What neuroscience has to say about Romans 7

I recently listened to a couple of interesting podcasts on neuroscience that gave insight into a hard passage in Romans. Read Romans 7:15-25 and then take the time to listen to a couple of episodes from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast put out by How Stuff Works.  The 9/15/11 podcast "Is free will an illusion?" which lasts about 40 minutes and the 11/8/11 podcast "This is your brain on art" which lasts about 44 minutes are both worth listening to. The first gives insight into how our subconscious can be at odds with our conscious mind and the second describes how we can force ourselves to re-evaluate what the subconscious presents and make different choices.  Of course, both over state the case of what the science actually reveals, but the relevance to the passage in Romans was interesting to me.

Stuff To Blow Your Mind on iTunes

Your clothes are talking to me

An article posted recently on the Christianity Today website speaks rather well to the issue of clothing people wear to church.  There is an idea sneaking into the more contemporary religious mind that the clothing you wear to church makes no difference at all.  It would seem that anyone who has something to say about your dress is simply guilty of judging you.

Some point to passages like 1 Peter 3:3-5 that say your adorning should be from the inside out and pretend this means your clothes are irrelevant.  Others would point to the words of Jesus, such as Mark 12:38-40, which point out that fancy clothes are not signs of true righteousness.  But neither of these passages are really addressing clothing.  They are addressing your heart.  A fancy outer shell will not make up for a dirty heart.

Maybe someone can show me where the bible says a clean heart is best recognized by shabby clothes?

People seem to forget that your clothing speaks.  Clothing is not personal.  Clothing is what you are showing everyone else.  If you follow the warnings of the previous scripture references, it will show up in your clothing.  Non-verbal communication is still important when you go to church.  The apostle Paul obviously thought non-verbal communcation as it applies to clothing absolutely did matter.

Here is the conversation we have when someone walks up to lead worship wearing tennis shoes and faded jeans:
"I'm lazy and can't be bothered to show you any respect."
"You seem lazy and can't be bothered to show me any respect."
"Hey! Don't judge me!"

My dad addressed this same issue in a few handwritten paragraphs I found that were meant for his short lived blog.  What would you think if you walked into the doctor's office and the person who was supposed to be the authority on healing your body was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals?  You want your doctor to be dressed professionally.  It shows that he respects you, that he is serious about being a doctor, and implies that he can be trusted.  Walking around UVA there is no doubt which students are in the medical school.  Even underneath the clean white coats they are all dressed very well.  They obviously realize that non-verbal communication matters.

Remembering that clothing matters doesn't directly translate into a coat and tie in every situation (I have no idea how to describe fancy women's clothes, sorry).  There are cultural norms to consider that will be different in every place and that change over time.  It obviously doesn't mean booting visitors or treating them poorly because their clothing isn't nice.  But that does not make your clothing irrelevant.

Let your clothing reflect your heart appropriately for your situation instead of hiding or disguising your heart in a lazy dress code.  In doing so you will show respect to those around you and better reflect what these passages of scripture are teaching.

You will never "find yourself"

I have heard it a million times.

"Teenagers are just trying to find themselves."
"You just have to let people find themselves."
"Young people are just experimenting to find themselves."

I have always thought that was one of the dumbest things people say as it has no practical meaning, serving only as an excuse for poor behavior.  Thank you to Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn and author of The Start-up of You, for finally talking some sense:

“Contrary to what many bestselling authors and motivational gurus would have you believe, there is not a ‘true self’ deep within that you can uncover via introspection and that will point you in the right direction,” Hoffman writes. “Yes, your aspirations shape what you do. But your aspirations are themselves shaped by your actions and experiences. You remake yourself as you grow and the world changes. Your identity doesn’t get found. It emerges.

You cannot "find yourself."  You will never find a "yourself" somewhere that you don't already know about.  What you can do is... do something.  By doing something you put experience to your ideas and find what is possible and what is not possible right now.  You do not find some "yourself" and a magical path that will allow your "yourself" to blink happiness and success into existance.
Like the quote above says, what you do shapes your aspirations.  If you let your peers or children or whoever choose foolishness in the name of "finding themselves" then you are letting them shape their aspirations with foolishness.  What kind of person can we possibly expect to emerge then, but a fool?  When a person's real choice is to do something, instead of "find themselves," we have a responsibility to try and guide them in a wise manner so that their aspirations are shaped by a solid foundation, not tossing waves.

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