- Ever find
yourself doing something
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that you don't
really want to do,
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but for some reason
you feel kind of powerless
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and you just do it anyway?
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Or maybe it's something
that makes you feel ashamed,
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out of control,
but you know full well
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this won't be the
last time you do it.
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Today on Authentic,
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I'm going to show
you the big hidden beast
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that's been
causing all your problems.
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[soft guitar music]
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Indulge me for a moment and
let's play a little mind game.
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I want you to think back
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to some significant
experience in your life
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and allow yourself
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to feel the emotions you felt
at that time all over again.
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Maybe it was
something that made you angry
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or maybe it was something tragic
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that gave you
overwhelming sadness.
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Something made you cry.
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Something made you laugh.
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Something made you
seize up with panic.
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Whatever it was,
take a quick moment
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and just let it play out
in your mind one more time
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and I'll give you just
a few seconds to do that.
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All right, hopefully
that gave you enough time
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to dig around in your memory
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to find something
fairly significant.
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Here's what I want
you to notice about this.
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It was some kind
of external stimulus
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that made you feel that way.
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So let's say you were
thinking about something
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that really made you angry.
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What happened to cause that?
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It was some kind of trigger
from outside your own mind
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that provoked an
emotional response.
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You didn't
consciously decide to get angry,
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you didn't sit down
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and reasoned your way into
that emotion using your logic,
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something else made you mad.
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And when it happened,
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you didn't seem to
have a lot of control.
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The same thing
happens when you cry.
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Let's say you're
watching old home movies
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and you suddenly see your kids
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the way they were 20
years ago and it moves you.
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You suddenly realize that
the incredible experiences
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of early childhood
are now gone forever
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and it provokes
this feeling of loss.
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So again, it was
an external stimulus
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that provoked an
emotional response
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and you couldn't
seem to help yourself.
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When something
funny happens, you laugh.
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You didn't plan to laugh,
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and if you've ever
been asked to laugh on cue,
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say as part of a TV audience,
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you know that forced laughter
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doesn't sound at
all like the real thing.
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It's an autonomic reaction,
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something you do
without thinking.
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It comes from a place
of automatic instinct,
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not from a place of
careful deliberation and reason.
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And the more you
pay attention to this,
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the more you start to realize
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that most of
your day to day living
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operates at a
basic level of instinct.
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You don't plan to breathe,
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even though you can breathe
deliberately for a few minutes.
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You don't plan to blink,
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even though you can
force yourself to do that
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for a few minutes.
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You don't plan to jump
when somebody scares you,
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it all happens subconsciously.
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So here's the
problem that that presents
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for the average human being.
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Over the centuries,
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we've managed to
convince ourselves
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that we're mostly rational,
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that we live a very
deliberate existence.
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We craft our lives
through the power of our reason.
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But in hindsight,
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as you look back over the
major events of your life,
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you start to realize
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that even though you did make
a number of rational choices
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and you occasionally
did control your destiny,
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you were mostly carried
forward by unseen forces,
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things that appear to
be beyond your control.
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This is where philosophers have
spent a lot of time debating
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whether or not you and
I actually have free will.
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Are you really the master
and commander of your life
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or is your life the
master and commander of you?
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I mean, tell
yourself all you want
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that you're not going to get mad
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when you're negotiating
with somebody unreasonable,
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but you know
you're going to get mad
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and it's going to take real
effort to control that emotion,
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the basic forces that drive you
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because well, emotions
are such a powerful part
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of who you are.
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I'm half tempted to
quote REO Speedwagon.
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you know the song, "I
can't fight this feeling,"
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but I'm pretty sure you
wouldn't want to hear me sing.
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I guess the point
I'm driving at is this.
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There's a reason
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we feel like we have to
fight our basic emotions.
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It's because they are
much bigger and much stronger
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than our capacity for
calm, reason and logic.
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The bestselling
psychologist, Jonathan Haidt,
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compared this basic
instinctual part of your brain
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to a really powerful elephant.
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And he said that
your logical brain
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is like a tiny little jockey,
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a little rider
sitting on the elephant,
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trying to tell it where to go.
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And at the end of the day,
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the elephant is going to do
what the elephant is going to do
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because he's
bigger and stronger.
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This is the reason
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it's so hard to convince
people to change their minds,
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even with a
carefully reasoned argument.
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You might be able to
persuade them logically,
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that is you might
be able to convince
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the tiny rider on the
elephant that you're right
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but the
elephant is much stronger
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and things like
intuition or emotion
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will almost always
override your sense of logic.
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So what actually happens
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when we hear
something that we don't like
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is that we use
that weakling logic
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on top of the
elephant to convince ourselves
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that that powerful elephant
of emotion must be right.
