoring to the Father and that will enable us to walk with purpose for His kingdom?  I have two general suggestions:

1.  We must be careful what we allow into our minds.  For instance, will that latest episode of Desperate Housewives prime our thoughts and actions to be God-honoring?  Methinks not.

2.  We must be deliberate about what we put into our minds.  We should be filling our mind with Scripture, great books, great music, prayers, and praise.  Remember the words of David in Psalm 119:11; “I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you.”

I will close this post with a word from the apostle Peter who wrote;

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled, set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ (1 Peter 1:13-16, NIV, emphasis mine)