PRINCIPLE OF PROBLEM SOLVING
Albert Einstein believed you could not solve a problem with the same level of consciousness that created it.
Operating on the belief system that everyone and everything is the creation of a Master Miracle Maker means everyone and everything created is a miracle.
Based on the logic of Biblical authority, humankind is the highest form of creation. We have been given dominion over the birds of the air, the animals of the land, and the fish of the sea. We were created just a little lower than the angels.
In my opinion, far too many humans believe a lie. It is common to think a baby was created without sin. In essence, we are created good. The idea here is that education and hard work produce healthy, successful adults.
While it may be an unpopular belief system, the truth is humanity is born with an evil nature. In this thought system, the solution is replacing an evil, sinful nature with a new nature, not modifying an old nature.
This Biblical view makes sense to me on two experiential levels.
Our family purchased a lake home. The foundation was failing. We had three choices.
- Ignore the problem.
- Remodel the problem.
- Eliminate the problem and build anew.
We decided to level the cabin and start fresh with a brand new cabin with a sound foundation – a new creation.
On a professional level, it is not necessary to teach anyone how to be evil. Children by nature are mean, selfish, and even cruel. It is hard work to teach children to share, be kind, truthful, and work hard. Laziness comes naturally, while industriousness only comes through self-discipline.
Forty years ago, a professor posed this question to 30 plus of us master’s degree students.
Before he posed the question, he gave us two rules.
- You must make up your mind and not change your answer.
- When asked the question, raise your hand high to affirm your answer.
The class of seasoned teachers and counselors agreed to the rules, and the professor asked the question, “Do you believe people were born evil or good?”
“Now, please raise your hand if you believe we are born good,” the professor instructed.
The vast majority of hands shot straight up with conviction.
“Now raise your hand if you believe we were born evil.”
Two of us felt alone as we raised our hands slid our hands up, admitting we believed we were born with an evil nature.
The entire class erupted; some angry, some hostile: most eager to debate.
One week later, the prof permitted me to present my research on my reasoning and the importance of effectively diagnosing a problem accurately and with precision.
We could have patched up the lake cabin, just as we could hold that man/woman are without a sin nature. Or we could face the truth, the reality of the human condition.
For over 50 years, I have watched thousands discover, like me, a remodeled life doesn’t work. We found the joy of knowing, “If any person becomes a person in Christ, they are a new creation. Old things pass away, and all things become new.”
One said it this way, “The greatest discovering of my life is knowing Jesus Christ in a personal way.”
Fifty plus years ago, I began the hard yet wonderful journey in solving my problems with the mind of Christ, not my old way of solving them with my own wisdom.
It has served me well.
