What are we to make of emotions? On the one hand they are natural and powerful. They show us things about ourselves we may not have known before. Is it true that it is unhealthy to attempt to control them or repress them as modern psychiatrists tell us? It feels unnatural, is it dishonest to try to keep them in check?
Outside of Christianity there are two types of religions in this world. One affirms our natural instincts, the other denies them. The former is composed with nature worship religions, a significant segment of Hinduism, and today’s modern religion: hedonism. Buddhism and Stoicism are good examples of the latter, nature denying religions. The former tells us that all we feel is good and we should therefore do it. They say in effect don’t restrain our sexual urges; rather we have sex with a temple prostitute as a means. Buddhists tell us all pleasure is illusory, our body is a curse, and that death is liberation.
Hinduism is a bit different for on the one hand it has self denying monks (nature denying), but on the other hand it has cultic prostitution (nature affirming). These contradictions exist side by side in harmony for it is a disjointed religion. It both affirms and denies our instincts.
One of the many proofs for the truth of Christianity is that it tells us something outside of our nature. For example, on the one hand it tells us sex is good but only within marriage. It neither denies nor affirms our natural instincts but rather guides us on how we ought to live. How does this relate to our emotions? The Bible teaches us how we should interact with each and every of our emotions.
Grief. On the one hand we are told that death is an unnatural curse, but we are also instructed to not grieve like the pagans grieve who have no hope. This is quite different from both the natural fear of death and the Stoic indifference to it.
Anger. It is natural to get angry, but we are instructed to not sin in our anger to deal with our anger so that it does not grow into bitterness.
Fear. God commands us not to fear, but to trust in Him.
Worry. We are to not be anxious in anything, but in everything in prayer and with thanksgiving in our hearts, present our requests to God.
Greed. Many righteous men were blessed with money; we are not to deny all wealth and live in poverty to be holy. But we are to be on guard for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
Think of the consequences that any emotion has if it is left unchecked. Depression and fear paralyze, anger destroys others, and lust destroys self. We need to control these, but we cannot react too sharply and simply deny them outright.
Every heresy is a simplification. Some couldn’t deal with the complexities of a triune God or the intricacies of a living relationship with the almighty God (and the instructions He gives us regarding our emotions and actions), so they invented a single God named Allah and drew up five simple pillars. We need to be careful that we don’t make simplifications (for it is natural to want to do so) and find moral platitudes in the Bible were there are none. For example: we are to turn the other cheek. But how can one say the Bible advocates pacificism when God Himself waged war?
Culture influences religion. It was easy for Medieval peasants to believe their lot in life was fixed and God ordained for the social structure of there day made it so. In the same way it was quite easy for a bunch of misogynists to believe the teachings of Joseph Smith that woman’s salvation came only through man and a man could therefore have multiple wives.
We live in a culture where emotions are viewed as being all natural and all good and therefore worthy of being given complete free reign. We need to guard are self from this tide. We are at little risk of giving too little credence to our emotions; on the contrary the modern trend is to put far too much stock in them.
Instead of looking to modern ‘science’ or opinion we should consult the Word of God. There we will learn to take every thought captive and make it obedient to God’s Truth. Our emotions are not all bad, but they aren’t all good either that is why we must control them in the way God instructs us to so that we can use them for His Kingdom and Glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment