WHEN ARE FEELINGS RELIABLE?

    Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. -- Mt. 7:21

    In our day there has been a revival of emotional religion -- or perhaps I should say emotion in religion -- and that is probably good. To be sure, religion without heart and feeling is bad religion, just as much so as religion without reason is bad religion. If religion is to challenge the human intellect, such as dealing with such mystery as from whence man comes and whither he goes, it is also to touch the inmost springs of human feeling and bring forth praise, poetry, and song.

    Is it not a matter of balance? And might not the balance be tilted more one way than the other, depending on how one is wired by nature. Some of us who are more high-strung and excitable by nature are likely to be more demonstrative in religious expression, while others of us are more phlegmatic and passive and are prone to be more composed in the way we "do" religion. Some people are naturally inclined to raise their hand and shout praises, while others are comfortable only in their quiet place in the pew.

    If intoxicating spirits affect people differently, causing some to climb over furniture and shout expletives while others are moved only to sit quietly and muse, it should not surprise us if the Holy Spirit affects people differently, leading some to respond more extravagantly than others. And yet the more introverted person may have feelings that go as deep or even deeper than those of the more extroverted person. We sin against common sense when we expect everyone to behave alike, and we err in Christian grace when we demand that others respond to a given phenomenon the way we do "There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all" (l Cor. 12:6). And we must take care lest we attribute everything to the Holy Spirit. Surely many of man's antics are no more than the expression of his emotions.

    Once we give proper place to emotion in religion, we are wise to be on guard lest our feelings betray us. Experience teaches us that emotions are often beguiling and feelings frequently deceptive. Physicians now know that depression is as much biological as mental, if not more so. In fact it is depression that causes our "nerves," not the other way around. And we all know, whether with ourselves or with our children, that it is often diet and sleeping habits that make us cross and irritable rather than "something" that happened at school or work. And emotions get all clogged up, for grief sometimes takes the form of fear, while love and hate are often intermingled. And who can always discern between jealousy and anger? It is enough to say that feelings cannot always be trusted.

    The prophet Jeremiah was concerned with this kind of problem when he sought to distinguish between true and false prophecy. Some prophets confused their dreams (emotions?) with the word of God and thus practiced deceit. "Behold, I am against the prophets," says the Lord, "who use their tongues and say, 'He says' " (Jer. 23:31). How often we hear the radio and TV preachers say, "God told me thus and so"! Ideas can come into preachers' minds other than from God. It may only be their feelings of what they want God to say.

    In regard to such boasting and such dreams Jeremiah says, "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully" (23:28). A prophet may tell a dream and a TV evangelist may express his feelings, but they are not to confuse that with what God has or has not said.

    Jeremiah lays down the test as to what is truly God's word: "Is not My word like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" (23:29). If a prophet's words are powerful and effective against the strongholds of sin, he can make a case that his message is from God. But that is different from telling a dream or asking for money.

    But it is the Lord himself who gives us the sure test in distinguishing our feelings and instincts from the word of God, or between what we want and what God wants. He tells us in Mt. 7:21: "Not everyone who says to Me. 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

    They cry out Lord, Lord!, and there you have emotion plain and simple. And how they can rev it up with Lord, Lord! They sometimes call it praising God. Jesus was not so impressed. He was impressed by obedience. To praise God with Lord, Lord! is appropriate when it springs from a heart set upon doing God's will.

    Are our feelings reliable? Maybe so and maybe not. When emotion is the outpouring of an obedient will, then our feelings are reliable. Emotion is to be harnessed to wisdom, and again it is Jesus who tells us what wisdom is: "Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Mt. 7:24). The person who builds his life upon the rock of God's will has the right to feel good.

    We can cry "Lord, Lord" right into hell unless we seek the wisdom of an obedient heart before God. Jesus came into this world so as to show us how to obey God. The key to true religion is obedience to God, first, last, and always. Feelings may deceive, but obedience to God's word never.

    The psalmist puts it all together for us in Ps. 119:10: "With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments." When we are resolved in heart and mind to keep God's commandments and not to wander into sin, our feelings will take care of themselves. We will feel real good and we can praise him with our whole heart when we will the one thing in life that really matters to us, obeying the God that created us. -- the Editor