Nov
17
Affections
Filed Under Christian Living, Jonathan Edwards
A professor of classical literature told me about a conversation he had with a fellow Latin professor. The two were walking across campus, when my friend said, “You know, I was reading the most beautiful passage last night in Cicero….” “WHAT?” his colleague interrupted, “You don’t actually read that stuff at home, do you?” To one man, classical literature was the way he had chosen to make a living. To the other, it is a brilliant world in which he finds himself lost in wonder and excitement, even in his spare time. One man teaches a subject; the other bestows an infectious loveliness upon those who will listen. Which man would you rather have for a professor? Which would engage your attention and make you want to learn?
The best measure of the health of our souls is found in what we truly love. Right thinking is important, as is obedience, but of what value are these without our affections being captured with the majesty of God and the loveliness of Christ? That is what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength–all our deepest affections. Henry Scougal wrote some three hundred years ago: “The most ravishing pleasures, the most solid and substantial delights that human nature is capable of, are those which arise from the endearments of a well-placed and successful affection.”
Scripture describes godly religion as a matter of the affections and emotions: fear (Ps. 2:11; 19:9; 25:14; 33:8; 34:9; Lk. 12:5; Acts 9:31; Phi. 2:12; 1 Pt. 2:17; Rev. 14:7; 19:5), hope (1 Cor. 13:13; Ps. 146:5; 33:18; 147:11; Heb. 6:19; 1 Pt. 1:3) love (1 Tim. 1:5; Gal. 5:14; Rom. 8:8; Ps. 18:1; 31:23; 119:132), hatred (Pr. 8:13; Ps. 98:10; 101:2-3; 119:104), desire (Is. 26:8; Ps. 42:1-2; 63:1-2; 119:20; Mt. 5:6) joy (Ps. 28:7; 37:4; 33:1; Phi. 3:1; 4:4; 1 Thess. 5:16),sorrow (Mt. 5:4; Ps. 51:17; 34:18), gratitude (1 Chron. 16:7-41; Neh. 12:31,40; Ps. 28:7; 100; 107; 118) compassion (Ps. 37:21; Pr. 14:31; Col. 3:12; Mt. 5:7; 23:23; Mic. 6:8; Hos. 6:6), zeal (Titus 2:14; Rev. 3:15-19).
Note that these affections are not merely warm, fuzzy emotions. A Hallmark greeting card is sufficient to produce those kinds of emotions. Feelings themselves are not adequate indicators of regeneration, for genuine affection leads to fruit: thoughts, words, deeds which reflect what the heart truly loves and desires. It’s like having a Southern accent. As hard as one might try to disguise it in front of others (Why would one want to do so in the fuhst place?), eventually a word or phrase will give it all away.
Inevitably we are transformed into the image of that which we love. If we love what is base and vulgar, we will be base and vulgar people. If we love what is honorable and righteous, we will be honorable and righteous people. We should not expect our children to love and honor that which elicits from us no demonstrable love and honor. We should not expect the world around us to be attracted to Jesus Christ when we show so little affection for him. We should face the facts: How often our complaints about the church arise from our boredom with God. How often dull sermons arise from boredom with God–on the part of the listener or of the preacher! How often private worship and family worship seem unbearable because we have so little fellowship with the Triune God to begin with, when the TV is a more familiar friend and companion.
How should we then live? We should seek those means which increase and stir our affections toward God, namely worship, prayer, meditation on the Scriptures. We should be ashamed of our cold, hard hearts toward God and the Gospel, especially in light of God’s creation of us as emotional beings. Jonathan Edwards observed, “God has given to mankind affections for the same purpose as that for which he has given all the faculties and principles of the human soul, that they might be subservient to man’s chief end, and the great business for which God has created him, that is, the business of religion. And yet how common is it among mankind, that their affections are much more exercised and engaged in other matters, than in religion.” What do you love? Or, more significantly, whom do you love?
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Thanks for that encouragement Phillip. What a convicting message.