Some of you may find this interesting: a music instructor's struggles with people of faith at a Christian school somewhere in America:
Jesus loves me, so I shouldn't have self-doubt.
What's up with THAT? God sure gets blamed for a lot of decisions that humans make. My conservative Christian students seem to think that if they experience any human-like emotions (fear, doubt, envy, or sadness), then they are somehow ignoring God's Will For Their Lives. Yet even Christ went through periods of grief and agony. Why should we mere humans expect to somehow be better than Christ? Fear and doubt are stepping stones to answers in life. Somehow my students believe that Good Christians Are Never Unhappy. But I don't remember God promising us unending happiness in this life. The Psalms, with a full spectrum of human emotions, seem a fitting guide for life. Somehow my students have confused the 'Christian Life' with the Land of Oz."
1 comment:
Jesus loves me. That is why I can feel emotion! I am created in God's image, and He is a God of emotion. He created us with an emotional system to be like Him! Emotions are signs, related to and conditioned by the past, that give us extremely important information and reveal values and concerns. So how do emotions relate to Christ and a relationship with Him? If we are in Chrsit, we should pray that our emotions be transformed by His grace. Even the most conservative student could agree wtih Jonathan Edwards who said that true Christianity is manifested in the true religious affections (emotions).
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