orthopathy…or the way of the heart.

As we have seen, engagement with Jesus must move us beyond being spectators to participants. If we wish to become like him we must learn to actively participate in Jesus, actively applying him and his teachings to our lives. We cannot be disinterested spectators when it comes to Jesus. In fact, in the encounters described in the New Testament, the desire of people to remain neutral observers is in a real sense the real sin (the rich young ruler, Pilate, etc.) It is those who allow Jesus to ‘get at them’ that end up entering the kingdom. The Pharisees wanted to just “check him out,” objectify him, line him up against their understandings of the faith, and because of this they are judged for their hardness of heart, for holding themselves back from what God is doing in Jesus.

When the Bible uses the word heart, it includes not only the source of emotion, but of will, loyalty, and commitment. In many ways the heart determines our actions, not just our feelings, and it’s critical to engage the heart when dealing with God (e.g. Psa.101:4, Isa.29:13, Matt.15:8). On this matter, the great revivalist Jonathan Edwards said the following:

The holy Scriptures do everywhere place religion very much in the affection; things such as fear, hope, love, hatred, desire, joy, sorrow, gratitude, compassion, and zeal. It is evidence that true religion, or holiness of heart, lies very much in the affection of the heart, that the Scriptures place the sin of the heart very much in hardness of heart. …Now by a hard heart, is plainly meant an unaffected heart, or a heart not easy to be moved with virtuous affections.” (Jonathan Edwards, About Religious Affections, 23-24.)

Without the heart we cannot comprehend God. Besides, none of the really great things in human life spring only from the intellect; but rather from the heart, which can embrace what the mind cannot. The great anonymous mystical work The Cloud of Unknowing says it this way; “Only to our mind is God incomprehensible, not to our heart.” Following this spiritual logic, prayer affords us a certain kind of knowledge, one that cannot be attained through merely rational means.

Most people reading this would be aware of the distinctive meaning of the Hebrew word for knowledge; a word that is used from both human intercourse as well as for knowledge of God. The original meaning of the Hebrew verb “to recognize, to know,” in distinction from Western languages, belongs not to the sphere of reflection but to that of personal contact.

In biblical Hebrew, in order to ‘know’ something, one doesn’t simply observe it, but one must come into contact with it. This basic difference is developed in the realm of a relation of the soul to other beings, where the fact of mutuality changes everything. At the centre is not a perceiving of one another, but a contact of being – intercourse. This theme of ‘knowing’ intercourse rises to a remarkable and incomparable height in the relation of God to those He has chosen.

Closely allied to this way of knowing is the role played by passion or affection in spirituality. Passion requires participation, involvement, faith. Soren Kierkegaard can say, “…if passion is eliminated, faith no longer exists.” The truth of God can be found only by such a passionate search and by applying one’s whole personality existentially. The criterion of the genuine search for truth is what Kierkegaard called ‘inwardness,’ which requires an intense personal concern with it to be able to understand and assimilate it. Perhaps more widely known for this kind of approach was the American revivalist preacher, Jonathan Edwards, made popular by his spiritual classic, The Religious Affections. Edwards maintained that if the heart was left unmoved by God, no abiding action could, or would, take place. At its core, spirituality, what he called true religion, must redeem and direct our spiritual passion. It must involve the heart. And then he goes on to affirm that all great actions spring from the heart:

Just as worldly affections are the springs of worldly actions, so the religion affections are the springs of religious affections… I am bold in saying this, but I believe that no one is ever changed, either by doctrine, by hearing the word, or by the preaching or teaching of another, unless the affections are moved by these things. No one seeks salvation, no one cried for wisdom, no one wrestles with God, no one ever kneels in prayer or flees from sin, with a heart that remains unaffected. In a word, there is never any great achievement by the things of religion without a heart deeply affected by those things… True religion is placed in the affections. (Edwards, Religious Affections.,11)

These are bases of motivation as well as the means to know God. Edwards again: “The Author of human nature has not only given affections to men, but has made them the spring of men’s actions…this also shows, that true religion must consist very much in the affections.” (Ibid.,10)

Essentially what we are trying to say here is that we have to engage our heart to truly understand Jesus, but also to become like him, and to follow him over a the long haul. The emotional connection with God provides us with distinctive insights into God that cannot be gained from any other source.

