Hey Centennial,
Humans are emotional, rational, physical, relational, vocational, spiritual beings designed for love.
I said that during the sermon this past Sunday and have explored the idea a number of time over the past years. If humans really are multi-faceted in this way (if God really did design each of these aspects of life on purpose) then there is a clear implication.
God desires us to integrate these facets.
Last Sunday we explored one critical pair that is far too often disintegrated.
We often live with a disconnect between our head and our heart. Have you found this to be true?
This is fascinating because, once we acknowledge it, we notice the intimate connection between thoughts and emotions, ideas and desires, all around us.
Psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt compares our emotions and rational thought to an elephant and its rider. The elephant (emotion) is larger and has more power, the rider (reason) must cooperate.
Pastor, physician, and psychologist Paul Tournier said it this way.
“We are controlled by feelings, not logic, though we fondly imagine that we are being guided by our reason. What happens in fact is that reason supplies the arguments with which to justify our behavior. We appear to be logical but are thoroughly illogical.”
Scripture confirms this as well. The greatest commandment is to love God with “heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Paul exhorts Christ follows to experience a renewing of the mind. David prayed for God to create a clean heart.
To say this yet one more way.
If we live with head and heart disconnected, we are simply lying to ourselves. To integrate head and heart, emotion and reason, is to acknowledge what is already true about our existence from a biblical, psychological, and experiential perspective.
My sincere hope is that our community continues to create space for precisely this kind of integrated – heart, mind, soul, strength – living in our worship and community with one another.
May that be so this Sunday as we continue our walk through the gospel of Matthew. A friend and colleague of mind, Covenant Pastor David Williams, will be preaching from Matthew 27: 11-26, Jesus’ trial before Pilate.
May we live and worship, study and serve, with integrated lives.
Grace and peace,
Karl
Steve Thulson has created five video devotionals for Lent, originally for the ECC ministry, Crescendo.
We believe these devotionals would be a valuable resource for CCC as well, offering a meaningful way to prepare our hearts for Lent.
Here is the link for Week 3. We hope you enjoy it!