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Let me read you just a
little bit from his book,
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"The Righteous Mind."
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He says, "The rider can
do several useful things.
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It can see
further into the future
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because we can examine
alternative scenarios in our
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head and therefore
can help the elephant
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make better
decisions in the present.
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It can learn new skills
and master new technologies,
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which can be deployed to help
the elephant reach its goals
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and sidestep disasters.
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And most important,
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the rider acts as the
spokesman for the elephant,
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even though it
doesn't necessarily know
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what the elephant
is really thinking.
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The rider is skilled
at fabricating post hoc
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explanations for whatever
the elephant has just done,
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and it is good at
finding reasons to justify
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whatever the
elephant wants to do next.
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Once human beings
developed language
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and began to use it to
gossip about each other,
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it became extremely valuable
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for elephants to
carry around on their backs
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a full-time
public relations firm."
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So I'm sure you can
remember a few times
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that you were having
an argument with somebody
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and you kind of
knew you were wrong,
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but then these
deep-seated emotions
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pushed all your pride buttons
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and you kept from
admitting you were wrong.
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You allowed emotion
and instinct, the elephant,
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to override your reason.
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And that's the way that most
of us operate most of the time.
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This was one of
the big talking points
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for the 19th
century German philosopher,
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Arthur Schopenhauer, who
was an unrelenting pessimist.
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He didn't have
this convenient metaphor
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of the elephant and the rider,
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but he explored
the same concept.
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And as you can see,
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he used an awful lot of
pages to do that exploration.
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His major work is called
"The World as Will and Idea."
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And I'm not
going to even pretend
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that we can summarize this whole
book in just a few minutes.
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In fact, I'm not
sure I'd want to.
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But here's what Mr.
Schopenhauer observed.
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There's a basic force that
drives everything around us
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from the lowliest plant to
the most rational philosopher.
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And this force is
something Schopenhauer called,
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"The will to survive
and the will to reproduce."
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Now, when you and
I hear the word will,
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most of us tend to think
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of a conscious
deliberate thought process,
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but Schopenhauer
meant something deeper.
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He was referring
to the basic instinct,
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the elephant
instead of the rider,
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and that he says "is
what drives everything."
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So for example, we're pretty
sure that plants and trees
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don't contemplate the future,
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but something
still makes them do
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what plants and
trees are going to do.
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They grow toward the sun.
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They convert
daylight into sugar.
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They produce seeds
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so that we get
another generation of plants.
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Nobody apparently plans this.
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Nobody sits down
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and educates the plants
on how to do these things.
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It just happens as if
there's an invisible force.
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The invisible
will of the universe
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pushing the process along.
00:08:44.82\00:08:48.09
Now, of course, you
and I are not plants,
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so we're different because
you and I actually plan our day.
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In fact, we tend to
plan our whole lives.
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We choose things, like our
occupations, or our spouses,
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or what we're
going to do for a living,
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or where we're going to live.
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Compared to plants.
00:09:04.87\00:09:06.07
we live a very well
contemplated existence.
00:09:06.07\00:09:10.55
Except that we don't.
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In hindsight, you'll notice
that most of what happens to us
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is outside of our control.
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You might head
into your early 20s
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full of optimism and enthusiasm
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convinced that you've
got the world by the tail,
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but get to the end of
your life and look back
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and it starts to look more
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like the world
had you by the tail.
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Most of our time in this world
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is spent being
reactive instead of proactive
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and most of our reactions
appear to be instinctual.
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I may not, I'd love to pretend
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that every decision I've ever
made was driven by pure logic,
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pure foresight, but you
and I know that's not true.
00:09:45.38\00:09:49.18
The hard wiring in our brains
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that gets there
during our early years
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and the basic instincts
of day-to-day existence
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usually play a bigger role
than calm, collected reflection.
00:09:55.62\00:10:00.03
Now, that's not always bad
00:10:00.03\00:10:01.26
because
sometimes your gut instinct
00:10:01.26\00:10:02.93
actually makes a better decision
than your conscious brain
00:10:02.93\00:10:06.20
as Malcolm Gladwell pointed out
00:10:06.20\00:10:08.17
in his bestselling book "Blink."
00:10:08.17\00:10:10.51
But right now I've
got to take a quick break.
00:10:10.51\00:10:12.14
So stick around and I'll come
back to show you what he says.
00:10:12.14\00:10:15.81
- [Narrator] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:10:17.71\00:10:20.12
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:10:20.12\00:10:23.49
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:10:23.49\00:10:25.92
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:10:25.92\00:10:29.02
Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:10:29.02\00:10:30.59
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:10:30.59\00:10:32.73
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:10:32.73\00:10:34.36
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:10:34.36\00:10:36.83
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions.