October 20, 2007 | Filed Under discipleship, theologia |

Comments

17 Responses to “orthopathy…or the way of the heart.”

Peggy on October 20th, 2007 6:31 am

Great post, Alan….and so the truth that to truly “hear” was to “do”–because a think cannot be known until thought and action are joined.

Hey, it was great getting to meet and visit a bit with John Gilmore at Seabeck. Janet, he is to give you greetings from me next time you see him–prompt him about it because all our brains are exhausted from so much processing

I enjoyed meeting so many “virtual” friends of TFW…some of whom are lurkers here–you know who you are

Blessings.
Jimmy_C on October 22nd, 2007 9:58 pm

Heavy thoughts for early on a Monday morning…I must grab another cup of java and sort this all out;-)
Penney Winiarski on October 24th, 2007 1:57 am

Alan,
I listened to you at the Willow Creek conference. I’m curious about whether or not you see a difference between passion and reverence. My understanding or interpretation of what you said was that passion can lead us in the wrong direction or even off on our own.

Do you see them as the same? Passion and desire, love, sustained Jesus. Do you think the drawing upon and submission to the Father’s will or purpose, reverence, help’s to keep the heart in check?

I ask because so often I see a deep reverence in scholars or leaders to the point of fear. Don’t touch, taste, or handle. On the flip side I see so many passionate and gifted leaders who let their passion get away and only edify themselves.

A Little Toe Looking For Balance
Peggy on October 24th, 2007 6:09 am

Interesting question, Penney…and welcome to TFW, by the way!

I will be interested to see how Alan responds…and we need all our toes to help us keep our balance
sacred vapor on October 24th, 2007 12:13 pm

excellent post! the heart is the entrance point to knowing God, and it is in the relational where we are truly known.

The intercourse language on ‘knowing’ is not often discussed… good to see you pointed that out.

vapor
Eleanor Burne-Jones on October 24th, 2007 4:14 pm

But ’spectators’ is a mindset that comes more naturally to modernity, which in the church would leave the mutterings about ‘knowing’ to a few rare monastics and mystics, and the knowing/passionate/experiential is surely a more postmodern approach. So we end up back in the big battle between those who can handle a postmodern way of thinking and those who cannot. I recall a Franciscan Area Meeting a while back in which one of our very talented Sisters chose to speak on passion. The group, mostly elderly brothers and sisters, were quite uncomfortable even with the title, and there was a deal of faintly embarrassed laughter. She delivered a fantastic talk on how the power of Francis’ ministry was his unapologetic passion for Christ, and it just left a very difficult silence in the group. A sort of ‘we don’t wear our religion on our sleeve’ atmosphere. She had misjudged the mindset of the group and she and a few of us recognised this but were helpless to do anything about it.
Celtic Son on October 24th, 2007 8:23 pm

Hullo-o-o Alan,

I thought I’d drop in as you’re getting to the heart of the matter! I do lurk around the fringes Peggy, and often have too many other projects to engage… but it seemed like I could not not contribute to a thread about such a central issue as the heart - not just Celtic, but “romantic” too - in the more traditional sense of the word… perhaps you could call it a forgotten way!

This great truth, about the heart as the primary connection with God, is where the mystics are so wonderful, the supernatural so powerful, yet to the majority it would seems it is assessed as threatening!

You’re right Alan that in the western context we no longer “know” - in the Gen 4 sense that “Adam knew Eve and she conceived”. We no longer “know” that life was created to be primarily an affair of the heart, we have a vague perception that it’s how it was meant to be, because we read of the relationship of the Triune God as the inspiration for creation, and we perceive this as an element of information, but we do not have the capacity to engage with this “data” so we do not “know” it as truth! Instead of “knowing truth” we have allowed ourselves to be taught by our culture not to trust the heart. Those bold few who do - labelled creative eccentrics - have generally existed in small life-affirming communities, on the fringes of a general culture that has a heart of stone, which in the recent generations in western culture has been inscribed with one word - “ME”.

