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"...With All

My Mind"


Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"
-Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

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3/26/2014

5 Comments

 

"Nothing More Than Feelings"

Everything in culture is driven by emotions. I have to make myself happy, so I’m leaving my spouse. It feels good, so I don’t care that it violates my values. I want it, so I have to have it no matter what it costs or who it hurts. But I think emotion-driven living has also affected the church, from our attendance to the songs we sing to the time and money we give. 



Let me say that emotions are not a bad thing. God created emotions, and they are a normal part of life. And thus a very real part of our spiritual walk. Being moved by a worship song (be it a hymn or a chorus), bowing in shame when we’ve sinned before an Almighty God, sizzling with anger when someone uses that Almighty God’s name as a curse, or just getting the warm fuzzies when someone does something really nice for us are all legitimate emotional experiences. When emotions become a problem is when our spiritual welfare (and our spiritual activity) is based on them. If you go to church because you feel like worshipping God, great. What happens if you wake up on Sunday morning a little grumpy and out of sorts and feel like sleeping for another few hours? Do you still go to church, sans feelings? If you are overflowing with gratitude for what God has done in your life and you feel love for Him and are compelled to acts of Christian service, great. But what happens when you start to take Christ for granted (as we all do from time to time) and the feeling of love just isn’t that strong. Do you cease to be obedient?



Again, emotions aren’t bad. And responding to emotion isn’t always bad, assuming we are cognizant of our response and the reason for it. But if emotion is the only fuel in our vehicle, we are bound to start coasting or stop completely. Something has to be there to pick us up when emotions run out because THEY ALWAYS WILL.



So what is that something? It’s a dirty, disregarded-by-culture, shunned-by-churches, four-letter word: Duty. It is doing what you are supposed to do because it is what you are supposed to do, not because you feel like it. It is dragging yourself to church on a Sunday morning when you’d rather sleep. It is giving your tithes and offerings to God because that is what he commanded you to do, even if you’d rather spend your hard-earned cash on something else. It is giving up your time and pleasure to help someone else (Ouch! I just stepped on my own toes). It is clear why duty has been disregarded by culture. Duty gets in the way of another four-letter word, Self.



But why do so many churches and Christians seem to be shunning duty? I think it is because duty seems to conflict with appropriate emotional responses. After all, how can a good, godly person who loves Jesus ever have to drag themselves to church? Shouldn’t he or she want to be in church and be raring to go on a Sunday morning? Yes, he or she should. He or she should also live a perfectly virtuous, sinless, selfless life. But there is someone else doing some dragging (away and enticing) too.



Or take tithing? Doesn’t God say that he wants a “cheerful giver,” not one who is “reluctant or under compulsion”? (I Corinthians 9:7) Many read that as an excuse not to give if they don’t feel like it. But I don’t think Paul was talking about regular (tithes) giving. The context is in reference to a love-offering being collected for the Lord’s people, and Paul didn’t want the Corinthians to feel that they had to give a certain amount. Rather, he encouraged them to give what they could, with the reminder that generosity would be rewarded. Check out the book of Malachi to see how God felt when His people didn’t give Him the tithes He required.



Look through the rest of Scripture and you will not find, I dare say, any commands along the lines of “Obey God if and when you feel like it.” Instead you will fine phrases like “Make every effort” and “laboring” and “striving” and “I beat my body.” These seem to me like calls to duty.



Another reason that duty is shunned, in my opinion, is because our actions seem unauthentic if “the heart isn’t in it.” I would argue that it is just the opposite. Doing the right thing out of duty when the heart (emotions) doesn’t want to is the epitome of true authenticity. It is a forceful subjecting of the will. It is the essence of obedience. Duty mandates that we preach the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, even if it isn’t popular and might not give off a good vibe. Duty suggests we sing songs that have rich theological value instead of upbeat fluff that gets us excited. Duty obligates us to stand firm in the faith and not be watered down by society and culture or by other churches that profess Christ but clearly do not hold to the Scriptures, even though it may make us unpopular, may not draw a crowd, and may not evoke good feelings. Duty is stoic. Duty is still there when the smoke clears. Duty is our anchor when emotions fail us. And I dare say we would be much better off if we (as individuals and as the church) were driven far more by duty and less by emotions.



