To confirm the presence of radioactivity I need to use a tool called a ‘Geiger Counter’. A Geiger Counter can only detect radiation, it doesn’t create it. An FM radio is great for detecting radio stations but inept when it comes to radiation. Likewise, using the wrong tool will hinder access to the truth and give a wrong perception of reality. A sincere, but incorrect, diagnosis will not change the facts. Using the right tools is vital.
What tools do you use to determine the truth about God? A friend recently told me he didn’t ‘feel’ comfortable with Jesus Christ being the only way. So using the tool of feelings he determined that truth was not exclusive. A guy from the rehab I work at said he believed God was with him only when he could feel it. Look in any Christian book store and you will find the best-sellers are the ‘feel good’ products. Conference organisers know if you can get people to feel God and feel good they will turn up by the thousands. Feelings play a major role in our society and in the life of the modern churchgoer.
Since feelings are playing such a decisive part, we should take a close look at them. First of all, feelings occur from stimulation. A chemical reaction occurs in our body when we feel good or excited. Where the stimulation comes from makes no difference to the process. The thrill of stealing or vandalism (for some people) stimulates the same chemical reaction as going to a ‘big name’ Christian concert or an emotional altar call. God created us with a set of chemicals that react a certain way to stimulation, no matter what causes it. When it comes to the physics of our body there is no such thing as sacred or secular feelings.
You may be wondering what the problem is. As long as we don’t use bad things for our feel good experiences, everything will be fine. There are more facts about feelings we need to appreciate as this next illustration will demonstrate. I rode my first rollercoaster when I was about 13. It was ‘The Corkscrew’ at Sea World on the Gold Coast. The first time around blew me away, it was so exciting. Because it gave me such a buzz I decided to keep riding it. As it was a school day there weren’t too many people, so by about mid-afternoon I had ridden The Corkscrew about 30 times. I even ate my lunch on it! Even though the ride remained the same something changed. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t feel excited any more. I thought it was boring now. The more I pursued the good feelings the more unsatisfied I became.
If you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will get weaker and weaker, and fewer and fewer, and you will be a bored disillusioned old man for the rest of your life. — C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
The body and mind react in an addictive manner when it comes to good feelings. Think of something you’ve had a good time doing and you will naturally want to do it again. My feelings drove me to waste most of the day on the rollercoaster; similarly, it is feelings that drive people to waste so much of their time chasing unsustainable spiritual highs. My rollercoaster experience reveals another vice. How reliable were my feelings for assessing truth? Was the ride exciting or boring? If you asked me at the beginning, without a doubt I would answer ‘exciting!’ But by midafternoon my feelings decided it was boring. My feelings produced two honest assessments, but they were completely opposite! Feelings are relative; therefore they are a most unsuitable tool for establishing or detecting things that are objective, like truth.
God knows feelings cannot be physically sustained, even if He causes them. He also knows when it comes to the choice between Him and the good feelings, most of us will seek the latter. I’ve seen this happen with people who have a dramatic conversion. The miracle and wonder of what has happened naturally stimulates feelings and emotions. You’ve been washed clean, forgiven, the past is gone, and you have eternal life! There is no greater feeling a human being can have.
Someone I know had this very experience. He told me how wonderful it was when he first became a Christian. He had never felt a peace like it. But now he was disappointed and starting to doubt the whole thing because the feelings had subsided. ‘I don’t even know if I have peace anymore, I want those feelings back’, he commented. His experience was from God but now he was more interested in pursuing the feelings than the God who gave them. So I replied to him, ‘Do you remember seeing the footage and pictures of people dancing in the street after WWII was over? People were overjoyed because they felt peace after years of war. The destruction had stopped and they were saved, just like your conversion. The truth is, we live in and experience the same peace at this time as they did. But because we don’t feel it and dance in the streets anymore doesn’t mean it’s not there. The problem is you are basing peace on a feeling, not the fact.’
No feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go. — C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Knowing God and feeling God are two different things. Knowing God is a solid understanding grounded by facts; feeling God is a temporary experience controlled by circumstances. God wants us to know Him and the truth is we can’t depend on our feelings to do that. I have to make it a habit to read the Bible, pray, and wait on God. Left up to my feelings I doubt whether I’d do anything apart from pleasing myself. I’m from a Pentecostal background, and I’m certainly not ashamed of that. But being distracted by feelings is a major problem for some people. I have watched those who pursue feelings. They’re always at altar calls, camps, and conferences trying to ‘experience’ God, or going on a wild goose chase to find the latest ‘out-pouring’.
The facts are: our feelings are unreliable, addictive, and don’t last. But having said that, I’m not suggesting feelings are evil and should be shunned. God created our capacity to experience them. They just need to be kept in their proper place. Enjoy feelings as they come and go, just don’t live your life by them. Our relationship with God is based on facts, not feelings. Feel it or not, Jesus said He would never leave or forsake us. Feel it or not, God loves us eternally and died for our sin. We live by faith in these facts, not feelings.