Double deceptions

Emotion has always been a touchy subject in the church. Perhaps it's because we have all been deceived by our emotions at one time or another-and we won't be had again!

On the other hand, we have all been deceived by our intellect at one time or another too. Some of us remember the romantic philosophical escapades of the 60s flower children. Many of them went into banking afterwards. Hitting the brick wall of reality and the necessity of earning a living tends to cure both shallow emotionalism and shallow philosophicalism. As C.S. Lewis says, "five minutes' genuine toothache would reveal the romantic sorrows for the nonsense they were."

Jesus died, I presume, to save us from both deceptions, the emotional and the intellectual kinds. He means to redeem and sanctify all the spare parts that are man, including emotion and intellect. Nevertheless, it is curious to see a residual suspicion of human emotions that is not seen with regard to human intellect. If one meets a person who is more joyful or enthusiastic about Jesus than he is, he keeps the "fanatic" at arm's length.

I see contrary evidence in the Bible. The people of God ooze with emotion: "Tell of his works with songs of joy" (Psalm 107:22) "I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre!" (Psalm 108:1,2). Ah, that's just cultic worship being described, you say. Fair enough, how about this one:

"My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long" (Psalm 71:8).