"You're telling yourself all of these things, but what do you feel?"
"I know that the Bible says I should pray, but I don't feel like it." "Worship isn't all about feelings. You need to know Who it is you worship too."
"You are so emotional, use your head!"
"Knowledge puffs up. Just put down your Bible and love."
All of these statements reflect a common thing thing: a dichotomy between the mind and heart. It is a popular dichotomy, and we see it everywhere in the world, especially in our media—music, T.V and movies. I just watched the newest Star Trek with my family the other night. And as the blockbuster wraps up like a preacher wrapping up a sermon, a character named Spock—known for his cold logic and intellectual demeanor—says, "Do yourself a favor. Put logic aside. Do what feels right." A cleverly placed lens flare helps drive the point home.
And yet, there are plenty of movies that exalt dutiful intellect over emotion. The characters are almost robotic—devoid of feeling, but they are so cool. In The Book of Eli (a secular post-apocalyptic film with Christian overtones), there is a scene in which Denzel Washington's character (Eli), on a mission from God, witnesses a group of bikers attack a helpless couple. As the woman cries out for help, he mutters to himself repeatedly, "It ain't your concern. Stay on the path."
The world certainly presents this dichotomy in more ways than just film, but we who live in it cannot deny the effect of this dichotomy on our own lives—or even on the life of the church.
Across the board, there are Christians who seem to be closer to one extreme or the other—detached intellect or out of control emotion. There are those who seem to be easily overcome by the "feelings" associated with praise music and yet might be tempted to sneer at the prospect of deep theological study—we'll call them "feelers". And there are those who seem to be more interested in studying God than being enthralled with Him—we'll call them "thinkers". When "thinkers" talk to "feelers", they might quote Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" and the "feelers" might answer with (half of) 1 Corinthians 8:1 "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up". Of the two, I think I see more "feelers" than "thinkers" in the average church. One sentiment I don't often find expressed is "Let's study God's word deeply, but forget love". But one that I do come across more often is expressed in statements like: "I can't understand the Bible, so why should I read it?"
So there is a dichotomy—a separation between mind and heart that the world often uses… and it is one that often proves unhelpful for the life of the church. But the good news is that we have the good news. There exists a good way to address this dichotomy: with the gospel. Here's how.
Firstly, we know that God created both the mind and the heart. He created our emotional and intellectual capacities. He designed us to feel and to think. And in the beginning, God called both mind and heart good.
But sin entered the picture. And sin affects everything about us. Both the mind and the heart are affected. Romans 1:21 says that mankind "became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." All mankind bears a sinful nature. From an understanding of this doctrine, we are led against any assumption that our minds are somehow less sin-touched than our hearts (or vice versa). People who hold suspicion toward the subdued intellect of "thinkers" must hold the same for their feelings. And people who hold cynicism toward the "feelers" must not think their intellect exempt from manipulation or deception.
So what can we do? If man's intellect is lost in sin, how can he think, reason, or deduce his way towards the most logical source of salvation? The answer is that he can't. And if man's heart is deceitful, how can he "know in his heart" that what he does is right? The answer is that he can't. Man's mind and heart lies, from the beginning, in the dominion of darkness.
ENTER JESUS.
What Jesus did for believers is a miracle. He died the death they should have died and brought them to LIFE. The dead mind that was blinded by the logic of the world is being renewed. The dead heart that was lost in its fleshly impulses is beating to a new tune. Our minds are enlightened to understand what truth actually is. Our hearts are opened that we may actually live out the great commandments to LOVE the Lord and to LOVE our neighbors.
The thing is, God is intent on saving all of us—including our mind and heart. We need not pit one against the other. We need not exist in such a culturally exalted conflict. Because of the gospel, instead of being in constant internal strife, we are brought to peace. We can go to Scripture and see how the mind and heart can actually cooperate with each other rather than war against each other.
One such passage of Scripture that I think helps us see the mind and heart working together is Romans 12. In verse 2, Paul writes "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Pay attention to the word "good" in there. We are to be transformed by the renewal of our mind in order that we may discern… "what is good". There is a lot of "think-talk" in this verse. But as we approach verse nine we read the following: "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good." We were first told to be transformed by the renewal of our minds… to think and discern what is "good" in verses 1 and 2. But now in verse 9, we have "affection-talk". Having discerned what is "good", we now hold fast to what is "good", which includes genuine love.
Our thoughts, transformed by the renewing of our mind, exist for our love. And our love exists for our God.
Don't misunderstand me, this statement does not exalt affections over thought. Nor does it exalt thought over affections. But it puts the two in correct perspective. Affections are fueled and fed by thoughts. And thoughts feed and fuel affections. Thoughts without affections has not reached the goal. And affections without thoughts are starved and weak.
Picture a college guy in his early twenties. He has spent the last two years learning everything about a certain girl. He knows her middle name, her birthday, her favorite color, movie, animal, number, etc. He knows her family struggles. He knows what makes her knees weak. He knows her greatest fear. He knows about her mom's dangerous surgery last fall. He knows almost everything. As he lists off all these things to a friend one day, his friend says, "wow—you guys must be close!" He neutrally replies "No. We're not. I don't even love her. And she doesn't know me." It would probably be safe to call him a stalker.
Likewise there can be stalkers of God. People who know everything about Him, but don't love Him. Don't get me wrong: Theology IS good. Theology is glorious!!! And it exists for worship. Thinking about God (theo-ology) exists for loving God. So, if you are theological, but you don't love God, the problem isn't the theology. The problem is that you have not employed your theological thoughts to serve your love for God and His people.
Picture a different guy, who is clearly more in love with a certain girl's appearance than her personality. As she passes him, he wolf-whistles and shouts, "I'm in love! Check her out bro! Yeah baby!" She takes his breath away, doesn't she? She excites him doesn't she? He seems awfully charged up about her, right? But something is missing: he doesn't even know her. Certainly, he could get to know her. But he is content with "just looking". Were we to witness such a happening, many of us might label him a pig. The love he demonstrates, we might say, is not real love. At best it is shallow. At worst, it degrades her to an object.
The same goes for our love of God. There are Christians who love what they see about God… and love what they think about God, but they hardly know His name, and they don't love Him—or want to love Him—deeply. They are content to "just look". The problem here is that they have not sought to deepen their love for God by informing their love with His Word more deeply. They like what they think of Him, not what He says about himself.
I suppose the point I am trying to make (and have only recently learned in recent years, as a thinker quick to judge feelers) is that affections and the intellect go hand in hand for the glory of God. Our thoughts about Him are meant to serve our love for Him. Without thoughts that are drowned in His Word, our love for Him will be all the more shallow. If you think about God, those thoughts should increase your love for Him or you are not thinking rightly. And if you love God, you should seek to know Him more so that you can love Him more deeply.
So if you would label yourself as more of a "feeler", remember this: your love, affections, feelings, and emotions are great, but they need to be informed in order to be truly God glorifying. It does not glorify God if your worship is misinformed or uninformed. He wants to be worshipped—loved—for Who He IS, not Who you think He is.
And if you would label yourself as more of a "thinker", remember this: if you are thinking about God a lot, but you find yourself devoid of love for Him, you need to repent and use your thoughts to kindle your love. When you learn about a new theological concept or study an unfamiliar passage, ask yourself: "How does this make me love God more?"
Strive to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Not one at the expense of another.
The second is much more a college level read, and I have yet to finish it… but it is SO good. The first chapter alone blew me away. It is "The Religious Affections" by puritan Jonathan Edwards. It too can be found FOR FREE online (I think in its entirety) at http://www.jonathan-edwards.org/ReligiousAffections.pdf. 