On the Brink
“Can you give me something to just control the diarrhea? It’s so bad, and I’m so weak that sometimes…”
Valerie’s voice trails off. I know she feels shame and is studying my reaction to what she is about to divulge. Will I look away or show disgust?
I keep my eyes fixed on hers. “I know. You can’t make it to the bathroom in time. I’m sorry. That is very common with this condition.”
Last Chance
Embarrassment aside, Valerie is slipping away. The culprit of her woes, a bacterial infection of the colon known as Clostridium difficile, has certainly lived up to its name, “difficult.”
It all started with a course of antibiotics given for a wound infection. The potent antibacterial drugs decimated the legions of beneficial bacteria (the “microbiome”) in her intestinal tract.
With the good guys out of the picture, C diff occupied her barren colon, like a warlord seizing control in the power vacuum after a coup. Oppressive as any tyrant, it subjected Valerie to diarrhea up to 15 times per day.
Despite her debilitating diarrhea, she cannot take standard anti-diarrhea meds. That would risk her developing “toxic megacolon,” a rapidly fatal condition caused by retained bacterial poisons. But if I cannot relieve her symptoms or kill the renegade bacteria, what is left to do?
We must try a different approach. Rather than dealing out more microbial death, it is time to give life. I must focus on restoring her microbiome. However, we have already tried kefir, yogurt, even probiotics, to no avail. That leaves one last chance for Valerie.
We will return to her story soon. For now I want to compare her medical infirmity with a malady of the mind.
The Mental Microbiome
The microbiome, a network of invisible lives within our bodies, exerts a profound influence on our health. In comparison, our minds form another unseen universe that affects the course of our lives. Teeming with ideas, opinions, and memes, our minds constitute a sort of mental microbiome.
Musings and impulses blend there, forming attitudes and frames of mind. Like bacteria, thoughts can be beneficial or harmful. How easily our thinking becomes unhealthy, like Valerie’s colon.
I am not referring to mental illness. I am talking about a universal condition that leads to darkening of the mind and death of the spirit. I am talking about sin.
Colossians chapter 3 lists some examples of the pathogens and the symptoms that sicken the human soul:
- sexual immorality
- greed
- idolatry
- anger
- slander
- filthy language
- lying
(If you have a distrust of the “traditional morality” represented here, you likely can still relate to the difficulty of taming unwanted emotions like jealousy, resentment, and discouragement.)
The passage urges us to put these faults to death (verse 5).
“Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.”
The problem is that these germs of thought are hard to kill. They can commandeer our minds as surely as C diff does to a desolate colon. Sin is obstinate. How do we achieve more victory over our flaws, failings, and sins? Most of us have a trail of broken resolutions stretching behind us.
Fighting the Wrong Way
We cannot defeat sin alone. We must fight it with all the strength and resources God graciously supplies, especially Scripture. But I suspect that many of us are fighting with one hand tied behind our backs. We are only using half of God’s provision for this battle if we merely focus on getting rid of unwanted thoughts and actions.
Romans 12:21 suggests that to really overcome evil we must do something beyond just focusing on the sin itself:
“Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Cycles of antibiotics have afforded Valerie only short term relief of symptoms and the appearance of a cure. Her refractory C diff infection will only be resolved if health-promoting bacteria thrive in her gut.
In the same way focusing exclusively on killing sin in our hearts without populating our minds with a healthy microbiome of virtuous thoughts is not sufficient for victory over sin. Let me use one final metaphor to illustrate what is needed.
Pulling and Planting
Weeds in my garden seem to pop up faster than I can uproot them. I can never keep up. But besides pulling them, I have learned another secret. Crowd them out!
By planting good plants in abundance, I leave weeds with fewer nutrients, soil, and sunshine. Rafts of lovely flowers nudge out vines. Towering shrubs overshadow invasive grass.
Furthermore, tending gardens only by killing weeds defeats the ultimate purpose. I might as well pour concrete over the entire yard. In some ways I think that is like the legalistic strategy we Christians sometimes employ to battle sin, using self-shaming or self-abuse to combat sinful behaviors. This diminishes the painful splendor of the cross. It fuels pride and shame. It is like pouring concrete in the soul. How is Jesus Christ honored by that?
Seeds of Change
I am convinced that if we expend all our energy playing whack-a-mole with our thoughts, we may not get very far in sanctification. Although we may succeed in miserably suppressing some behaviors in the short term, how does that give glory to God?
Our minds were created to reflect the glory of our savior. They exist to contemplate his beauty, and to seek his kingdom and his righteousness. Only then do our lives produce in thought, word, and deed the fruit that glorifies God.
Don’t get me wrong. This is hard work, too! Cultivation requires exertion. It too is a work of the Holy Spirit with whom we cooperate with discipline and sweat. New thoughts ultimately come from having a new heart and a new spirit. In our struggle to resist sin, we may even have to shed blood, as Hebrews 12:4 suggests.
Plowing New Ground
Am I discouraged? Am I tempted? Have I failed again? I must fight these things with the power of God’s spirit, replacing them with things God has granted.
Colossians 3 also suggests some good things to plant in our minds instead:
- compassion
- kindness
- humility
- gentleness
- patience
- forgiveness
- love
The text shows how this all fits together:
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above”
We fight spiritual death with the life of Christ in us. And just think of all the wonderful seeds he has given us to sow!
Philippians 4:8 says:
“whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”
This opens up a whole new world of good things to set our minds on. Even beyond overtly “spiritual” matters, we have an endless variety of noble and worthy things to plant in our thought life – even “secular” things within art, music, literature, or sports.
- I want towering thoughts of Jesus to overshadow the sin in my mind.
- I want a broader vision of God’s kingdom and his righteousness to crowd out the self-focus in my heart.
- I want the Lord to irrigate my soul with living water, planting his holy seeds that yield fruit for him in their season.
Back from the Brink
“Eight pounds!”
Joyously I repeat the figure, as Valerie and I practically caper about the room. That is how much weight she has gained in 3 weeks!
“The treatment worked, doc,” she says, beaming – the first smile I have seen from her in months.
How did we do it? What therapy repopulated her depleted microbiome and cured her C diff infection?
You may be simultaneously gratified – and horrified – to learn that she was finally cured by a fecal microbiota transplant. Yes, I am basically talking about a stool bacteria transplant from one person to another. It seems more medieval than medical, though in practice it is less disgusting and more clinical than it may sound.
This therapy is being investigated for a variety of disorders thought to arise from a dysregulated microbiome, diseases like ulcerative colitis, C diff, and even irritable bowel syndrome.
A Cautious Application
Is there a spiritual lesson in this? I say this cautiously. I don’t want to be flippant, crass, or gratuitous. But I am committed to being real. Yes, there is always a lesson from the Lord in everything.
We can help to influence the attitudes of one another. We can help to repopulate and balance the microbiomes of each other’s minds. We do this with edifying words, kind deeds, and an example of a spirit-filled life. It is called encouragement!
- What meme from the Lord can you plant in your mind this week? A promise from Scripture? A noble meditation on Christ?
- What truth can you transplant to another person today?
- May God renew our minds this week with lofty thoughts of him!
Dr. Bill Maynard