I watched a lot of Nickelodeon as a child.  I mean A LOT of it. One show I rarely missed was Mr. Wizard’s World. Though I was hardly a science geek, I somehow loved to watch, learn about and even replicate many of the experiments he presented. I used to cook hot dogs using a homemade solar oven, cut a single sheet of paper with an opening so wide I could jump through it, make massive soap bubbles in the back yard and a lot of other simple experiments.

I was particularly interested in those that involved chemicals for some reason. The idea of mixing things together to change their properties into something else was exciting. Being largely unsupervised at home, a friend and I would often, unsafely I must add, mix stuff together and get excited when something fizzed, bubbled, or changed color.

One “experiment” in particular involved a styrofoam container, a cocktail of several random chemicals from our garage and paint thinner. We were impressed with ourselves when we “discovered” the addition of paint thinner made the styrofoam begin to melt and eventually dissolve to the point it could hold nothing.

Looking back on those days, I immediately recognize how dangerous those actions were and consider us fortunate nothing of extreme consequences occurred. But I think a lot about that experiment with the paint thinner in a Christian context.

A Vessel to be Used for Christ

God is constantly refining us. Our response to that refining has lasting implications on our character and usefulness in building God’s kingdom. We are called to be vessels for God’s message. (2 Corinthians 4:7) with our bodies being a physical vessel, our hearts being an emotional vessel and our minds being an intellectual or rational vessel. Each one gets filled with contents (or ingredients) on a daily basis. What goes into them can generally be classified as positive, neutral, or toxic.

The example of the dissolving styrofoam vessel is a perfect illustration for the elements that enter into our bodies, hearts, and minds. All it took was a little dab of paint thinner and the vessel was slowly eaten from the inside out until the walls of the container became, well, too thin to hold any longer. The toxin radically overwhelmed everything else inside it and destroyed any usefulness.

Getting Your Life Formula Right

One of the many things we learned during those experiments was the importance of getting the right proportions for our “formulas” to produce the right effect. Now, in the case of the paint thinner potion, it didn’t take too much of that element to make it deteriorate the container. Clearly, if there is an element where even the smallest influence could pollute your body, mind and/or heart so greatly, you must avoid it. I’m thinking of the common vices like gambling, alcohol, drugs, pornography, etc.

But even the so-called “harmless” elements of life, like hobbies, collecting things, gossip, swearing, etc. can become your undoing. Not only do they create fences between us and God, they can also impact our relationships with others when they monopolize our time, deplete our financial resources and even go as far as to change our personalities.

Getting the formula right means setting our minds, hearts and intentions toward upright ways. The formula for a refining life is simple in explanation, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). However, the formula is complex in application.

Stop Being Mostly Dead

Among the many memorable scenes of the classic movie “The Princess Bride” is the brute squad’s visit to Miracle Max seeking a miracle to revive the apparently expired Westley (AKA the Dread Pirate Roberts). After a brief examination, Max informs the crew that their cohort is only “mostly dead.”

Dumbfounded, Inigo and Fezzik observe as Miracle Max and his wife enact the steps to revive Westley from his mostly dead.  In a lot of ways, we too spend much of our lives being mostly – or at least partly – dead. Or put another way, we’re asleep.

This is why it is said in Ephesians (5:14), “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” There will be many times in life where we will find we have fallen asleep in our walks. Dedicating our lives to prayer, diligent study and fellowship with our brothers and sisters are just some of the many ways we need to fill our lives to ensure we get the formula right by increasing God’s influence and decreasing our own selfish motives.

Similarly, there will be times where we will see our fellow brothers and sisters asleep at the wheel or spiraling out of control when it comes to their own potions. When they get the proportions incorrect. We may have to become the brute squad to seek rescue for those people. We may have to take them to a Miracle Max or we may even have to be their Miracle Max.

Refining Life on Purpose

Getting the formulas right requires purposeful intentionality. Whether a liquid or a lump of clay, God is the ultimate Mr. Wizard, or Miracle Max, or author, painter or sculptor, etc. He’s constantly at work on us. Refining us into the masterpieces he’s envisioned and desired from the very start.

It’s not a simple switch though. You cannot just decide to fix the ingredients or proportions of those ingredients that fill your vessels and have it happen immediately. It starts there, but you cannot be sculpted into a work of art overnight. It’s a process that begins with a decision. It begins with a change of heart that influences mind and body.

And it therefore influences your every direction.

It takes time. It takes desire. It takes hard work, community and dedication to constantly review and bring refinement to where we are in our walks and relationships with others and Christ.

This post took on a lot of topics, from Nickelodeon and wizards to experiments and the Princess Bride. Have thoughts on any of it? Share it in the comments below.