00:10:36.83\00:10:39.83
And they're absolutely free.
00:10:39.83\00:10:41.87
So jump online
now or give us a call
00:10:41.87\00:10:44.21
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:10:44.21\00:10:46.41
- Arthur Schopenhauer
argued that most people operate
00:10:47.84\00:10:50.45
by instinct instead of reason
00:10:50.45\00:10:52.35
and we find ourselves
hopeless against the forces
00:10:52.35\00:10:54.58
that just kind of
seem to carry us along.
00:10:54.58\00:10:58.42
Not that basic
instinct is a bad thing
00:10:58.42\00:11:01.69
because sometimes it
works better than your logic.
00:11:01.69\00:11:05.03
Malcolm Gladwell tells the
story of the famous Getty Museum
00:11:05.03\00:11:08.20
and the day it bought a
rare ancient statue in 1983.
00:11:08.20\00:11:12.70
The statue looked
remarkably well-preserved,
00:11:12.70\00:11:15.17
it appeared to be priceless.
00:11:15.17\00:11:17.17
So they borrowed it and
examined it meticulously
00:11:17.17\00:11:20.74
for 14 months
before agreeing to buy it.
00:11:20.74\00:11:23.88
And when you know it, after
all that careful deliberation,
00:11:23.88\00:11:27.88
it was a fake.
00:11:27.88\00:11:29.75
Something that one of their
trustees actually said out loud
00:11:29.75\00:11:32.29
the first time
he saw the statue,
00:11:32.29\00:11:33.86
"Guys, something
here doesn't feel right."
00:11:33.86\00:11:37.36
So in that case,
00:11:37.36\00:11:38.63
the elephant was more
useful than the rider,
00:11:38.63\00:11:40.60
the instinct was
better than the logic.
00:11:40.60\00:11:42.56
And so, sometimes snap decisions
actually prove to be better
00:11:42.56\00:11:46.37
than careful deliberation,
00:11:46.37\00:11:48.57
but that would only be true
if the elephant is well-trained,
00:11:48.57\00:11:51.87
if your ingrained emotion
actually matches the real world.
00:11:51.87\00:11:56.41
"Train up a child in the way
he should go," the Bible says,
00:11:56.41\00:11:58.88
"and when he is old, he
will not depart from it."
00:11:58.88\00:12:01.75
This is why parenting is
such a big responsibility
00:12:03.18\00:12:05.35
because how you
train the elephant
00:12:05.35\00:12:07.16
in the first couple of years
00:12:07.16\00:12:08.89
is how your child is
going to respond to the world
00:12:08.89\00:12:11.43
for the rest of
his or her existence.
00:12:11.43\00:12:14.10
And once the elephant is
powerful and fully grown,
00:12:14.10\00:12:17.03
it's very hard
to change direction
00:12:17.03\00:12:19.37
because the elephant
has a mind of its own.
00:12:19.37\00:12:22.87
So back to Schopenhauer now,
00:12:23.97\00:12:26.07
because when he
looked at this battle
00:12:26.07\00:12:28.41
between the unconscious
forces that drive you
00:12:28.41\00:12:31.25
in your logical mind,
00:12:31.25\00:12:32.48
he essentially
came to the conclusion
00:12:32.48\00:12:34.12
that you and I
don't have free will.
00:12:34.12\00:12:36.15
He taught the human
beings behave illogically
00:12:36.15\00:12:39.19
because we are driven by
the unconscious will to survive.
00:12:39.19\00:12:43.36
One of the examples he
gave is our drive to reproduce,
00:12:43.36\00:12:46.73
to create endless new
generations of human beings.
00:12:46.73\00:12:50.00
He noticed that some life forms
00:12:50.00\00:12:52.17
are willing to produce
as their very final act.
00:12:52.17\00:12:54.80
They actually die
the moment they do this,
00:12:54.80\00:12:57.57
like the salmon
that swims upstream
00:12:57.57\00:12:59.84
to the place where it was born
00:12:59.84\00:13:01.18
and she lays her
eggs and then falls apart.
00:13:01.18\00:13:04.71
If you ever seen
a spawning salmon,
00:13:04.71\00:13:06.65
you know what I'm
talking about, it's grotesque.
00:13:06.65\00:13:09.98
Human beings, Schopenhauer
argued, aren't much different.
00:13:09.98\00:13:13.86
We seem to be
willing to exhaust ourselves,
00:13:13.86\00:13:16.29
work ourselves to the bone
00:13:16.29\00:13:17.86
to make sure that
our children flourish.
