Mark 1:4 - Think Different
Word of the Week: Change
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
— Mark 1:4
Mini-Message
Thinking in a new way is the first step to living in a new way.
If you try to change how you act without changing how you think, it won’t last.
On the other hand, if you change how you think without changing how you live, it isn’t enough.
A new life begins when we hear the message of Jesus, start to see the world differently, and then live in a new way because of it.
The Five-Minute Version
To understand Jesus, Mark says you should start not with faith, but with repentance. Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, prepares the people for the coming of the Messiah by “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
The Greek word metanoia, which we translate as “repent,” is close in meaning to Apple’s famous ad campaign in the ’90s: “Think Different.”
As Mark’s story begins, we find John the Baptist telling the people of Israel to repent. To repent means to change your mind or to think differently about what matters.
Repentance has a strong “after” part. After learning something new, you see the world differently, so you have a new mind about it. Repentance also has a “purpose” part, meaning that changing your mind leads you to a deeper sense of meaning and purpose.
A new way of thinking leads to new actions and new results.
Growing up in church, I often heard that repentance means to “turn around.” But that’s a different action. In Peter’s sermon to the Jewish people in Acts 3, he says, “repent and turn back to God.” He uses two different action words: metanoeó and epistrephó.
Peter tells people to 1) see things in a new way, and 2) with this new understanding, turn back to God.
Both steps are important.
New actions without a changed heart won’t last. But a changed heart without new actions is not enough, because faith without works is dead.
It takes two steps to fully change your mind: first, you need to let go of old ideas about how the world works, and second, you need to accept a new understanding.
Some people “deconstruct” their faith, meaning they let go of old beliefs, but don’t replace them with anything new. Jesus later says this can leave an empty hole that’s actually dangerous; you may end up worse off than before.
Repentance means both letting go of what mattered to you before and replacing it with a new sense of what matters. A person always needs a strong sense of what matters. More on this in a future entry.
One more thing: notice how Mark starts his entire story about Jesus with repentance.
He’s asking you: after you hear this story, will you be willing to think and act differently?
Consider John the Baptist’s words a challenge. We can only fully understand and respond to what’s coming in the story when, like the Israelites, we take on a new mind about who God is and who we’re called to be.
Pray
Lord, open my heart and mind to understand your ways. Teach me what it means to live more like you, Jesus. Amen.
Live It
What old thinking do you need to let go of today?