-spiritual
-emotional
-physical
-relational
-thinking/cognition
-will/desire
I suppose you could make the list longer... and there are overlaps... but what do you think? Doesn't it sound "spiritual" to put "spiritual" at the top? And how about emotions? Does it seem like those pesky things should be somewhere near the bottom? And what do these terms mean, anyway? Can you chop a person into parts, and is it helpful to even have ways of talking about our segments, as if we were bugs?
Let me suggest that this is SUCH an unhelpful way to think about people! God made humans with ALL of these abilities. Relating to God and others, thinking, emotional feeling, bodily responses, choosing.... ALL the parts of us play a role in what it means to be human. ALL of these parts have been tainted by the Fall. And ALL of these parts, for the Christian, are being restored to the image of Christ.
Whole people. No one part that is spiritual and the rest messed up. Every part affected by sin. Every part being redeemed.
But we chop ourselves up all the time, unaware.
Example #1: My anxiety problem
Let's say you have a problem with anxiety. You find every verse in the Bible on anxiety. You meditate on them, hoping this will relieve your stress. You repeat them over and over, thinking again and again about lies and truth. Whenever an anxious thought pops into your head, you say "stop that!" and start quoting verses. Let me say it is NOT WRONG to meditate on Bible verses. And they may help relieve your stress. But here's what you MAY be doing: Elevating the thinking/cognitive part of you over the emotional part of you; putting more stock in your thoughts than your emotions. AND it looks so spiritual.
And what's the problem with that?
-Your mind is no less tainted by the fall than your emotions
-Your emotions are actually a gift of God to clue into things that are wrong. By ignoring or suppressing them, (in the name of "positive thinking" or "not dwelling on the negative"), you are going to miss a big piece of the puzzle.
-Ignore them long enough and your body will tell you so. Long term anxiety will cause panic attacks, stomach ulcers, heart palpitations, headaches, back and neck problems
-AND the Bible verses you are meditating on were NEVER meant to be slapped on top of your anxiety.
But the Bible says, you object, "Be anxious for nothing!" That means cut off anxiety!
But I ask, how could you possibly understand your anxiety without spending time really thinking about what is making you anxious? Chances are it is deeply rooted in your life story. For some, meditating on Bible verses actually becomes a way of avoiding pain.
Example #2: The Fact-Faith-Feeling Train
I have a problem with the way that some people interpret this train, and the message it sends.
What's the big idea?
The FACTS represent the unshakeable truths of our faith.
We put our FAITH in the facts.
And then our FEELINGS follow. In that order.
I.E., we choose to believe what is true rather than what our feelings may be telling us.
And what's the (potential) problem with that? This IS a problem IF...
-if you think that your WILL mechanism is more reliable than your FEELING mechanism. Again you have your parts on a hierarchy with feeling at the bottom; and some parts are less affected by the fall than others. You think that you can THINK your way out of your anxiety.
-if you think you should ignore your feelings. They are not worthwhile to explore and understand. In fact, paying attention to them is not just a low priority, but they KEEP ME from believing and experiencing truth the way that I should.
-if you say "I'm just going to obey, even if I don't feel like it, and my feelings will magically follow behind." But the feelings never come. And I know something isn't working, but my conclusions send me into a tailspin, because all I can imagine is one of the following explanations: 1) God doesn't exist. 2)God is angry with me. I'm doing something wrong and I'm going to work really hard to get it right so God will be happy with me again. 3)I must not be His kid.
What I'm NOT saying:
I'm NOT saying we don't need to obey if we don't feel like it.
I'm NOT saying that we shouldn't seek to believe what is true.
I'm NOT saying that we shouldn't seek to see where my thinking doesn't line up with the truth, and use our minds in the process of acknowledging and believing truth.
I'm NOT saying that putting our faith in our emotions is the way to go.
What AM I saying? Come back tomorrow for a summary what a WHOLE, INTEGRATED approach to an anxiety problem might look like.
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