00:13:17.86\00:13:20.50
We have this
irresistible drive to reproduce
00:13:20.50\00:13:23.40
and it appears to be illogical
00:13:23.40\00:13:24.93
because we
literally die in the process.
00:13:24.93\00:13:29.00
So from
Schopenhauer's point of view,
00:13:29.00\00:13:30.61
the collective human
race is actually using us.
00:13:30.61\00:13:33.91
He taught that we are slaves
00:13:33.91\00:13:35.98
to the mysterious will of
the corporate human species,
00:13:35.98\00:13:38.85
some kind of unseen
will of the universe
00:13:38.85\00:13:41.98
that makes us push
forward against our own will.
00:13:41.98\00:13:45.29
And that will override
our logic every single time.
00:13:45.29\00:13:48.26
So in essence, he taught
that you don't actually exist.
00:13:49.66\00:13:52.83
You live under the illusion
that you're busy making choices,
00:13:52.83\00:13:55.76
but in reality,
00:13:55.76\00:13:57.27
the universe is
making those choices for you
00:13:57.27\00:13:59.60
and making it seem
like you're doing it.
00:13:59.60\00:14:02.57
In reality, you're just
a pawn in the survival game
00:14:02.57\00:14:05.54
of the whole human race.
00:14:05.54\00:14:07.61
"That," Mr. Schopenhauer argued,
00:14:07.61\00:14:09.81
"makes the world an evil place."
00:14:09.81\00:14:12.15
"At the very best," he said,
00:14:12.15\00:14:13.72
you're going to
spend the rest of your life
00:14:13.72\00:14:15.18
just trying to avoid pain.
00:14:15.18\00:14:17.39
And in trying
to accomplish that,
00:14:17.39\00:14:18.92
you're going to make a
lot of irrational decisions
00:14:18.92\00:14:21.32
and well, avoiding pain
00:14:21.32\00:14:23.39
is about the only
pleasure you can hope for."
00:14:23.39\00:14:25.53
It's a pretty
bleak point of view.
00:14:25.53\00:14:27.96
Schopenhauer
pointed to Dante's "Inferno"
00:14:27.96\00:14:30.50
which was a poetic
description of hell
00:14:30.50\00:14:32.40
and he said,
"Where did Dante get that?
00:14:32.40\00:14:34.67
From the horror
and pain of real life."
00:14:34.67\00:14:36.67
But when it comes
to describing heaven,
00:14:36.67\00:14:39.17
we have to do that
with our imagination.
00:14:39.17\00:14:42.44
Now I'm about to start
picking Mr. Schopenhauer apart.
00:14:42.44\00:14:45.88
But before I do that,
00:14:45.88\00:14:47.82
let me tell you
where I think he was right.
00:14:47.82\00:14:50.39
There really is a
powerful component to emotion
00:14:50.39\00:14:53.86
and there really is
a force that drives us,
00:14:53.86\00:14:56.19
sometimes against our will.
00:14:56.19\00:14:58.73
You find this in the
writings of the Apostle Paul,
00:14:58.73\00:15:02.40
and I'm guessing you
can probably identify
00:15:02.40\00:15:04.37
with what I'm about to read.
00:15:04.37\00:15:06.13
And we'll read quite a bit
of this because it's important.
00:15:06.13\00:15:08.47
Here's what he says.
00:15:08.47\00:15:09.67
"For what I am
doing, I do not understand.
00:15:10.84\00:15:13.64
For what I will to do,
that I do not practice,
00:15:13.64\00:15:16.24
but what I hate, that I do."
00:15:16.24\00:15:18.78
So you have a
situation where something
00:15:18.78\00:15:20.88
keeps overriding
your conscious choice,
00:15:20.88\00:15:22.88
the elephant is more
powerful than the rider.
00:15:22.88\00:15:25.59
He continues.
00:15:25.59\00:15:27.26
"If, then, I do
what I will not to do,
00:15:27.26\00:15:29.99
I agree with the
law that it is good."
00:15:29.99\00:15:32.33
He's talking about
the moral law of God.
00:15:32.33\00:15:34.93
"But now, it is no
longer I who do it,
00:15:34.93\00:15:38.33
but sin that dwells in me."
00:15:38.33\00:15:41.50
So from Paul's perspective,
00:15:41.50\00:15:43.67
the elephant has a name and
the name he gives it is sin.
00:15:43.67\00:15:48.64
What the Bible teaches is
that you and I are carried along
00:15:48.64\00:15:51.58
by powerful forces
beyond our control.
00:15:51.58\00:15:54.88
Something has warped
our original constitution,
00:15:54.88\00:15:58.02
making us, well,
completely malfunction.
00:15:58.02\00:16:01.49
He continues.
