A Different Mindset

How long has it been since someone said you are "the bee's knees"?  In
my case, never.  But my mother might have been given that compliment,
and my grandmother almost certainly was.  The phrase was popular in
the 1920s (along with "the cat's pajamas" or "the cat's whiskers"),
and was always intended as a statement of appreciation.  Use it today,
however, and you may receive either a blank stare or a slap in the
face.  My advice: Avoid using the phrase.

Our world is constantly changing.  Helping us to grasp that fact is
the newest edition of Beloit College's "Mindset List".  Ron Nief and
Tom McBride, professors at Beloit, have published this list for the
past 12 years.  In doing so they point out things that the incoming
college freshman class has always understood in their world.  In many
cases it's jolting to realize how different their world is from the
world we older folks have known.

Number 3 on their list is that the Green Giant has always been Shrek,
not the big guy who picks vegetables.  No, "Shrek", the movie, was not
released until 2001, but that's about when the students'
impressionable minds were soaking up experiences and images.

If you tell today's college freshmen to "shake down" the thermometer
before using it, they won't understand.  All they have known (unless
their moms are dedicated to old fashioned devices) are the digital
types.  In my childhood days one could only watch cartoons on Saturday
mornings.  These young folks have always had access to the Cartoon
Network 24-7.  They have always been able to enjoy blue Jell-O.  New
to us?  Sure, but these and other items on the Mindset List are old
hat for today's freshmen (and you might have to explain the phrase
"old hat" to them, too).

All of this makes the Bible even more remarkable.  Though the oldest
portions of this book are about 4,000 years old, it's still relevant
and fresh.  The language in which it has been translated may need to
be updated now and then, but its content needs no revision.  It is as
Peter said long ago: "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man
as the flower of the grass.  The grass withers, and its flower falls
away, but the word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Peter 1:24,25).

Here's a sample that is about 3,000 years old: "A soft answer turns
away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1).  Would
anyone deny that this principle is still valid?  Or how about this
statement in Proverbs 17:28: "Even a fool is counted wise when he
holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive."
The words are ancient, but they're still true.

Here is one of the best statements of the timeless quality of the
Bible: "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).  What makes the Bible so
different from all other books?  It is "the word of God".

God knows how to communicate with mankind, regardless of the age in
which they live, the language they speak or their socioeconomic
background.  Those who doubt this claim need only to pick up the Bible
and give it a fair reading.  Doing so may lead to a new (and improved)
mindset.

Come to the light God offers!  Study His word, the Bible.  Worship Him
in spirit and truth (John 4:24).  Get in touch with us if you'd like
to discuss these ideas further.
Timothy D. Hall