How to Tell if Your Mind Is Changing Without Your Knowing It
Skyler Adleta
- Are you becoming unsettled by topics you previously thought were settled?
Unless being wielded in debate, settled opinions rest quietly in the mind. Engaging your own conscience independently is a reaction to shifting ground.
- Do you find yourself increasingly annoyed with thought leaders and allies who were previously objects of your affection?
One of the first things a newly “enlightened” mind attempts to do is dissect the cause of its previous opinions. Are you feeling alienated from or angry toward once-trusted and admired individuals of your ideological camp? - Is apathy finding more room to breathe around your opinions?
Nothing cracks the foundation of conviction like being certain that you’re uncertain. And no one stands on a vanishing foundation for long. Pride vomits apathy before it births resolve. - Have you become increasingly self-conscious about being naive?
Feeling foolish fires the pistons of pride and humility. Your pride will refuse to abandon you to apathy, and your humility will remind you that you’re in this state for a reason. - Is the lure of a new conviction relieving the burden of foolishness?
The mind wants to escape foolishness like our feet want to escape hot coals. It will search for cool ground and head toward it. - Have you entered into a state of intellectual conditioning?
Congratulations, you have moved to a new island of opinion. Now you must forage for context and hunt for motive to discover whether truth led you here or your emotions have betrayed you. The former will grant sustenance. The latter will doom you to repeat the cycle.
How to Discern a Job Opportunity
David S. Robinson
- How will this job contribute to the good of society?
Reflect on how the role would empower you to improve other people’s lives, at both personal and institutional levels. - Can I work effectively in this organizational culture?
Workplace culture is vital for both productivity and job satisfaction. Ask about how leaders operate, how teams communicate, and how employees are recognized for their contributions. - What opportunities will this job provide for personal creativity and growth?
Reflect on the gifts God has given you, as demonstrated in your work and life. Then ask what support and relative autonomy you would have to exercise them. - Will professional advancement mean that I can do my best work?
Be ambitious, but also be clear about what you want to contribute distinctively. Ensure that your new title allows you to do the work that is most life-giving—to you and to others. - Is this job sustainable?
Consider your personal capacity for the role’s responsibilities and working hours, the organization’s strength in the current economic climate, and the industry’s effects on our shared environment. - Is the salary suitable for the work required?
See that the pay will enable you to meet your commitments and goals beyond the workplace, taking into account market conditions and comparable roles. Negotiations are most effective at the outset. - Is the organization true to its stated mission and values?
Consult outside opinions and reporting about the organization’s track record. Imagine ethical opportunities and trade-offs that may arise for you in the role. - How can this job be an expression of my calling?
God calls people to belong to him and empowers them to live faithfully in the world. Reflect on how you could witness to God’s grace in this position. - How would I practice God’s presence in the role?
Prayerfully imagine your sense of God’s accompaniment as you carry out specific tasks.
How to Discern Whether to Get Married
Jerry Root
- Am I self-aware?
Discernment in relationships begins with self-awareness. I cannot truly know another person if I am ignorant of myself. Otherwise, it is likely I will approach the relationship in a utilitarian way. - What attracts me to this person?
I must be honest about what attracts me initially to this person. Is it spiritual maturity? Beauty? Personality? Intelligence? Common purposes and goals? Financial security? Friendship? - What enables me to learn to like things I might discover about my spouse without trying to change them?
If over time I discover something that is less likeable in me or my spouse, I must know myself well enough to have confidence we will stay committed to our vows. - How will I keep my marriage vows in the face of various unknowns to be discovered?
If seemingly unresolvable differences occur, do I have the courage to change? Or would I be willing to go with my spouse to a professional counsellor to keep the marriage flourishing?
How to Discern Whether You’re Becoming a Conspiracy Theorist
Doug Sikkema
- What is the source?
Ad fontes—to the sources. The rallying cry of the Renaissance should be recovered in our “post-truth” age. When a friend makes an outrageous claim or an obscure website boasts its unique grasp on “what really happened,” start the unsexy, difficult work of tracing where the idea came from. - Who are the gatekeepers?
Our self-publishing platforms promise a form of “truth” unfiltered by gatekeepers. In fact, gatekeepers are often framed as the problem. But editorial teams, expert reviewers, and fact checkers are all good forms of authority that help buffer us from the crazy, the untrue, and the misleading. - Might there be an ulterior motive?
Incentives can distort truth. Is your source saying what they say for money? Clicks? Political status? All of the above? For-profit or for-status opinions should be approached with caution. - Do the people you’ve trusted for a long time look at you with suspicion? Have you started to suspect them too?
Seek out real people offline whom you know to be balanced, thoughtful, willing to listen, and slow to speak. Ask them whom they trust. If such people are ones you’ve once trusted but now suspect, it might be time to entertain the possibility you might be wrong. - Do I trust anybody?
Trust is not easy in a world of deepfakes and internet silos. But if there’s no one you trust, that’s a red flag.