00:16:01.49\00:16:03.29
"For I know that in
me, that is, in my flesh,
00:16:03.29\00:16:06.53
nothing good dwells: for
to will is present with me,
00:16:06.53\00:16:10.80
but how to perform
what is good I do not find.
00:16:10.80\00:16:14.27
For the good that I
will to do, I do not do;
00:16:14.27\00:16:18.01
but the evil I will not
to do, that I practice."
00:16:18.01\00:16:21.88
So you see it again.
00:16:21.88\00:16:23.28
The elephant always wins.
00:16:23.28\00:16:26.31
"Now if I do
what I will not to do,
00:16:26.31\00:16:29.72
it is no longer I who do it,
00:16:29.72\00:16:31.82
but sin that dwells in me.
00:16:31.82\00:16:34.29
I find then a law, that
evil is present with me,
00:16:34.29\00:16:37.69
the one who wills to do good.
00:16:37.69\00:16:40.03
For I delight in the law of
God according to the inward man.
00:16:40.03\00:16:44.27
But I see another
law in my members,
00:16:44.27\00:16:46.53
warring against
the law of my mind
00:16:46.53\00:16:48.97
and bringing me into captivity
00:16:48.97\00:16:51.17
to the law of sin
which is in my members.
00:16:51.17\00:16:54.94
O wretched man that I am!
00:16:54.94\00:16:56.88
Who will deliver me
from this body of death?"
00:16:56.88\00:17:00.62
So what we have is
Paul sitting on the elephant
00:17:01.82\00:17:05.59
and he can't seem to control it.
00:17:05.59\00:17:08.16
His mind wants to obey God,
00:17:08.16\00:17:10.26
he wants to do what's right,
00:17:10.26\00:17:13.13
but the elephant
is completely contrary
00:17:13.13\00:17:15.26
to everything
that God stands for.
00:17:15.26\00:17:18.30
It refuses to
move in God's direction
00:17:18.30\00:17:20.77
because it's been trained
by centuries of human rebellion
00:17:20.77\00:17:25.07
to go in the wrong path.
00:17:25.07\00:17:27.91
And if you think that
you're going to retrain
00:17:27.91\00:17:30.98
that ill-tempered elephant
through sheer determination,
00:17:30.98\00:17:34.25
well, you're in
for a rude awakening
00:17:34.25\00:17:36.18
because you're
not strong enough.
00:17:36.18\00:17:39.22
The only real hope you
have is to get a new elephant,
00:17:40.66\00:17:44.43
one trained by God himself.
00:17:44.43\00:17:47.60
And so we find
Paul writing these words
00:17:47.60\00:17:50.10
a little later in the same book.
00:17:50.10\00:17:51.73
This is now over
in Romans chapter 12.
00:17:51.73\00:17:55.00
He says, "I beseech
you therefore, brethren,
00:17:55.00\00:17:57.94
by the mercies of God,
00:17:57.94\00:18:00.08
that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice,
00:18:00.08\00:18:03.28
holy, acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service."
00:18:03.28\00:18:07.65
Now here comes the big part.
00:18:07.65\00:18:09.45
"And do not be
conformed to this world,
00:18:09.45\00:18:12.49
but be transformed," how?
00:18:12.49\00:18:14.99
"By the renewing of your mind,
00:18:14.99\00:18:16.86
that you may
prove what is that good
00:18:16.86\00:18:19.09
and acceptable and
perfect will of God."
00:18:19.09\00:18:22.73
Okay, we've got to
take another quick break
00:18:23.87\00:18:25.93
because that's just the way
things work here on the show.
00:18:25.93\00:18:28.50
But when I come back,
00:18:28.50\00:18:30.17
we're going to
spend a few minutes
00:18:30.17\00:18:31.44
talking about the
way that you and I
00:18:31.44\00:18:32.97
seem to always fail to
conquer our temptations.
00:18:32.97\00:18:37.08
And then I'll talk about
what you could do about it.
00:18:37.08\00:18:39.68
- [Narrator] Here at
the Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:40.85\00:18:42.35
we're committed to
creating top quality programming
00:18:42.35\00:18:44.92
for the whole family,
00:18:44.92\00:18:46.39
like our audio adventure
series, Discovery Mountain.
00:18:46.39\00:18:49.56
Discovery Mountain
is a Bible-based program
00:18:49.56\00:18:52.03
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:18:52.03\00:18:54.36
Your family will enjoy
the faith-building stories
00:18:54.36\00:18:57.10
from this small
mountain summer camp in town.