Once again, I want to clarify that I am not against emotions (Anyone who’s ever watched Nebraska football with me knows that). Nor am I saying they don’t have a place in church or in a Christian’s spiritual life. Emotions are more than welcome. They just do not get to drive the bus. If the tune of a song or the oratorical skills of a preacher (or the impassioned plea of a blogger) gets us into an emotional lather, nothing has been accomplished but getting into a lather. Whereas if the truth expressed by song or the Biblical teaching of a preacher inspires emotions in us, then that is indeed wonderful. As the adage goes, if you can fall in love, you can fall out of love. There has to be more than feelings to make a marriage work. Similarly, if our walk with Christ (as his bride) is based just on our feelings, we may be in for a rather rocky hike.



I’ll add one more emotion that can be dangerous. Zeal. As Paul wrote, “It is good to be zealous, provided the purpose is good…” (Galatians 4:8) This article is largely motived by my zeal for the church of Jesus Christ not pandering. But I freely admit that my zeal is an emotion that can blind me, that can take me too far. So by all means, if that is the case, call me on it. If you disagree with me, let’s have a discussion and let’s look to the Scriptures as our guide.

5 Comments
Mark
3/26/2014 07:49:09 am

While I agree with the overall premise of doing what is right vs. doing what we "feel like," I prefer the word "faith" to "duty." How one defines the term, "duty," may come into play here, but in my understanding of these terms, "Duty" only takes into account God's authority, but "Faith" also acknowledges God's character (i.e. He is loving, He is trustworthy, etc.). When God commands us to do something that we don't want to do, I don't see a Christian's obedience as coming from a place that is characterized by obligation ("If I have to, I guess"). Rather, obedience is an act of faith. In that moment when my flesh rails against what I know God wants me to do, what helps me more than a sense of duty that says, "Just do it anyway," is acknowledging and trusting that God is always right and knows what is best for me. In other words, I don't just remember that God has the right to tell me what to do (though He certainly does), but I also consider the nature of Who is commanding me. When we have an accurate picture of God, we will WANT to serve Him. I think that Christian perseverance looks less like gritting our teeth and more like fixing our eyes on God's truth and promises (Php 3:12-14; Heb 12:1-2; 2 Pet 1:3-4).

Reply
Nathan
3/26/2014 08:37:46 am

I think you are absolutely right that our sense of duty should emanate from our faith, that the reason we do what we’re supposed to do is because we understand Him who calls us to do it. And you are right that when we have an accurate picture of God, we will want to serve Him. The problem is, none of us here on earth ever has a fully accurate picture of God, nor do we have perfect trust in Him and what He is doing. And I think that even when we are close to that ideal, we’re still susceptible to emotions (or lack thereof) that can hinder us. So while we do need to keep our eyes on Christ, I think we are also well-served by a strong sense of duty—a duty that is borne from a faith in Who God is. I certainly didn’t mean to convey that it wasn’t.

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Sally Isely
3/26/2014 12:40:44 pm

Nice article Nate and good response Mark. We live by commitment to God- to our spouse, diffidently not by feelings.

Reply
Ron
4/1/2014 11:37:13 am

I agree with the basic point, Nathan, that emotions cannot be the lone motivator of action.

However, we sell emotions down the river too often. We treat them like cotton candy - not ever the meal, but a nice treat if we don't overdo. And only at the fair.

I know things get complicated when we start talking about God's emotions. But scripture consistently and unapologetically binds God's actions with emotions. We could write it all off as anthropomorphic, but it is so consistent and so frequent, it seems unsavory to do so. The scripture ties the two together - God's actions are joined to his emotions. I don't think it's a stretch to even say "always."

So, what does this means for us? It means not tossing out emotions as something we can do without, or that could be dangerous. Water can be dangerous. Drink too much water and it will kill you. But just because there's possible danger doesn't mean we should try to live without it.

To the contrary, emotions are critical. What we need to be thinking about is how to utilize the gift of emotion the way God intended - the way they work in him. Like many good and important things in our lives, we need to ask God to teach us how to redeem, rather than how to shun.

My two cents about something I really get emotional about.

Reply
Nathan
4/2/2014 01:09:55 am

I appreciate your thoughts, Ron. You're right, there is definitely a danger in straying too far in either direction...relying solely on emotions or discounting them altogether. And you're right also about the need to utilize our emotions and make sure they come in line with obedience to God. Good thoughts...I'm still mulling them. Thanks for sharing.

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    I'm a thinker. For better or worse, my mind is always running. As a writer, I also love the method of communication. I think there's an artistry to it. This blog is my way of giving my constant thinking a place to express itself artistically.

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