The journey of life is designed to begin from a place of being subject to relationship - because we are incapable of looking after ourselves - to grow towards maturity as we become capable of looking after ourselves, and developed into deeper relationship, where we have the desire and the capacity to look after others. The impulse is developed in the heart, and the strength of growing love is something that words can never adequately capture or express. To grow in this requires a capacity to live in mystery - which is an oxymoron to the modern mindset… yet there is hope. The true nature of love is greater than our capacity to understand it, there are always aspects that remain unspoken, yet mysteriously we have a capacity to “know” some things that cannot be known by observation. Some things are communicated by physical means - sight, touch, taste and sound - but mysteries come by intuition and by intimacies that language cannot capture. The heart receives revelation that the human intellect is simply incapable of grasping, that words are too limited to encapsulate. Try imagining a colour that you have never seen before and describe it…

The abundant life that Jesus delivered, restored the flow of life to the human heart from the divine, and the capacity to respond by loving back again. Those genuinely engaged in that flow cannot help but overflow into engagement with other human hearts, connecting people with the abundant life that continually pours forth from the great God of all creation. Which then begs the question, if there is an incapacity to engage lovingly with our fellow human beings, are we truly engaged in God’s life-giving flow, or simply perfecting the skills of religious artifice?

The human task in the journey of life is the continual transforming of the thought processes of the mind, lining up our thinking with the truth of God that the heart knows to be true by revelation! On a number of occasions, as a younger Christian, I heard evangelical speakers express difficulties in the Christian life as, a consequence of the fact that the longest journey for humanity is the 18 inches from the head to the heart… which helps identify one root of our problems… the traffic is directed by Descartes and it’s moving in the wrong direction!

A single lifetime is insufficient to grasp the overwhelming greatness of the love of God poured into our hearts; those captured by the life-giving, love-bestowing, creative, relational Godhead convey the reality, as best we can in the framework of our human limitations, to the generations that follow… yet there is hope…

Slainte

A Celtic Son
Penney Winiarski on October 25th, 2007 3:51 am

Thank you for the welcome, Peggy. I’m a fairly new christian and sometimes my passion scares me. There is a dual fear that I will ultimately lose my own identity in Christ, and the other fear that I will not. I still remember when they found Sadam Hussein hiding in that hole. The announcer called him a rat. He deserved to die. Yet, I knew I lived in the same place and without Christ I was no different. Finding out I had a heart and a new one at that makes me feel so rich. Yet, in my humanity I know how possible it is to use that richness for my own gain.
Janet on October 26th, 2007 5:30 pm

I haven’t checked in for a little while (trying to study amongst other things) so popping in is like a refreshing drink to the soul. Love this post and the comments… it’s challenging though!!!

“Do you think the drawing upon and submission to the Father’s will or purpose, reverence, help’s to keep the heart in check?”

Yes. Passion is meant to be directed to our Creator God and our hearts come alive when it is. Reverence helps keep it focused in that direction.

Passion can be directed in a million other ways of course in an unsurrendered heart… toward football, hobbies, money, “success”, a Great Cause, an evil cause…

Hey Penny, what a small world! I’m having a meeting with John G. on Monday… I’ll add you the the “agenda”!!!!
Janet on October 26th, 2007 6:13 pm

Oh, I’ve also been trialing a forum for women ( http://secret-womens-space.blogspot.com )… very lowbrow compared to this site! I’d be interested in Peggy commenting on the women in leadership issues (or anyone else who might want to) at http://secret-womens-space.blogspot.com/2007/10/women-in-leadership.html

Another marvellous means of procrastinating study of course.
Penney Winiarski on October 27th, 2007 2:11 am

Janet,
I think you meant Peggy in regards to meeting John G. Easy on the football…….your breaking my heart! Besides sharing my love for The Green Bay Packers is an awesome evangelistic tool! I’m only blogging so much because my team had a bye last week! My new song….Lonleeey, I’ve been so loneely, wish I had Brett Farve back on my screeeeeeeeen.
Eleanor Burne-Jones on October 27th, 2007 3:37 am

Good blog Janet, have bookmarked it. My least favourite common comment around here is when people find out I’m active in the church as well as having a disabled son at home, is ‘But of course he is your first priority.’ Do they think I’m so stupid or irresponsible I’ve forgotten that? The other one that gets me is when a bunch of leaders argue for tentmaking ministries? No problem for a young single man or woman to take a job for part of the day and be a youth pastor the rest, but what is a single mother supposed to do? I have only 27 hours a week during term time to offer in the first place. If I take secular work in that time to save the church money, my ministry in the community stops in total.