00:18:57.10\00:19:00.04
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:19:00.04\00:19:02.44
and fresh content every week,
00:19:02.44\00:19:04.61
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:19:04.61\00:19:07.78
- Jonathan Haidt's metaphor,
the rider and the elephant,
00:19:11.21\00:19:13.85
is a really
powerful illustration
00:19:13.85\00:19:16.69
because, well, it is
kind of how it works.
00:19:16.69\00:19:20.19
For the most part, you
and I have a lot of trouble
00:19:20.19\00:19:22.89
overriding the basic instincts
00:19:22.89\00:19:25.06
that just kind of seem to
carry us along against our will.
00:19:25.06\00:19:29.63
I mean, just think
back to all the times
00:19:30.77\00:19:33.03
you did the wrong thing,
00:19:33.03\00:19:34.67
and come on, admit it,
you've done the wrong thing,
00:19:34.67\00:19:37.51
and you did it instinctually.
00:19:37.51\00:19:40.04
You didn't plan
to lose your temper,
00:19:40.04\00:19:41.94
you didn't plan to
treat somebody brutally,
00:19:41.94\00:19:44.01
it just kind of happened
in the flow of the moment.
00:19:44.01\00:19:47.18
And at where it happened,
00:19:47.18\00:19:48.52
the tiny little
rider of your reason
00:19:48.52\00:19:50.49
looks back on what you did,
00:19:50.49\00:19:53.25
and he goes full
time trying to justify it.
00:19:53.25\00:19:56.12
It's a miserable way to live.
00:19:56.12\00:19:58.16
Now, the downside of Haidt's
metaphor comes from the fact
00:19:58.16\00:20:01.80
that it's born from an
evolutionary perspective.
00:20:01.80\00:20:05.10
Jonathan Haidt says,
00:20:05.10\00:20:06.63
"The elephant is millions
of years older than the rider,
00:20:06.63\00:20:09.10
and so it's more deeply
ingrained in your brain."
00:20:09.10\00:20:12.94
Some people would
call it the lizard brain.
00:20:12.94\00:20:15.61
The part of your mind that
operates by basic instinct.
00:20:15.61\00:20:19.61
"Somewhere along
the way," Haidt argues,
00:20:19.61\00:20:22.12
"we developed into this
higher, more self-aware being,
00:20:22.12\00:20:26.25
and we developed a
capacity for logic and reason,
00:20:26.25\00:20:29.92
but that capacity
for reason," he says,
00:20:29.92\00:20:32.29
"is a relatively new skill,
00:20:32.29\00:20:34.83
so it's very weak
compared to the elephant."
00:20:34.83\00:20:38.30
Now, that's largely at odds
00:20:38.30\00:20:40.80
with the way that
the authors of the Bible
00:20:40.80\00:20:42.57
describe the same phenomenon.
00:20:42.57\00:20:44.67
According to this book,
00:20:44.67\00:20:45.97
you were not designed
as a slave to passion,
00:20:45.97\00:20:49.11
and there really is
such a thing as free will.
00:20:49.11\00:20:52.48
In fact, once upon a time,
we were made in the image of God
00:20:52.48\00:20:56.08
with the capacity
to learn about him,
00:20:56.08\00:20:58.49
to purposely and
willfully become more like God,
00:20:58.49\00:21:02.46
to reflect his
perfect character.
00:21:02.46\00:21:05.66
But then, in a
deliberate act of free will,
00:21:05.66\00:21:08.43
we chose a different path.
00:21:08.43\00:21:10.30
We chose to untether ourselves
from the one who made us.
00:21:10.30\00:21:14.14
And so, the rider pretty
much warped the elephant.
00:21:14.14\00:21:18.51
It was bad reasoning that
led to the wrong instincts
00:21:18.51\00:21:22.68
and now we're driven by impulses
00:21:22.68\00:21:24.65
that we were never
originally supposed to have.
00:21:24.65\00:21:28.45
The reason you
and I get overpowered
00:21:28.45\00:21:30.32
by instinct and emotion isn't
because we've been evolving,
00:21:30.32\00:21:34.36
it's actually the opposite.
00:21:34.36\00:21:36.39
You and I are
slaves to our passions
00:21:36.39\00:21:38.49
because we've been devolving
00:21:38.49\00:21:40.20
away from the
original blueprint,
00:21:40.20\00:21:42.70
and your twisted drive to
do the wrong thing happened
00:21:42.70\00:21:46.33
because we chose to
corrupt our hearts and minds.
00:21:46.33\00:21:49.97
So now, you and I passed
that badly programmed elephant
00:21:49.97\00:21:54.18
on from one
generation to the next.
