Mission of the Mind: Catriona Gorton

Among my favourite hymns is Frances Ridley Havergal's Take my life, which is simultaneously holistic, referring to the whole of life, and challenging – I can never sing it and feel comfortable afterwards!

The lines "take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose" resonate with the theme 'mission of the mind' – God gave us minds, intellects, brains for one good reason – to employ them!  In my experience, all too often Christians downplay the role of the mind in favour of a skewed understanding of the Spirit, confusing emotional response with authenticity, and being suspicious of inquiry or questioning.  In my twenties, in order to 'belong', I stopped questioning and suppressed views that did not seem to fit with the version of Christianity I was experiencing.  It was only after God's call to ordained ministry that I discovered the liberating potential of theological thinking – and that my questions and ideas were valid within the spread of orthodoxy (rats, I always liked being a heretic!).

I remain grateful to Scripture Union Bible reading notes for a little (maybe slightly trite) rhyme that has stayed with me through the years:

If we are all mind, we dry up,
If we are all spirit, we blow up,
If we are mind and spirit, we grow up.

It is not an 'either/or' but a 'both/and'.  To mature as Christians we need to employ our intellects properly, to engage with topics that discomfit us, to ponder possibilities that seem alien to the comfortable version of Christianity we experience week in, week out (whatever label we choose to use for ourselves).  The prospect of 'Catalyst Live' really excites me and I booked my ticket months ago!  The chance to feast on the ideas of some great theologians, the opportunity to stretch my intellect and wrestle with ideas, the gift of listening for God's still small voice amidst the clamour of church life…. Yes please!

One day, a few years back, one of my church folk commented on my continued study, "surely you know all there is to know by now".  The quest for understanding, the desire to learn and grow, the need to stretch my mind, is part of my discipleship, my spirituality, my call – "take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee."  Holistic discipleship, heart and mind, body and spirit – I want to be part of that.

Catriona Gorton is minister of Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow and blogs at A Skinny Fairtrade Latte in the Foodcourt of Life