The Mind-Body Relationship (Q & A)
Q. Many understand that the mind has an influence on the body and one’s spiritual practices; however, does the body have any impact on the mind which may have influence on one’s relationship with God?
Answer By: John Spellman
As a result of our study from Thursday, September 12th 2013 a question was raised in regard to a statement made by Joseph Williams about the relationship between eating and spiritual health. It is the intent of this article to provide clarity on this theme.
First, it should be made clear that poor health does not exclude a person from salvation. There are many who experience sickness or other ailments that actually draw closer to God as a result of their discomfort. In some ways sickness or some other misfortune may have served as a blessing in the lives of individuals. However, this does not negate the reality of the relationship between the body and the mind in the context of spirituality.
As stated during the lesson, spirituality takes place in the mind. The mind is what makes decisions. Often we read in scripture that God wants our “hearts”. The references of scripture to the “heart” are not referring to the organ, but rather figuratively referring to the mind—which does the thinking.
Take for example:
Exo 36:2 And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:
Notice that the word “heart” is used three times in this text. Yet, is it the heart organ that contains wisdom, or the mind? Clearly scripture uses the term “heart” to figuratively refer to the mind and mindset of an individual. In some contexts the term “heart” can refer to the center of the entire person—every fiber of their being.
Mar 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
In this text, Jesus is saying that the “hypocrites” honored God with lip service, while the essence of who they were, within the mind, was far from God. Scripture states that those who worship God, must worship “in spirit, and in truth”. The greek and Hebrew words for “spirit” (“pneuma” and “ruach”, respectively) can both mean the mind or mental disposition.
Scripture is clear that worship, adoration, and love for God take place in the mind figuratively called “the heart” to emphasize one’s deepest and innermost characteristics. If worship is carried out from the mind and into our actions, anything that affects the mind can have an effect on our worship if it influences the mind enough to impact it.
The best example would be illegal drugs. If a person’s mind is compromised, their worship of God, ability to discern spiritual truth, and their relationship with God can also be compromised. This is because if the mind experiences limitations, it can’t act in its full intended capacity to carry out all the functions it could, had it not been compromised.
So does this mean a person on drugs can’t, under any circumstances, have an experience with God? NO! It’s important not to confuse the idea of “AN experience with God” with the “most OPTIMAL experience with God”. There’s a big difference. God can take people in their lowest of lows and turn them around. However, as God interacts with humanity, He changes humanity for the better. They are not meant to stay in the same condition in which He met them. If people were experiencing the most optimal experience with God while on drugs, there would be no need for reformation and transformation of these people.
However, the reality is that intoxicated people do not encounter the most optimal experience with God (ie. Lev 10:9-10). This is why God often brings individuals who practice these things to repentance and He changes their lives. Certainly, people on drugs or other substances can be drawn by God; however, God changes the lives of these individuals because they can fulfill His purposes more optimally once they go through sobering change. Drugs often have a negative impact on the mind, intoxicating it—and therefore weakening the moral powers, subjecting the mind to lower baser passions.
The key in understanding the mind-body relationship is knowing the difference between AN experience and the most OPTIMAL experience. “An experience” is God’s ability to reach a person regardless of how low they have sunk in sin, and turn the person around. The most optimal experience is the experience that God intends the individual to have based on how He engineered us in Creation.
To understand this concept, we can use the analogy of a car. Cars can run on “regular” gasoline, but some run more optimally on “super” in contrast to regular. For some luxury cars, regular gasoline can ruin the car. This is because of how the car was engineered. Similarly, God engineered humans in a specific way. We function most optimally when we are in harmony with the principles God set forward in Creation. Since, this is how He designed us, it stands to reason that, to reach our greatest potential, we should be in harmony with these Creation-based principles.
Diet and other health principles do have an effect on the mind. Poor dietary and nutritional choices can cloud the thoughts and fatigue the person among other things. A person can still have an experience with God even with poor health; but this experience would not be the most optimal experience as intended by God in Creation. Some health choices (like diet, exposure to alcohol, and drugs) can negatively influence the mind so that it is compromised from reaching the most optimal experience or fullest potential. In comparison, putting regular fuel in a luxury car, that needs super unleaded fuel, can cause the car to experience problems. Humans experience problems the further we get away from God’s design.
