Lesson 9: A Good Friend is Worth Her Weight in Gold---9.2 Keeping Sharp

I don’t know if they still do this, but when I was in high school, the editors of our yearbook put phrases that described you next to your senior portrait.  They gathered this information from the person’s friends and classmates. (My graduating class was only 199, so that made this task doable).  Here is what they said about me:

Leecy Barnett:  lucy [they knew I hated people getting my name wrong], slumber parties [we had a lot of them], mumbles [still do], drama [I was in Drama club all 4 years], brain [I don’t know about this, but I did graduate near the top of my class], poppin’ fresh [a nickname given to me because my friends thought my dimples made me look like the Pillsbury Doughboy[1]], clutsy driver [this hasn’t changed much], absent-minded.

It is sad when an 18-year-old is described as absent-minded.  My only comfort now is that my forgetfulness is not just due just to old age.  So it has always been important to me to keep my mind sharp to minimize the distractions that so effortlessly attack my mind.  According to the Harvard Medical School, the number one way to stay sharp is to keep learning: “Challenging your brain with mental exercise is believed to activate processes that help maintain individual brain cells and stimulate communication among them.”[2] 

How does this relate to friendship, you may ask? The Bible says “as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” (Proverbs 27:17, NLT) Everyone needs a friend who will encourage them to think, read, question, and broaden your horizon on life.

When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus replied, “…you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Mark 12:30, NLT)  However, many Christians today downplay loving God with your mind.  They seem to think that it is “intellectualizing” faith.  But the Apostle Paul tells us that true transformation begins with the renewing of our minds.[3]  The wisdom book of the Bible reminds us, “intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.” (Proverbs 18:15, NLT) Pastor Rick Warren often says that “your thoughts control your life” and cites Proverbs 4:23, “be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” (GNT) This reminds me of the much-quoted adage:

We sow a thought and reap an act;

We sow an act and reap a habit;

We sow a habit and reap a character;

We sow a character and reap a destiny.

I am so thankful to have a good friend who is always challenging me to love God with my mind.  I met Cheryl Hatch when we were both studying at Trinity. During our second year at seminary, we shared an apartment and have been close friends ever since.  That year we took an excellent class together, Women in the Church.[4] Both of us began following Christ in college and have been involved in ministry ever since then, therefore this subject of this class has been an ongoing discussion between us over many years.

During the late 1980s and early ‘90s, both of us participated in churches that put restrictions on what women could do.  In 1991, Cheryl helped me move to Florida.  Driving the U-Haul along I-95, we listened to a series of lectures on women in the church.  Listening to these Biblically-based lessons confirmed my belief that God created men and women as equals, and He uses both of us to do His work in the world without limitation. I vowed never to join a church again that curtailed what women could do.

Cheryl was greatly influenced by the teachings of Dr. Francis Schaeffer, having spent time at L’Abri the Christian community he established in Switzerland.  I had used Schaeffer's book, The God who is There, as the basis for a research paper in one of my college classes.  Therefore, I was also familiar with his philosophy.  The lectures I mentioned above were given by a superb Bible teacher with L’Abri Fellowship, Mardi Keyes.  Listening to these talks was my first introduction to L’Abri Fellowship in America. Dr. Schaeffer started L’Abri as a place where young people could experience the love of Christ and ask tough questions about the Christian faith.  L’Abri’s teaching ministry has traditionally focused on:

1.       Christianity is objectively true and that the Bible is God's written word to mankind. This means that biblical Christianity can be rationally defended and honest questions are welcome.

2.      Because Christianity is true it speaks to all of life and not to some narrowly religious sphere and much of the material produced by L'Abri has been aimed at helping develop a Christian perspective on the arts, politics and the social sciences etc.

3.      True spirituality is seen in lives which by grace are free to be fully human rather than in trying to live on some higher spiritual plane or in some grey negative way.

4.      The reality of the fall is taken seriously. Until Christ returns we and the world we live in will be affected by the disfigurement of sin. Although the place of the mind is emphasized, L'Abri is not a place for “intellectuals only.”[5]

  Subsequently, Cheryl invited me to attend several L’Abri conferences.  These conferences stretched my mind to think about all the ways we can relate to and shape our culture from a Christian perspective.  Mealtimes at these conferences always continued the conversations from the sessions as we, “Let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom...” (Colossians 3:16a, ESV).  During those conversations, we were developing a Christian world view on many aspects of American society.

Cheryl is always suggesting and often sending me good books to read. When we took a trip to London together in 2012 (yes, our vacation coincided with the beginning of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee), we read the excellent memoir, Surprised by Oxford[6].  This book tells the story of a secular young woman who was astonished to meet Christian believers in the United Kingdom’s most prestigious university.  It is very encouraging that even a country that has disavowed much of its Christian roots, there are still believers living the gospel.   

Since I have recently moved into semiretirement, I am currently reading Aging Matters[7] on Cheryl’s advice. This book is helping me to think about how I can best use the rest of my life to get to know and serve God.  After all, retirement is a Western not a Biblical concept.

Learning the Lesson:

Pastor Greg Simas teaches “there are four unique ways to love the Lord with our minds.”[8]  For each of the ways mentioned below, think of a friend who you can practice this with. Also decide how you will go about it.

1.       Reason: Think, understand, and develop a Christian world view.  Bring your faith to bear on all areas of life: the arts, politics and the social sciences etc.

a.      Who?

b.      How?

 2. Knowledge: Take time to fill your mind with God’s Word.

a.      Who?

b.      How?

 3. Memory: Remember God’s kindness, faithfulness, patience, peace in your life.

a.      Who?

b.      How?

4. Imagination: Explore the possibilities you have in God in all areas of your lives.

a.      Who?


b.      How?

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[1] According to Wikipedia: “Poppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury Doughboy, is an advertising mascot for the Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2005 (returned in 2009 to 2011 and 2013 in a GEICO Commercial, and once again in 2017) concluded with a human finger poking the Doughboy's stomach. The Doughboy responds when his stomach is poked by giggling…”

[2] Harvard Medical School. (2017). 6 simple steps to keep your mind sharp at any age.  Excerpted from A Guide to Cognitive Fitness.  Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/6-simple-steps-to-keep-your-mind-sharp-at-any-age

[3] Romans 12:2. Ephesians 4:20-24

[4]The content of this class was later published as a book: Tucker, R. A. & Liefeld, W. L. (1987). Daughters of the Church: Women and ministry from New Testament times to the present. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[5] L'Abri Fellowship. (2015). The history of L'Abri. Retrieved from http://labri.org/history.html

[6] Weber, C. (2011). Surprised by Oxford: A memoir. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[7] Stevens, R. P. (2016). Aging matters: Finding your calling for the rest of your life. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing.

[8] Simas, G. (2011, July 19). How to love God with all your mind. Retrieved from https://gregsimas.org/how-to-love-god-with-all-your-mind/