My 10th-grade son was in English class in Sweden during our family’s semester abroad when the topic of religion was raised. The teacher asked who in the class was “religious,” and only my son and another student, both from the United States, raised their hands. A classmate then asked why Americans are so “brainwashed.”  He couldn’t understand how anyone believed in God unless they were coerced or indoctrinated.

A very good discussion ensued, with my son having the opportunity to share about why he believes. 

Ever since he relayed the conversation to me that night, I have been pondering this idea of “brainwashing,” and how this student or other non-Christians might view our faith. I even looked up the word in Miriam-Webster’s online dictionary:

“Brainwashing:  A forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs or attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas; and persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship.”

Although these definitions certainly apply to some religious cults in the world, which may use drugs or alcohol to weaken the minds and wills of their subjects, they couldn’t be further from the truth regarding the Biblical, saving faith of Christianity.

God’s way isn’t to indoctrinate us, or to force us to accept Him. He has the power to do these things, but this is not His will. His will is love. He presents the truth to us through His word, Son, Spirit, and people, then gives us the free will to choose. Since He is knows everything, He knows who will choose to love Him. But in His providence and mercy, He allows us to make the choice. Then, once we do, He gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us in the best way to live. But even then, He gives us the freedom to decide how we will obey and that out.

Of course, this freedom leads to some terribly imperfect ways of living out Christian faith, which can contribute to people outside of the faith forming a poor opinion of Christianity or even of God Himself.

I wasn’t brought up in the church, but sensed God at the age of five, independent of any teaching I can recall. Over the next eight years, my brain was filled with television, movies, information taught at school, the values of classmates and friends, books, and all manner of the world’s messaging. If anything, I spent childhood being brainwashed by the world, being “sold” on what my values, clothes, thoughts, choices, and actions should be to “succeed” and fit into the world. 

Finally, at age 12, during an extended bout of summer illness, out of sheer boredom, I read a book an elderly neighbor shared with me about someone else’s Christian faith. In that story, I immediately recognized what a part of me had always known:  God. I saw Him, and I knew that He saw me.

It is a deep mystery, but once I fully recognized Him, I couldn’t help but love Him and want to know Him more. Once I knew and accepted in the fabric of my being that I had a Creator and that He was real, the relationship with God through Christ became the foundation of my life, even though my pursuit of Him has been far from perfect.

I wanted my brain to be washed, not in the garbage the world had been shoveling my way:  pettiness, hatred, deception, selfishness, licentiousness and depravity (and this was just in middle school!) – but in the joy, peace, kindness, grace, patience, love and holiness of God.

As I was writing this, my godmother, Peggy, sent a verse from Ephesians 3 to me, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

A few days later, the verse appeared again, in my daily devotional (Embraced by Lysa TerKeurst). Whenever the same verse enters my frame of reference more than once in a short period of time, I always pay close attention.  I don’t believe it is a coincidence when this happens, and it often does.

What jumped out at me was “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” I have always focused more on the first half of that verse, the “grasping” and “knowing.”

Today, I paused and considered why God tells us to grasp and know, really know, deep in our innermost being, the depth and fullness of His love – why we should wash ourselves in His word. This verse tells me the reason:  so that we will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

This kind of “washing” comes from being rooted and established; from grasping and knowing God’s love. This isn’t about following an agenda for someone else’s gain, as in a cult. God gains nothing from me. He needs nothing from me. He gives me everything I need to live eternally and to live a life of fullness and wholeness. The more closely I walk with Him, the more peace I feel – whether or not things are going my way from an earthly standpoint.

During Lent, and in light of my son’s classroom discussion, as I have been paying close attention to what earthly gifts or vices I may be using or abusing to make me feel entertained, loved, comforted, or less anxious (or that are just wasting time), I am seeing this verse with fresh eyes.

The world’s agenda is to brainwash us into believing that our empty places can be filled by something or someone other than God…to make us think that we can save ourselves and be whole without God. We are brainwashed by the world every day to try to keep us from being saved and made complete through Christ.

Lent is a time that reminds us of this. It’s a time to think about what wrong ideas we are being brainwashed to believe, and to recognize how far these are from the truth. 

When God said in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” He wasn’t asking us to stop thinking for ourselves, He was asking us to start thinking. He was reminding us to make a conscious decision NOT be brainwashed by blindly following the religion of the world and the lies it tells us. He was encouraging us to follow something true and real, something better and richer…something that will bring peace, joy, and light to our souls and to the world.

Our brains are being washed with information and choices every day – through the news, other people, what we see, what we hear, what we do. Not just during Lent, but every day as a Christian, I want to make sure my brain is being so deeply washed by the truth that the lies don’t find a place to land.

And if being a Christian and experiencing the peace, joy, and fullness that comes with being a follower of God means that others in the world think I’m brainwashed, I’m okay with that. And I will keep praying that those who judge believers in this way will one day see the truth as well.