"More? More did you say?!"

Over the years, many song have become distasteful to me because of biased opinion and/or bad experiences that I associate with certain songs, or sometimes I just get so sick of hearing that same song all the time, especially the super repetitive songs.

In my desire to be honest and fair, I started thinking about some of the old songs that I never sing anymore with the intent of separating my biases and my distasteful experiences from the songs that I believed I was being unjust to. I did not get very far.

Most people that I know are familiar with the old song "I Need You More". I grew up hearing the song often, and I myself fell into the mesmerizing lyrics of the song that displayed a great devotion and an "ever increasing need" for Christ and His grace. I have seen many teary eyes and expressions of serenity and false wonder among the worshipers that surrounded me singing this very song.

As I was meditating on the words of the song, I was suddenly hit with the realization that the song, while passionate and full of good intent, lacked critical thought and theological care. It appeals to emotion far more than the intellect, and by default teaches a false understanding of the relationship between God and man.

The chorus is where I find my dissonance. It reads as follows:

"I need you more. More than yesterday I need you Lord. More than Words can say. I need you more than ever before. I need you Lord. I need you Lord."

Now, I obviously have no argument with the statement that words are insufficient to describe the need we have for Christ. The world is full of darkness, hunger, hatred, sorrow and humanity all across the World suffer in a variety of ways. It's the "more than yesterday" and "more than ever before" parts that I am calling into question.

I can think of a couple people whom, if i were to tell this to them in person, would produce tears and begin talking about how they "need Him more" every day, and they might even be offended by my saying this. Perhaps they would accuse me of not having a good "relationship with Christ" or that I am not "in tune with the Spirit".

You might ask "what's wrong with these lyrics? Isn't the writer just being honest about how he feels or about with his relationship with Christ?" At one time I would have asked the same thing, but now it is not so.

Critical analysis leads me to ask this question instead, "can I truly need God more?" I believe the answer is "no." Scripture teaches that God is the creator and sustainer of life. In Him "we live and move and breathe", and outside of God's permission and will we cannot exist. For it was through Christ that we were made and it is through Christ that we remain, that even as He was hanging on a cross with nails in his hands and flesh ripped from His bones He held us in existence.

Given all this, can we say that we need Him more? If our breath, food, water, our very existence relies on Him being Him can we need Him more? I say no. For since before we were conceived in the wombs of our mothers we needed God to the absolute utmost. We always need God and we always will. We do not "need Him more", instead we become more and more aware of our need! We learn to rely on Him more, to trust Him more, and to turn to Him in struggle and in our lacking. We need God just as much when times are good as we do when they are bad.

As you seek and become more and more aware of the human condition and our need for God, I pray that you will desire, trust, and cling to Him who alone can redeem and sustain.

Peace be with you,

Stephen

"I Feel Like..."

When I was a student at Bryan, I had a certain professor who I found to be unrelenting and incredibly strict in his grading of papers. My friends and I called him..."The Bearded One". The rest of the world knew him as Dr. Daryl Charles! The man had a beard like no other and we were convinced that it had magical powers. These powers included, but were not limited to, portal magic (which, we believed, explained how he seemed to disappear the moment he stepped out of the classroom), telekinesis, and much more.

While I found this professor incredibly frustrating and destructive towards my GPA, I recognize him as being one of the best professors that I have ever had the privilege of studying under. My ability to think, reason, and write have all been vastly improved by this man.

If there was one thing, however, that stands out to me from all of his teachings it is this: "When you write, don't tell me how you feel, tell me what you think." I had this concept severely beat into my cerebral cortex! I still remember the notes and red marks on some of my reflection papers from where I used the dreaded "I feel..."

Why is this so significant? We have become a nation of people that are caught up in "feelings", and it is evident even within the Church of America. We associate truth with emotions, rather than associating emotions with truth. Emotions are not to define, but are to help process and react to what "is".

Additionally, to say "I feel" rather than "I believe" or "I think" is to be less committed to what you are saying. There is less risk to reputation, as well as less of a requirement of having an explanation for what they believe. People can get away without having a reason for how they "feel", but to not have a reason for what they "think" is not so easily accepted.

It's not that emotions are wrong or evil. They are a gift of God for humanity! He gave us emotions as a kind of operating system for us to process data that we receive. Some people are like Windows Vista...could use a little work before being out out into the world. Other like Macs...low maintenance. And then the Windows 8...a little too modern and kinda "touchy" lol. No that my random analogies are through, I will say that I am a person that I am a person who understands the risk and ease of letting emotions run one's life. It is a matter of discipline, prayer, and mediation to be able to fight against the dictatorship that is emotion.

Just as the Government is meant to protect it's people, so are your emotions to protect you. When too much power, however, is given to either...you are left with enslavement and chaos. (Is it the 5th of November yet?)

We need to be able to stand by our words and commit ourselves to beliefs. Stop "feeling" and start thinking. Take up the responsibility of thinking through what you "feel like you believe". Your witness as a Christian depends on it; the Church as a whole is desperate for intellect and critical thought to be come and bring order to the emotional chaos that has swept her worldwide.

Below is what is called the "Apostle's Creed". Below that I have replaced the word "believe" with "feel". Notice the change in voice and meaning. (I had to do some sentence restructuring to make it fit grammatically, but I don't think I've taken liberties)

We believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic (Universal, not Roman Catholic) Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

And now:

We feel like [there is a] God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

We feel like [there is a] Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

We feel like [there is a] Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

May our emotions be results of our thinking and believing, rather than our thinking and believing being a result of our emotions.

Peace be upon you all,

Stephen