Satisfying the Cognitive Appetite: Moving from Cultural Analysis to Eternal Reality
Isaac Megbolugbe
May 24, 2026
It has taken me about a year and more than 10 articles to arrive at the same mindset you ( a brother in Christ) shared with me earlier. I have finally learned to focus on building and expanding the Body of Christ as my anchoring reality, while treating US politics and geopolitics as mere noise.
I heard from our discussion that you really did not care about managing the noise, including analyzing or explaining the realities and impacts of the world on our personal and corporate practices of faith. For the longest time, I struggled to comprehend this detachment. My initial instinct was that we had to be experts on the culture war—that we needed to constantly monitor policy changes, cultural shifts, and global unrest to effectively navigate our lives as believers.
After a lot of analysis and exploration, however, my need to understand has been fulfilled. My cognitive appetites have been satisfied. I delved into the news cycles, dissected foreign policy, and examined every conceivable angle of the current political climate in my writing. I did this in hopes of finding a secure foundation or a definitive answer to the question of how the church should respond to an increasingly chaotic society.
What I ultimately discovered at the end of this journey is that the worldly systems will always be in a state of flux and turmoil. The constant churn of geopolitical maneuvering and political polarization doesn’t offer a path to spiritual victory. It simply distracts from our primary calling. By focusing entirely on what the world is doing, I was allowing external circumstances to dictate my inner peace and the effectiveness of my ministry.
I have arrived at the mindset you shared with me. I now view the secular sphere through the lens of Romans 13 and the overarching narrative of redemption—it is the backdrop of our mission, but it is not our home, nor is it the source of our authority or hope. My anchoring reality is now firmly rooted in the expansion of the Kingdom of God and the nurturing of His people.
I have had to cultivate this mindset deliberately, wrestling with my own flesh and the temptation to be relevant by the world’s standards. But your renewed mindset was already fully operational. You recognized long before I did that our energy is finite, and it is best spent investing in the eternal rather than the temporary.
Looking back, I realize your seeming indifference to the daily noise wasn’t apathy at all; it was a disciplined, focused devotion to the Great Commission. I am grateful to finally stand on that same solid foundation, prioritizing the unity and spiritual growth of the Church above the fleeting anxieties of the secular world.
Isaac Megbolugbe, Director of GIVA Ministries International. He is a recipient of Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in business and academia in the United States of America. He is retired professor at Johns Hopkins University, Former Vice President at Fannie Mae, Former Practice Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He is resident in the United States of America.
