Tag: Lizard Brain

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Lizard brain conversations.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“From a wise mind comes wise speech; the words of the wise are persuasive.” Proverbs‬ ‭16:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Several axioms pop into my head when I read these passages about WORDS.

One: “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Two: “Better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” Three, incorrectly attributed to St. Francis Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.” The Franciscans are hopping mad about that wonky phrase being stuck to their founder. The closest quote Francis wrote is, “All the Friars… should preach by their deeds.”

These wisdom words out of Proverbs seem to be positive about speaking words. Words shape people’s thoughts! The cousin to this proverb is “The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive,” Proverbs‬ ‭16:21‬, adding the word “pleasant.” The Hebrew word is metheq: sweetness. And in verse 23, the key word is sakal: consider. Both verses, in Hebrew, are for the purpose of learning. These wise, sweet, considerate words are good for folks who want to learn. Their minds and hearts are open and ready to receive, like eager students who love understanding new concepts in school.

You know what’s sad? Humans are oftentimes to impatient to learn. Do you know what kind of words get quicker results, in terms of action? You guessed it – angry words! Accusations, angry, hateful words move MOBS! Crowds love angry words. No thought, no learning, no homework necessary. Just throw out the vile, trashy rap and it triggers the ol’ amygdala, the “lizard” brain.

Oh man, God’s ways are NOT our ways, His thoughts are NOT our thoughts – wisdom uses a different methodology. You notice how much of our country is filled with angry words and not sweet, persuasive words? Yeah, because we’ve stopped listening, stopped learning. And the results are clear, we’re just behaving like a bunch of raw emotional, darwinian neanderthals looking for a war!

Wisdom itself is a slower path, definitely one less traveled. Followers of Jesus must, must, must believe and behave differently! We must continue to use sweet, considerate words – wisdom words to persuade. Here’s the prefect contrarian picture out of the gospels. The crowd is screaming crucify and Jesus is saying, Father forgive them. Which words sound like wisdom?

Prayer

Dad,
Ouch, those proverbs sting a little. I have a lot of angry thoughts and want to let them fly out of my mouth! Your word challenges me to not only think through my words but choose them carefully to teach and persuade rather than just rile up a crowd and send them off, moshing into the world. I am so thankful for the tools of wisdom to help navigate our angry world.

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Mob-brain Mentality

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy.”
‭‭Acts 19:23-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​Luke’s writing sounds like it came right out the the Ephesus Times newspaper. It seems that Paul’s preaching about Jesus actually DID effect the idol businesses of that day or it just gave Demetrius the excuse of “handcrafted idols” taking a downturn.

Diana, or the goddess Artemis, mentioned here was THE prominent and well known and loved idol of the city. Right in front of the massive library, they had built a gigantic statue of her standing, overlooking the main road filled with multi-level houses and lined with street vendors selling their goods. Ephesus was a bustling port city until later, the inlet body of water itself dried up and city became an abandoned wasteland. Diana couldn’t and didn’t stop that natural disaster from happening.

Demetrius called all the smaller business owners (idol-makers) together and designed a city-wide protest against Paul. Demetrius played to their livelihood and their religious beliefs, “Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!” Ah, yes, Demetrius was so “concerned” about their great mascot. Ah, maybe he was a true cult believer.

It got the whole city angry and it spilled into a riot, as Demetrius knew it would. After the crowd found and dragged two of Paul’s friends into the amphitheater, listen to what Luke commentates about this riot, “Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there.” Most of them didn’t even know why they were there! Classic mob-brain mentality. Angry, frustrated and ready to do some serious protest-able damage – yet having no idea what it’s about. This #sohuman!

The crowd yelled, chanted and shouted the fury-filled phrase for hours, “great is Artemis!” Until the mayor of the town (Alexander) could finally calm them down, reason with them and then threaten that the Roman government hated riots because of damage it did to the empire. Rome wanted citizens to feel safe, be at peace and spend money (more money equals more taxes). We are well aware of what protests and public riots do – nothing but bad outcomes. It makes people feel unsafe, aggravated and they spend less money! Plus, the business owners have to pickup the cost of repairs after the looting, fires and destruction. Mobs don’t care about a cause, they only care about destruction and violence. Mobs love riots, protests and marches because they take advantage of the cover it provides to steal, kill and destroy!

Alexander, after a few tense hours, was able to appeal to their good senses, “Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess.” He told them to settle the matter in the courts where real arguments and facts could be presented, where both sides could present their case. Novel idea right? Riots, mobs and protests don’t want court cases, those are driven mostly by reason. Mobs want emotionally driven outcomes that do not lead to change, they just do damage.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow, weren’t not just selfish and full of sin, we’re some fickle and a fragile non-thinking bunch. When we get worked up about something, it’s hard to see truth, hard to see right and wrong. And, certainly hard to make the necessary changes to create a good outcome for all. We are so influenced by each other’s emotions and behaviors. This is still true today. Isn’t it possible that the opposite is true? Wouldn’t our good behavior, our peaceful emotions be as viral as the bad? Like the mayor in this story, it seems that someone needs to address the situation and speak peace before things go to far.