00:21:54.18\00:21:57.25
This is what Christians mean
00:21:57.25\00:21:58.51
when they say,
we're all born sinners,
00:21:58.51\00:22:01.55
and it's at least
a tiny little part
00:22:01.55\00:22:03.59
of what the
Bible is referring to
00:22:03.59\00:22:05.52
when it says that
the sins of the fathers
00:22:05.52\00:22:07.62
get passed down to the
third and fourth generations.
00:22:07.62\00:22:11.66
The authors of the Bible
talk about our deepest nature,
00:22:11.66\00:22:15.93
telling us that
something went very wrong
00:22:15.93\00:22:18.03
in the distant past.
00:22:18.03\00:22:19.73
What we essentially did
00:22:19.73\00:22:21.37
was climbed down off of a
healthy well-tempered elephant
00:22:21.37\00:22:25.01
designed by God,
00:22:25.01\00:22:26.84
and then we climbed up on this
ill-tempered, stubborn beast,
00:22:26.84\00:22:31.18
who is guaranteed to
go the wrong direction.
00:22:31.18\00:22:34.62
And because that ill-tempered
elephant is bigger than you,
00:22:34.62\00:22:38.12
there's not a whole
lot you can do about it.
00:22:38.12\00:22:41.19
So now the way we are,
00:22:41.19\00:22:42.72
we can't really just
trust our gut instinct,
00:22:42.72\00:22:45.39
at least not when it
comes to issues of morality
00:22:45.39\00:22:48.90
because our perspective
has been tragically corrupted.
00:22:48.90\00:22:53.03
And the more we
try to tame ourselves,
00:22:53.03\00:22:55.77
the more we try to reign
in our very worst instincts,
00:22:55.77\00:22:59.37
the more
hopeless we start to feel
00:22:59.37\00:23:01.28
because, well, the
elephant's just too big.
00:23:01.28\00:23:05.58
I don't know if you've
ever tried to quit an addiction,
00:23:05.58\00:23:07.68
like say smoking,
00:23:07.68\00:23:09.88
but that's a pretty good example
00:23:09.88\00:23:11.32
of how the elephant
always seems to win.
00:23:11.32\00:23:14.29
You know you
should quit, logically,
00:23:14.29\00:23:17.23
you know that it's killing you,
00:23:17.23\00:23:19.03
and you can figure this out
00:23:19.03\00:23:20.26
by reasoning
your way through it.
00:23:20.26\00:23:22.50
But your gut level
emotions are bigger
00:23:22.50\00:23:24.87
and stronger than your logic,
00:23:24.87\00:23:26.43
and so you find yourself
back out on the back porch
00:23:26.43\00:23:29.37
lighting up yet another
cigarette and hating yourself
00:23:29.37\00:23:33.41
for not being able
to conquer something
00:23:33.41\00:23:35.58
that appears to
be bigger than you.
00:23:35.58\00:23:38.31
That's why the
Bible doesn't really talk
00:23:39.51\00:23:41.32
about taming the elephant
or taming your worst instincts.
00:23:41.32\00:23:45.72
Instead, what
this book talks about
00:23:45.72\00:23:47.92
is letting God kill
off the faulty elephant
00:23:47.92\00:23:51.56
and just give you a new one.
00:23:51.56\00:23:53.50
What the Bible suggests
is not a retraining program,
00:23:53.50\00:23:56.43
it's more of a
replacement program.
00:23:56.43\00:23:59.40
Here, listen to this,
again from the writings of Paul.
00:23:59.40\00:24:02.74
He says, "Let nothing be done
00:24:02.74\00:24:05.51
through selfish
ambition or conceit,
00:24:05.51\00:24:08.18
but in lowliness of mind
00:24:08.18\00:24:09.64
let each esteem
others better than himself.
00:24:09.64\00:24:12.88
Let each of you look out
not only for his own interests,
00:24:12.88\00:24:15.92
but also for the
interests of others."
00:24:15.92\00:24:18.05
Now here comes the
really mind-boggling part.
00:24:18.05\00:24:21.06
He says, "Let
this mind be in you
00:24:21.06\00:24:24.16
which was also in Christ Jesus,
00:24:24.16\00:24:26.16
who being in the form of
God did not consider it robbery
00:24:26.16\00:24:29.66
to be equal with God, but
made himself of no reputation,
00:24:29.66\00:24:34.04
taking the form
of a bondservant,
00:24:34.04\00:24:35.97
and coming in
the likeness of men.
00:24:35.97\00:24:38.64
And being found in
appearance as a man,
00:24:38.64\00:24:40.64
he humbled himself
00:24:40.64\00:24:41.88
and became obedient
to the point of death,
00:24:41.88\00:24:44.21
even the death of the cross."
00:24:44.21\00:24:48.22
So here we have
an example of someone
00:24:48.22\00:24:50.79
who was not
controlled by sinful instinct.
