The Virtue of Single-mindedness

One of my favorite professors, Dr. Rembert Carter, used to say, "I am so narrow-minded that I can look through a keyhole with both eyes." He had a way with words. He would spark our thinking by taking common words and using them in a specific biblical context.

A some point, we've all encountered those single-minded companions, who are so focused, so convinced of their rightness, so persistent … and oh so ready to help you to see things more clearly, the way they do! The last thing you want is to be as single-minded as they are.

The good news is that you can be single-minded the way God is rather than the way men are. James tells us that God gives wisdom haplos "single-mindedly" in contrast to men who won't receive the gifts of God because they are "double-minded" (James 1:5-8). God's grace has no motive or motivation; He gives freely, simply because it is His nature to give. God gives singly, without strings attached, and without reproach. Because of our nature, we find it difficult even to receive gifts in this manner. We are double-minded, we doubt, we wait for the other shoe to drop. When do I get The Lecture?

Why won't we give and, more importantly, forgive single-mindedly? "I can forgive, but I can't forget." "If I just forgive, they won't learn!" A little later in the book, James reminds us that not many of us should seek to be teachers (James 3:1). Are you a lover of men or a teacher of men? "If I just forgive them, they will do it again." Of course they will! That is why we forgive quickly, before the offenses start to pile up and we become bitter.

We don't forgive single-mindedly, because we have a second option: "I've been wounded." The wounded brother or sister is the one who gets the attention. The church musters her resources to help the wounded and doesn't have the time or the energy to help the dying. We involve ourselves in conflict resolution because we won't accept the simple solution: give and forgive the way God does.

Single-mindedness narrows our options and keeps our eyes upon God. This kind of single-mindedness is not characterized by intensity, but, rather, it is characterized by simple intent. Jesus, teaching about our attitude toward money and giving, said. "...if your eye is single, haplous, your whole body will be full of light" (Matt 6:22). We walk in the light when we see things, simply, single-mindedly, as God has shown them to us.