EMOTION - EXPERIENCE
FEELINGS - SENSES
HOW DO THEY FIT IN TO OUR FAITH?
(Part 1)


Recently in my “Magnificent Prayer” daily devotional, I came across this quote by Vance Havner:

“Remember that faith is not a strange sensation that comes over you in rare moments, a magic thrill from something in the minister’s voice, a mystic trance to be reached once in a while, then lost for weeks or years. Faith is a sturdy confidence that God will keep His promises, confidence enough to walk out on them and live there, although the world expects them to crack and crumble under you any day.”

The book’s author went on to comment about this:

“Refuse to allow your feelings to measure the effectiveness of your prayers (and I would add: the reality of your faith/your worship/ your relationship with God). Such dependencies are the enemy of faith. Satan is a master when it comes to orchestrating feelings in Christians. He loves it when we get those goosebump sensations because he knows that when they leave, we’ll assume we’re no longer connected to God.”

This got me thinking about a lot of aspects of my faith: prayer, worship, Bible study, conferences, the role and place of the arts (especially music--my ministry career!), captivating and charismatic speakers/leaders/pastors, working in Christian community (like Camp Squanto, sacred dance weeks at PSR, Bridges For Peace), and more. Just how important are my feelings--my experiences--when it comes to my relationship with God? What role do they play? Do I rely on them to authenticate my spirituality? Can we even grasp any reality--spiritual or otherwise--without some kind of experience of it? Should my faith be totally intellectual? Is it?

NOT AT ALL! As many of you can attest after seeing me at different services, concerts, conferences, retreats, etc. Sometimes my emotions have gotten the best of me in various settings, overwhelming my rationality in the intensity of the moment, and I have acted out according to these powerful, extreme, out-of-the-ordinary feelings (sometimes to my deteriment). Also, we know that our human relationships are always interwoven with emotions, feelings, and experiences we have with one another.


Relationships are never purely intellectual, rational, and objective. This would make them completely cold, formal, disconnected--and very unhealthy too! Think of the struggles and problems that children have when they come from homes with distant, absent fathers and emotionally dead mothers. Likewise, we need to feel--to experience--our relationship with the God of the universe, to have an emotional connection to our Lord Jesus, and to be open to the surprising movements of the Holy Spirit in our lives, which are never simply static, intellectual, rational promptings (check out Pentecost, for example...).

But I have seen too many instances where emotion in worship, in prayer, at special events, and so forth seems to be what it’s all about for people.


Worship is only “good” or “real” or “meaningful” if I get a tear in my eye, if I get chills, if I feel stirred emotionally. Otherwise, we say “It left me cold,” “I didn’t get fed,” or “It was boring.” The fact that God showed up, that He was present and ready to receive our full attention, our gratitude, our worship, the honor and glory due His Name--well, since we didn’t feel emotional or “moved” by what happened, we give the experience a thumbs down. Or the fact that there really was something rich and good in the worship, the Scripture passage, the song, from the speaker or the conference--nope! Because we weren’t aroused, excited, or stimulated by the presentation, we judge it a failure, or mediocre at best, regardless of the fact that all of this was supposedly for God.

It is easy to see what is really happening here: our experience is the most important reality! Our feelings are paramount. We are the center of everything that's going on. The focus is on ME! Not on God, or on the reason for being in attendance--no! It is about my feelings, my emotions, my familiarities, my preferences and particularities, my wants and desires, my tastes, my my my and I I I...

We humans really are emotional junkies these days.


Perhaps people have always had a tendency to get caught up in their senses and emotions, but it seems that in our day these are the all-important, driving centerpieces of our existence. How we “feel” dictates every aspect of our lives, including our spiritual lives. Comfort is #1--though entertainment/stimulation probably tie for #1! Related to these are factors of convenience, ease, enjoyment, pleasure, personal well-being, materialism, consumerism, safety and security, the hunt for “the next best thing,” the desire for “the latest and greatest” (which is connected to materialism)--all factors that touch our senses, our emotions, our feelings. Also, everything must be tailored to #1--which is ME. That’s what advertising is all about, and Christians are not above getting sucked into this incredibly huge vortex of the titilation of the senses. Sight, sound,, smell, taste, touch--we want ALL of our senses to be bombarded with stimulation and every appetite sated. We seek “virtual reality” through theaters, theme parks, THX Ltd., Wii, NIntendo, and Guitar Hero. We crave tasty treats to tantalize our taste buds and tummies, and substances to get us “up” and bring us “down.” We are sex-obsessed and porn-addicted. We avoid “stink” at all costs (deodorants, perfumes, colognes, air fresheners...). The list goes on and on, and we look to these things that stimulate our senses for satisfaction, security, and salvation--when Scripture clearly tells us time and again that whoever trusts in such things is doomed to disappointment, for the things of this world are but a moment--a breath--that will vanish like smoke. (See I John 2:15-17)

So, where’s the balance? What’s the proper mix of emotion and objective reality in our faith? Of feelings and knowledge? How do we weigh our experiences with what is true and real apart from them? How does each aspect inform the other? One is not better or more important than the other. God does come to us in and through our senses and experiences, not just through theology, knowledge, and rational thought. Engaging our senses, our emotions, our feelings, and our experiences in our relationship with God is even validated in Scripture: “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart-soul-mind-strength.” (Mark 12:30) “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) “Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud...and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.’” (John 9:6-7) “Look at my hands. Look at my feet. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost.” (Luke 24:39) “The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all people, a banquet of aged wine--the best of meats and the finest of wines.” (Isaiah 25:6) “God sent the angel Gabriel to...Mary.” (Luke 1:26) Jesus himself was charged with gluttony and drunkenness (Matt. 11:19) and with socializing with some very unsavory characters, so he obviously utlized his senses and emotions, and was open to a variety of experiences in his life. We were created as unified, whole beings with many aspects, including our emotions, our intellect, our senses, our physical parts, our spiritual sensitivities, our mental capacities, and so forth. And again, as the Scripture instructs us in both the Old and New Testaments, we are to love the Lord our God with every single bit of our beings--heart, soul, mind, and strength.


The author of “Magnificent Prayer” also says that, even though Satan tries to use our feelings against us, “This doesn’t mean that we’re to leave our emotions outside the prayer room door.”

So I ask the question again: how do the more subjective aspects of ourselves--our emotions, feelings, senses, and experiences--fit in to our faith?

Next time I’ll share some fresh new insights I gleaned about all this at a recent prayer retreat...