Pondering The Expression of Emotions
by Greg Linscott
NOTE: This post is a continuation of conversation taking place at My Two Cents and here at Irrelevant.
Chris,
There is a world of difference between the imagery of “O Sacred Head” and say, “In The Garden.” What you call “brokenness” is the idea of penitence, which absolutely has a place in our piety. However, even in the psalms, penitence is not an emotional end in itself. Consider one of the most familiar psalms of repentance, Psalm 51:13-15:
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Worship isn’t just to be moving; Emotions should constrain us to action. Consider the direction Watt’s marvel moved him to in “How Sweet and Aweful”:
Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice, and heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.
It seems to me that the idea of “masturbatory” in our worship maligned by Wilson in the quote I provided reveals that this idea of purpose and direction in worshipful response is often lacking. Instead, it is the sensation- a type of spiritual glow, if you will- that is the pinnacle of our worship. Today’s music seems to focus on themes like the ecstasy of “Every Day is With Jesus is Sweeter Than The Day Before,” that never acknowledge the challenges and hardships, or a sense of intense longing, such as with “As The Deer” (based on Psalm 42:1), but without the resolution present in the completion of the themes of verses 2-11.
Over at MTC, you decry the “stoic repression” of emotion. While I understand what you are saying, perhaps the solution is not unleashing the floodgates. After all, meekness and temperance are fruits of the Spirit. Mr. Spock may not be the best role model for our worship, but neither is unrestrained, face-painted reveler in the football stadium, or the weepy, sentimentalist person who becomes a quivering wreck at the thought of “coot widdle puppies.”
The emotions, or as others have better said, the affections– must be guided and directed to the glory of God and the transformation and sanctification of our selves. Senseless, “stoic” repression is not wise- but neither is the loosing of all control and inhibition wise, either.
Greg Linscott 
Good thoughts, Greg.
Quote: Senseless, “stoic” repression is not wise- but neither is the loosing of all control and inhibition wise, either.
Perhaps we can move past this either/or dilemma by gaining a clearer perspective on what emotions are. Emotions are not really accurately described as “feelings,” as even many contemporary philosophers recognize. If I cut my finger, I feel pain, but pain is simply a physical sensation. Now, this physical sensation will probably give rise to certain emotional responses, depending on how I choose to respond. I may respond with anger or grief or fear (depending on the severity of the wound). But we should notice that my emotional response is an intelligent value judgment about what has happened to me. Some would even say that my emotions are a strategy for dealing with how I perceive the situation.
In Scripture, emotions are not something that “happen” to us; they come from and are expressions of the heart. Mind, will, emotions – all are anchored and integrated in the heart. All are involved in each other. In order for my mind to be fully engaged in anything, my will and emotions must be fully engaged as well. In order for my will to be apprehending something, my mind and my emotions must also be inclined toward it. In order for my emtions to be approving something, I must have cognitive rest in it (mind) and desire it (will).
We mirror God as persons in his image in this way. Paul Helm has recently described God’s emotions as his being “maximally engaged” in what He wills and does. Applying this to our worship, we should be maximally engaged in our emotions, as well as in our minds and wills, when we serve God.
Of course, as sinful creatures we do face the problem of duplicity in our emotions (and minds and wills). This is a problem that God, who has perfect personal integrity, does not face.
Seen in this light, the question is not one of “repressing” or “losing all control” our emotions. It is one of sanctifying our emotions (and minds and wills) so that we can fully express our hearts to God in ways that match with his holy character. The problem in our worship is not too much emotion but the wrong kind.
This is the first time I have tried to write these thoughts out, so I hope this makes some sense. Does this help?
Greg, this won’t further the conversation at all, but I don’t disagree with anything you just said.
I know, I know: that’s no fun. 😉
I once dared to disgree mildly with Piper on emotions, over at Pyro, and was instantly dogpiled by wildeyed Piperites accusing me of lying and perverting The Pipe, and all other manner of bad things. But I was exactly accurate; Piper insists that God commands us to feel certain things, and he doesn’t even seem to countenance the possibility that these things are more attitude than feeling.
So my question then and now is: what am I supposed to do when I don’t feel what I’m supposed to feel? Stop Christian living until I do? Seek the feeling? Sing that chorus another 5-6 times, until I do? Feel guilty?
Dan,
Good questions. I don’t know that I have a complete answer to them, but here is the direction of my thinking (and emotion :-).
You asked, “What am I supposed to do when I don’t feel what I’m supposed to feel?” I’ll change the question a bit, because I believe “feelings” are not quite the same thing as emotions. Feelings are simply physiological responses. Emotions, though, have intentionality and they “involve conceptually grasping and evaluationg the world. To say that emotions have intelligence… is to insist that they involve concepts and conceptualization, values and evaluation. Thus, they involve judgments, cognition” (Robert Solomon). Even though this definition was written by an unbeliever, it fits with the Bible’s description of emotion as arising from the heart (and thus invovling both mind and will). To quote a Christian philosopher, “The affections are no other than the more vigorous and sensible exercises of the inclination and will of the soul” (Jonathan Edwards).
I would state your question, then, as, “What am I supposed to do when I don’t have the emotions I am supposed to have?” Really, the answer to this seems to be the same as when you don’t have the thoughts you are supposed to have. You put off the wrong ways of thinking, be renewed in your mind (which biblically includes your emotions), and put on right ways of thinking.
You see, if my understanding of emotions (as distinct from mere feelings) is correct, we are biblically responsible for our emotions. We actually do this evaluation of emotions in everyday life. If a man “falls in love” with a woman that we believe is a poor choice, we might say that is was foolish for him to fall in love with her. But this is a value judgment, implying that his emotion for this woman is misguided and wrong. Or, for another example, if my son gets angry at one of his sisters when she doesn’t do what he wants, I would tell him that it is sin for him to be angry. Again, I have just made him responsible for an emotion, and rightly so.
So the whole process of sanctification involves our emotions just as much as it involves our intellects and wills. Our emotions are included in “the renewing of our minds” (Rom 12:1-2). The fruit of the Spirit has an undeniable emotional aspect: love, joy, peace, etc. Is this a struggle for us? Absolutely. But it might also induce humility in us to realize how much growing in grace we need when our emotions are not what they ought to be. This should flow into dependence on God’s Spirit and earnestness in spiritual disciplines.
I hope this helps.
By the way, I just checked out your blog. Your self-description is pretty good!