Emotions are a good gift from our Heavenly Father.  They help us to fall in love. They fill us with joy.  They help us to experience sorrow and grief.  They can also lead us to sin — an angry response when we don’t get our way, for instance.  All of us surely understand the blessings and, sometimes, the curse, of emotions. 

When we are lead by our emotions, damage often results.  We see this in situations where a person violates their marriage vows, choosing adultery instead. We see it in divorce decisions where one “feels” that their decision is the right one.  No amount of logic, reason, or truth can dissuade them.  In these situations, emotions  trump truth.  Sometimes they replace truth.  God’s plan is that our emotions become our servant and our companion, not our leader.  When this happens, it brings great balance, protection, and freedom to one’s life.

Emotions certainly can affect us negatively.  This is true in parenting.  We can fail to discipline because we feel badly for our children, are embarrassed about doing so, or are just too tired to do so.  Sometimes this occurs because we are addicted to the dopamine rush we get from social media.  Rather than interrupt our social media life to deal with a situation, we rush to either distract a child or we choose to ignore their poor behavior outright.  Leadership is another area where emotions can affect us negatively. This happens when we violate Biblical positions because we like a person, or they have money, or it is just easier.  There are even many leaders who have hundreds of followers because they appeal to emotions. The big one seems to be “justified anger.” They post angry rants that garner followers and money.  Their preaching is often marked by angry outbursts too.  They garner a following based on emotions rather than on truth.  All of us have to be on guard lest we allow such emotions to become the norm of our lives!

Emotional issues show up in many areas.  Consider alcohol.   It is acceptable to apply a position based on emotions — maybe alcohol damaged one’s family or one’s friend was killed by a drunk driver.  As a Christian, it is still better to base one’s position on truth!  Truth trumps emotions. While one’s emotions, as in the cases above, can certainly lead one to a right decision, it should not be first and foremost.  Truth should be.  

Emotions often affect theology and theological discussions.  This can be dangerous.  While emotions are a blessing if we are resting in truth and standing firm with God’s favor and care, they are dangerous if we are living by them rather than truth.  For instance, I heard a pastor once downplay some important teachings of God’s Word (which included some questions about women preachers, modesty, and so forth) by declaring that he isn’t that worried about these issues because he is dealing with people who don’t know whether or not they are a boy or girl!  In other words, rather than discuss a Biblical position, he dismissed it with an emotional statement.   While it prevented him from having to face the issue (either in a clear explanation of what he believes, or of where he stands, or of how he believes it should be applied), it implied these issues weren’t Biblical ones. To me this is dangerous.  After all if women preachers and modesty are no longer Bible issues, then perhaps gender issues aren’t either.  The Bible is our final authority for each one, not our emotions!

Consider the version debate.  Have you noticed that it is easy to jump into the emotional realm? Perhaps we do so because we don’t want to deal with certain questions or because we can’t.  Instead we talk about our “blessed grandmother” or “past revivals” or about great leaders and what they said!  Some relegate it to humor:  “If the 1611 was good enough for the Apostle Paul, then it’s good enough for me!”  While these “feelings” are valid (and funny), truth is more so. I know that in the early years of my ministry I often said things and took certain positions, not because I was convinced based on truth, but because I was convinced based on the emotional statements of men I loved and respected. I parroted their emotional statements, and although they sometimes lead me to truth, they often did not!  

We should not handle doctrinal issues solely with emotion.  We must appeal to truth.  What does the Bible say?  Examine it.  Study it.  Quote it.  Stand there and teach from there.  Take positions based on that!  You can even enjoy it and have fun with it. You can experience love, joy, and peace.  In that case, emotions become our companion and not our leader. 

We should all be careful.  Early in my ministry a wonderful mentor of mine often joked about, ridiculed, and “sighed” over his disagreements with another ministry.  As a result, I developed some strong negative feelings about the other ministry. I had never met them or served alongside of them.  When I would see their ministry supported by a local church, I would feel saddened that they were supporting such a “lousy” ministry.  Then they invited me to speak for them and  I eventually did so.  When I did, I found that this ministry was run by some really Godly people who loved the Lord as much as I did, and maybe, more than I did. I learned a valuable lesson.  Never allow emotions to lead. 

Truth trumps emotions.  It should!

Thanks for reading. 

Your friend,

Dave Young