In May 2011, I wrote a weblog growing
out of my concern that excessive reliance upon emotions and feelings were
steering the practice of our faith and decision making processes in
general. Rather than being truly moved
by the Holy Spirit of God, many I feared were being swept away by their feelings. Satan enjoys using our feelings to drive us
from the sobering truths of Scripture in a way similar to how people who are
drunk or high are dulled to reality. Getting
caught up in euphoric aspects of worship, decision making, and the other
processes of our lives is dangerous and can lead us way off track. God’s Word must guide us, not our feelings
and emotions.
Allen Raynor Weblog: The Limits of Emotion in the Decision Making
Process
(May 16, 2011)
How often have we been
given the advice, “Just follow your heart?”
Maybe you have even given that advice to others. This certainly sounds good on the surface,
but if we probe a little deeper it comes up a bit short. One of my friends has said one of her all-time
favorite quotations is “live, love, laugh.”
I would ask, is this a legitimate philosophy of life? Somehow many feel that you say most when you
say little or nothing at all. What does
it mean to live, love and laugh? At its
most basic level it means – it’s all about you!
Live life to its fullest because life is all about you; love to the
fullest (whomever you wish) because love is about you and what makes you happy;
and laugh hard and often (at whatever is funny to you) because laughter is
essentially all about you and what is funny to you. Now this is not all bad. Neither life, love,
or laughter are inherently bad, in fact, each are good and are, most certainly,
gifts from God. They become bad only
when they are seen as a destination
and not as a part of the journey.
Our culture often
fails to lose sight of where it is going.
We are on a trip which does
have a destination. What is happening is
that people are stopping at the roadside diner and not wanting to leave –
saying just one more cup of coffee and then we will go. They are milling around the truck stop gift
shop searching for something they never quite find. They are stretching their legs at the rest
stop but never quite get ready to get back in the car to continue the trip to
its full destination. Those grounded in
God’s Word know that everything is headed somewhere. The mundane happenings of daily life are like
houses or farms we pass on a long trip.
Travel through Kansas a few times and you will appreciate what I am
saying! Really what is happening is that
“emotion” is not only clouding judgment,
it is actually determining judgment!
When certain topics are discussed on talk shows or news programming,
there is little appeal anymore to what is right or wrong. There is rarely any reference to the Bible or
historical precedent. Instead the crux
of the argument is made in the realm of emotional appeal. It is about getting you to empathize with
someone who has allegedly been wronged or hurt in some manner.
It is far less about the law, morality,
absolute truth, or anything else. It is
about how you feel. Those pushing for a certain outcome know how
to manipulate the emotions to produce the desired response. In fact this is being done more and more with
art and with precision. In his April
2011 newsletter, John MacArthur writes,
You can’t deny our world is shaped and
driven by emotion. Everything today –
from music and entertainment to advertising and even the news – is designed to
affect and manipulate our feelings.
Facts and objective truth only matter in terms of the emotional response
they can prompt from you. And the
preeminence of emotion goes far beyond how and what we consume. We’re encouraged to use our emotions as the
final standard for determining what is true or false, good or bad, right or
wrong. Even important decisions are made
based on nothing more than how we feel about our choices.
Are Christians immune to the world’s
proclivity toward following emotions?
Certainly not! A growing list of
our churches play nearly exclusively to emotions. Music, décor, programs, even sermons are
often more concerned with hyping up emotions than glorifying God by a clear
presentation of Biblical truth. A middle
aged lady told me recently, in defense of her attending the particular church she
attends, that the music at her church “makes me feel like a teenager
again.” Truth was not a part of that
discussion and it rarely is ever a part of the discussion anymore. Instead she enjoyed the feelings and emotions
the music evoked in her and felt no need to explain further. MacArthur goes on to write:
If we’re honest, many Christians put
far too much trust in their emotions – we have become like the world in that
way. Instead of holding to objective,
immutable truth, they chase the highs and lows of their own feelings. And in many cases, they let their moods or
subjective impulses determine how they think and live.
Certainly there is nothing wrong with
demonstrations of emotion in the worship of our Lord. In fact many of our churches give every
appearance of being dead because of a lack
of emotion. But emotion must be more
of an outgrowth and expression of a heart full of praise rather than an end
unto itself. Christians need to be
deeper than the superficial world, yet one of the major, ongoing criticisms of
the church by the world is that the church is superficial and full of hypocrisy! Although it will never be eradicated, we
certainly could strive a little harder.
Actually drawing a distinction between absolute truth and emotions can
be a good entry point from which to share the Gospel. Although the world strives to not think too
deeply and allow emotions to rule, Christians must not fall into the same trap.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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