Poor dietary choices can slow the mind, impair judgment, clog the clarity in which one thinks, and make a person lethargic. This can influence one’s spiritual practices and choices in many ways depending on the person and other variables. Examples include but are not limited to: falling asleep in church, not having the stamina and perseverance to read scripture, inability to focus on spiritual things, and desire to gratify the baser and lower passions. Poor dietary choices may not impact every individual in the exact same way; however, choices that impact the mind negatively impact our ability to reason and therefore lower our spiritual potential. It is possible for a person to have “an” experience with God, but the person may not have the most “optimal” experience with God.
The mind and the body are linked. If the body suffers, the mind is affected and can’t experience the full potential of experiences that God designed it to encounter. God can reach the individual with the lowest health—even on the death bed. That person can experience the joy of a relationship with God. However, with good health, the individual can have a more optimal experience of the joy in having a relationship with God.
In Creation, there was no sickness! God did not design sickness to be a part of our spiritual experience. However, because of sin, sickness can be used by God to draw a person that would not give ear to God if they remained in good health. Although, a person can come to a greater relationship with God through sickness (assuming that good physical health would have caused that person to continue ignoring the arms of mercy), that doesn’t mean that the person is experiencing the most optimal experience that God intends for them. These individuals are simply doing better than they were in good health because their illness awakened them to their dependency on God. In such cases, sickness can be used to soften the heart and make it more reliant and dependent upon God. However, this is not the most optimal experience. The goal or ideal is that we serve God without needing to be humbled or compromised by sickness: There will be no sickness in heaven!
Therefore, in summary, the mind and body are linked. Both have an influence on spirituality. The compromising of one puts limitation on the full potential of one’s experience, but does not mean one can’t be reached, changed, and transformed by God in spite of sickness. However, for the most optimal experience, is when a person is in good health. Thus, weakening the health through poor dietary or lifestyle choices can influence one’s spirituality.
1Co 6:19 - 20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1Co 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Here Paul says that our bodies are not our own. They belong to God and are intended to function as God’s Temple. IF we treat our bodies as the purchase of Christ, we would sense the calling to take care of them health-wise. If we want these temples to be in the most optimal condition for God to dwell in, it behooves us to care for our bodies physically in addition to (certainly not in the place of) our spiritual needs. The wellness of the body does influence the mind. Our minds are where we think and experience. Although the term “heart” as in “give your heart to Jesus” is often used, really- this term “heart” is referring to what’s in the mind. If our “hearts” or minds are compromised it influences our spirituality, because the human heart is where spirituality takes place.
Thus, a viewer should not understand us to be saying that a person who is physically compromised can’t be or draw close to God; rather, we’re saying that good health provides a more optimized spiritual experience. Therefore, if we willfully destroy our bodies, we can be compromised spiritually because we can’t reach the full potential God intended under conditions of sickness. In many cases, compromised health can lead a person to compromise and sin.
Since the body is the temple of God, it carries spiritual significance. It matters how we treat it.
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
This text, in context, is speaking about the Church; however, if we as individuals are the temple of God, God cares how we treat ourselves because our “temple” is holy and intended to be His dwelling place. In that sense the mind and body are linked in our worship experience.
When you invite someone to your home, regardless of the condition of your house, you can have an experience with that person while they visit. However, if you have dirty laundry, molded food, dusty furniture, and uncomfortable seating it might not be the most optimal visit. The guest is likely to feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, when your home is clean and well kept, the visit can be an even better experience. Similarly, a person can have an experience with God under the least optimal conditions; yet, why do things which are uninviting to the Spirit of God?
Luckily, God is a great house guest. While He will come into our lives when we are all messed up-- as we come to know Him, why would we stay the same and continue with uninviting practices?
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
When one is tired, agitated, groggy, clouded, in pain, despondent, miserable, etc. they can certainly have Bible study; however, how optimal is that Bible study? Much more can potentially be accomplished if the individual were in better health.
The treatment of the body and the mind influence one’s walk with God. It is important not to confuse this with a person who is having “an experience” with Christ. However, if we want a closer more optimized experience, we should consider caring for God’s temple. How we treat it can impact our spiritual lives both positively or negatively—though certainly not hindering us from having any experience with God at all. It is important not to go to any extremes on this matter: making health or diet a means to salvation or throwing it out altogether. We can recognize that there is some relationship between health and optimal spirituality—God cares about how we treat our body and the influence that treatment has on our minds, and thus, our worship.
