I am currently taking a summer class, Historic Christian Belief. This quote came from one of the reading assignments:
"There is a place for emotions in the Christian experience, though you should not seek them nor attempt to recapture them from the past."
I honestly can't speak of the Lord or praise the Lord without the engagement of my emotions. I am addicted to His presence. I am addicted to how He makes me feel, how He stirs my heart. Every time I enter His gates (a church service), I expect greatness. I expect to be overwhelmed with emotion.
Other Christians are "down to earth". They engage God through the mind and avoid an emotional response. Expressions of faith are multidimensional and personalized. Each approach delights God.
Recently, I find myself longing for the past. I long for the services where God covered me in a thick embrace. I can only describe those moments as honey-glory. Honey is thick and sticks to everything, so too does the glory of the Lord. My current circumstances are not bad. I am learning to engage God with my mind through study. I am learning to walk in faith, when everything is crumbling around me. God is blessing me in this season. Nonetheless, I desire the emotional highs of yesterday.
The quote is correct; we should not seek emotions. We shouldn't try to recapture emotions. It is futile and disgraceful to conjure an emotion just to satisfy an appetite for more. The problem arises when you realizes those emotions are connected to the body of Christ. I had an amazing prayer team a few years back. I met on fire Christians in college who I no longer associate with any more. I try to experience God, but often it only disappoints or discourages me. It makes me lonely. It reminds me of the past—a past I can't recapture.
We fanned each others' flame. We encountered God as a unit. My emotions, those glories, those experiences are attached to people—the people of God. I can't experience those same emotions without the people who are attached to those emotions. However, I can continue to seek God, and He can give me new experiences.
I agree that emotionalism is dangerous, but more can be said about our encounters with the heart. Experiencing God with pure and true fellowship nurtures healthy emotions. Authentic emotions can be experienced in the body of Christ, but only when we seek Him as a unit. One will not feel the heights of love as a nomad searching for water or a place to rest. Love, the highest emotional response, is discovered only in community.
Don't seek an emotion; seek someone to love.
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