'take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ'From my evangelical background I have always read that in the richness of a devotional tradition that taught me to use this to banish the sinful desires of the flesh. It's a great hook to meditate on when temptation strikes and you need the spirit to bring the focus onto what is good and true and noble etc.
I am thinking now though that there is more to it. Who usually keeps our thoughts and mindset 'captive'. Perhaps it is also a reference to the powerful imperial theology of Rome the was so ubiquitous for these early Christ followers. How easy to forsake 'the way' and be led like a captive in the victory parade of another ideology....for me now as I am captivated by the idea that my value is bound to my consumption, that my own freedom to choose / consume is just and my right, when really it is paid for by the sweat and blood of another.
Its seems now that this is not just about my own 'thoughtlife' (especially the sexual) ie separate from my actions in society but about my mindset in engaging the whole world and the systems of domination that surround us.
So then, I pray the thoughts of my heart may be brought captive, may follow the train and walk to the beat of the liberating love and life of Christ, and enable me to follow the way of transformation, for me and for the world.
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