00:24:50.79\00:24:54.22
And Paul encourages us
to follow Christ's example.
00:24:54.22\00:24:58.46
Except you know full well
00:24:58.46\00:25:00.36
that you're not
going to be able to do that
00:25:00.36\00:25:01.83
just through your own sheer
willpower, there's no chance.
00:25:01.83\00:25:05.23
It takes something more.
00:25:05.23\00:25:07.84
What it actually takes
00:25:08.74\00:25:09.94
is admitting that
you're out of control.
00:25:09.94\00:25:12.51
It takes confessing your sin
and asking God for forgiveness.
00:25:12.51\00:25:16.85
It takes asking God for a
new set of guiding principles,
00:25:16.85\00:25:20.92
basically, a brand new elephant.
00:25:20.92\00:25:24.89
And that requires a miracle,
00:25:24.89\00:25:26.89
which is exactly
what Paul teaches.
00:25:26.89\00:25:29.26
Remember, "But I see
another law in my members,
00:25:29.26\00:25:33.56
warring against
the law of my mind,
00:25:33.56\00:25:35.40
and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin
00:25:35.40\00:25:38.33
which is in my members.
00:25:38.33\00:25:40.47
O wretched man that I am!
00:25:40.47\00:25:42.77
Who will deliver me
from this body of death?
00:25:42.77\00:25:45.77
I thank God," here it is now,
00:25:45.77\00:25:47.78
"through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
00:25:47.78\00:25:51.75
That's the only way out.
00:25:51.75\00:25:53.75
I'll be right back after this.
00:25:53.75\00:25:56.15
- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:25:58.39\00:26:02.69
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:26:02.69\00:26:07.23
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:26:07.23\00:26:09.40
and come away scratching
your head, you're not alone.
00:26:09.40\00:26:12.47
Our free Focus
on Prophecy guides
00:26:12.47\00:26:14.87
are designed to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:26:14.87\00:26:17.64
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:26:17.64\00:26:20.08
for you and our world.
00:26:20.08\00:26:21.74
Study online or
request them by mail
00:26:21.74\00:26:24.18
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:26:24.18\00:26:27.05
- You know, I find
it really interesting
00:26:28.18\00:26:29.85
that the
pessimistic philosophies
00:26:29.85\00:26:31.89
that came out
of the 19th century
00:26:31.89\00:26:34.09
basically came on the
heels of Charles Darwin.
00:26:34.09\00:26:38.56
We halfway convinced ourselves
00:26:38.56\00:26:40.96
that there's no God out there,
00:26:40.96\00:26:43.00
but we still
couldn't shake the notion
00:26:43.00\00:26:44.90
that there's something
wrong with the way we live.
00:26:44.90\00:26:47.57
That just living
by animal instinct
00:26:47.57\00:26:49.64
doesn't produce a happy life.
00:26:49.64\00:26:52.07
In fact, Arthur
Schopenhauer, actually pondered
00:26:52.07\00:26:54.94
whether or not
suicide was the only way
00:26:54.94\00:26:58.08
to conquer this powerful force
00:26:58.08\00:26:59.91
that just makes us so unhappy.
00:26:59.91\00:27:02.75
Now, in that regard,
00:27:02.75\00:27:04.15
I have to say Mr. Schopenhauer
was completely wrong.
00:27:04.15\00:27:08.52
You and I are flawed, but we
can't fix it, not on our own.
00:27:08.52\00:27:13.19
Fortunately, however,
the master of elephants,
00:27:13.19\00:27:15.96
the one who made
us in the first place,
00:27:15.96\00:27:18.27
well, he says he's
got a way out of the mess.
00:27:18.27\00:27:22.44
And I don't know about you,
00:27:22.44\00:27:23.94
but if there's a way out
of that miserable existence,
00:27:23.94\00:27:25.77
if there's a way to feel
some kind of control again,
00:27:25.77\00:27:29.78
if there's a way to
stop doing instinctively
00:27:29.78\00:27:32.25
the things that
I don't want to do,
00:27:32.25\00:27:34.58
that seems to me it makes giving
this old book worth a try.
00:27:34.58\00:27:39.42
Why don't you pick it
up and see what it says?
00:27:40.59\00:27:42.39
I think it's a lot more
profound than people think.
00:27:42.39\00:27:45.39
It addresses the
core of who we are.
00:27:45.39\00:27:49.30
Thanks for joining me this week,
00:27:49.30\00:27:50.50
I'm Shawn Boonstra
00:27:50.50\00:27:51.97
and this has been
another episode of Authentic.
00:27:51.97\00:27:55.84
[soft guitar music]
00:27:55.84\00:27:58.84