One good thing in the monastic and Franciscan communities is that it is taken as read that the brothers and sisters have an important role in enabling each other to live out our vocations. It is simply understood that a brother/sister has a vocation and a need to be faithful, to live faithfully for God within that. In the church the culture is very different. It needs to adjust!
Richard Clarke on October 27th, 2007 3:54 am

A great post Eleanor! I am a handicapped, self-employed, seminary student, church planter, father, husband, etc., with my electric wheelchair in the shop. We all need to remember balance in the life we lead for Christ. Because you forgot to mention one of the most important things. That is time for your relationship with God…without which none of the rest happens, at least for me.

I will pray for you. I have it easy. I am the handicapped one. My wife has to share the load of caring for me in some of the ways I cannot. Blessings on her for this willingness and sharing. Which was reemphasized in the last several weeks when she broke her foot and couldn’t! What fun we have had.

I will pray for you Eleanor. As I do all those who understand what it means to care for us that cannot do on our own totally, for whatever reason (age, etc.) except laziness. You lazy folks are on your own

Blessings!
Peggy on October 27th, 2007 6:40 am

Okay, Janet…now that there’s a Penney in the discussion, you’re going to have to remember “Peggy”…since John won’t remember a Penny He will, unfortunately, remember that cheeky American who confused the convention in 1988 was in New Zealand rather than Austrailia…mea culpa…I meant no offense…

I want to have a look at your blog…you might want to have a look around my new one (click on my name)…like I didn’t have anything else do to!

It will, however, be part of the reason you won’t see me here quite as much (some of you can stop cheering, now )!

Blessings, all!
Janet on October 27th, 2007 8:27 am

Groan… I’ve done it again!

Eleanor, the emerging church dialogue is a fairly new beast, and the foremost writers and thinkers of the movement are men, who understandably write out of their own cultural world. And although traditional roles are relaxing, it is still often women who are picking up the lions share of practical care for children, disabled relatives, and elderly parents / relatives. This certainly impacts how much time one has to go “out there” and change the world… and the amount of time available for ministry training as well.

One of the things I love about TFW is the diversity of voices… men, women, people from different ministry contexts and backgrounds… it adds so much richness to the dialogue.

I love the statement of Jesus in Mark 14 in relation to the woman who anointed him: “She has done a beautiful thing to me…. she did what she could”. In the end, all that matters is that we “did what we could”… this is what Jesus treasures… faithfulness and love.
Matt Stone on October 27th, 2007 11:18 am

Alan

My reservation here is that in “The Australian Soul” Gary Bouma asserted that with Pentecostalism, orthodoxy (right thinking) has given way, not to orthopraxis (right action) but “orthopassy” (right feeling) as the marker of genuine Christianity.

Now, I understand where you are coming from, and I am pleased you have introduced the Jonathan Edwards material as I have long thought his stress on discerning between fleeting feelings and deeper “affections” is a crucial insight for those interesting in developing a missional pneumatology, but the different way I see you both using the word creates huge potential for confusion. Particularly since his book is more widely circulated and if you do a google on “othopassy he comes up real quick. And elsewhere I see “orthopathy” defined as “right suffering”.

So, I agree with the meaning behind your words but warn the words are liable to be misunderstood in the wider world. And given we’re interested in engaging with the wider world…
Richard Clarke on October 28th, 2007 1:15 am

Good morning all! At least here on the left coast of America.

Matt, I think I can say from inside Pentecostalism on the American continent that you are right…for those that only listen to their pastors, and do not read the Bible. Which says something entirely different about the group that is trending this way.

When personal experience with the Holy Spirit is the only major milestone post decision to enter the body (salvation?), there is room for all kinds of ’stuff’ (that of course is the ecclesiological form of stuff). Which brings up all kinds of other questions. Like, if the person entering the body is only doing so as a form of fire insurance, or protection from the pit shall we say, without the concept of lordship, without the concept and understanding of what entering the body is about, have the terms of the policy even actually been met?

Hmm, that ought to bring out the people hiding out there somewhere in the ether…