Norman Hamilton

TALKING POINTS

Guard your heart

Norman Hamilton reflects on the challenges of guarding our hearts and minds, as followers of Christ.

On your guard, please!

Almost certainly you have recognised attempts to trick you in some way – for trickery, attempted scams and fake offers of all kinds are rampant. Personally speaking, every day I receive fake emails, text messages, automated phone calls as well as live ones – often promising riches, or warning me of some impending disaster if I don’t respond. Indeed, while preparing this article, my mobile phone rang, and a recorded message informed me that I was under investigation for a tax fraud. I’m not panicking just yet!

And on top of the scams, there is a multi-billion industry working hard to influence us in some way or another, for we are all too easily allured by what comes along, often in a very attractive and interesting way.

For example, every time you log on to the internet, you are constantly tracked so that you can receive ‘relevant’ or ‘personalised’ ads. Have you noticed just how quickly an ad appears on your screen reflecting in some way the very thing that has had your attention in the previous few minutes?

And have you thought carefully about the influence of WhatsApp or Facebook or Instagram (or TikTok) on yourself, or on the young people around you? And what about the influence of the soap operas on TV, or the interpretation of the news on social media (or in newspapers, if you read them)?

And when you go shopping, be absolutely assured that Amazon, Tesco and others know far more about you than your family does if you use their products or a loyalty card. Make no mistake, we are under constant surveillance 24/7 by people and organisations who want to shape the way we think, the way we act or react, how we spend our money and perhaps most chilling of all, the way we spend our time. The bottom line for Facebook is that it is explicitly designed to distract us from doing other things. The more time we spend on Facebook, the more ads we see, and the more revenue goes to the company.

All this leads me to plead that any follower of Christ must be fully alert to the real need not only to guard the credit card, but also the need to guard what we see, what we take in, and how we react to the myriad of pressures and allurements.

These pressures are also something of a modern parable on the need to live with integrity, and guard against the trickery and fakery of Satan as he seeks to undermine the health of our souls and the health of our minds. How easy it is to set aside the warning in 1 Peter 5:8: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

The book of Proverbs is crystal clear in one of its core messages: “Above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (4:23). This is followed through with clarion calls to personal integrity. “The integrity of the upright guides them” (11:3). “Righteousness guards the person of integrity” (13:6). “The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless” (11:20).

The key to integrity is knowing what God expects of us. And a good starting point of what the Bible means by that comes from an unexpected source. Every elected local councillor, MLA and MP is required to give a written undertaking to do their work with integrity, which is described in these words: “(They) must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.” Whilst clearly not the whole picture, it only requires some small tweaks to these words to see something of what integrity looks like to the faithful follower of Christ: “I must avoid placing myself under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence me. I should not act or take decisions in order to gain improper financial or other material benefits for myself, my family, or my friends. I must take care to resolve any conflict of interests or broken relationships.”

To be constantly on our guard is really quite demanding, whether we are dealing with scams or unhealthy attractions and temptations. But the wonderful promise of Scripture is there to help us on our way: “I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there” (1 Chronicles 29:17).

Clearly, a much better way to live!

…any follower of Christ must be fully alert to the real need…to guard what we see, what we take in, and how we react to the myriad of pressures and allurements.

Rev Dr Norman Hamilton Very Rev Dr Norman Hamilton is a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.