Heart & Head In Balance: Living Whole Lives in the Image of God

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. I'm really busy with school right now doing research for a paper on the Crusades and getting ready for upcoming midterms. I'm excited about everything I'm learning! I listened to a lecture recently for one of my classes that I thought was really interesting, so I thought I would share the main points with ya'll.

The lecturer was John Mark Reynolds, Ph.D. He holds an M.A. & Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Rochester in New York; he is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University; he is also a research fellow at the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture. He is also an author whose books and articles include Three Views of Creation, When Athens Met Jerusalem, and Afraid of Reason.

Dr. Reynolds titled his lecture "Contending for the Christian Worldview" and what follows is from his material.

In this lecture, he traced the current mindset of Christians and our culture from the 19th Cent. through today and contends that when rationality - Darwinism and scientific naturalism for example - seemed to point away from Christianity, people began to turn to the heart. This split Christianity into two forms: Christian rationalism transformed into atheism while Christian humanitarianism transformed into nineteenth century romanticism. After this split, Christianity no longer appealed to rationalism. Scientists became the beacons of rationality while the cultural emphasis focused on the heart and experiences and emotions.

The constant and overwhelming message of our culture became "stop thinking & just feel." The head was only engaged to accomplish the goals of the heart. Today's Christianity is dominantly heart over head, but religious experience cannot compete with a culture that is also largely experiential. One may have a wonderful "feel-good" experience in church on Sunday morning, but he/she will be able to get that same "feel-good" moment in any number of ways outside of church or Christianity.

However, the answer is not to become overly rationalistic either. Reynolds stresses that a balance between head, heart, and hands is a must! We need reason (rationality), but we also need heart (experience), and hands (service to others.)  The heart needs to check the head; the head needs to check the heart - not in opposition of one another but as a whole person living our Christian lives well; living in a way that is winsome to others.

Jesus embodied rationality and experience. He is full of truth and grace. He didn't elevate one over the other and neither should we.

Dr. Reynolds gave some practical suggestions to help us build God's Kingdom on earth, creating culture, customs, laws, and art, and building a Christian culture that is artistic and intellectual and which has a visible reality in personal lives and in churches. We need to celebrate and support the Christian artists, scientists, writers, lawmakers, athletes...whoever they may be.

Here are a few of his suggestions:
1. We live in an anti-intellectual culture. We need to engage in stimulating dialogue and learn to think.
2. We are people of the Book and Christianity is a literate religion which has invented literacy wherever it has gone in this world. We need to become readers.
3. TV does not promote thoughtful reflection. Turn it off! (This is a hard one, I know!!) Instead, write, direct, produce, act in a quality Christian production that people will want to watch! (e.g. The Chronicles of Narnia, Shakespeare, The Lord of the Rings).
4. Create culture - don't just consume it! take music lessons; listen to great music; write songs the next generation will sing.
5. Stop imitating secular education. Stop doing education "factory" style with the stress on providing information and start emphasizing mentoring.
6. Become people of  "nomos" (the Greek word for "law" or "custom" which includes the way that people live) who hold reason and feeling together as a whole people of culture.
7. If we each become transformed by Christ, we will change the culture.

To sum up, we should live rationally, emotionally, and intellectually. We should not rely on reason alone, or on heart alone, but should allow Jesus Christ to transform us - head, heart, and hands - to live as whole souls in the image of God in this life and in the life to come.

Imagine what our culture would look like if we actively pursued these things!