I had a long talk with a woman last week. She grew up in what I will call left-brained Christianity and she is tired of it. She was raised in churches that prized doctrinal correctness and biblical knowledge and had very strict standards for behavior – typical American conservative evangelical churches. They have emphasized the holiness of God, His glory and supremacy. But she has also seen the dark side of left-brained Christianity. One church she was a part of used “truth” as a hammer to keep people in line and obedient. She is very tired of a Christianity that is defined by what it is against, of the protest and anti-everything tendencies she sees in some churches.
So, she is now exploring a more right-brained Christianity. It’s about relationship and acceptance, emphasizing the love of God and the importance of a relationship with him. She has liked some of what she has heard from the so-called emergent church, though she still has enough doctrinal grounding to know that she can’t walk that path as far as Rob Bell or Brian McLaren go. But she is attracted to a more relational faith, one that encourages and uplifts instead of simply focusing on condemnation and judgment.
I watched a sermon preached by Andy Stanley recently (called, “The Separation of Church and Hate”) and he described a journey of faith much like the one that this woman is going on. He described a growing dissatisfaction with the protests of his younger years, coming to believe that the church is often more about making a point than making a difference. He decided that if he was going to make a difference, he had to do more than picket and preach. He had to engage people – even those with lifestyles he abhorred and beliefs he disagreed with. He drew a distinction between the way of Jesus and the way of the Pharisees and said that our churches often seem to follow the way of the Pharisees more than we do the way of the Lord.
All right, folks, calm down. I know these are caricatures and like all caricatures, not entirely fair. Even the most conservative church is more than just “against stuff.” I am certainly not endorsing everything Andy Stanley said. But I have come to believe that many of the conflicts we are seeing in the church today boil down to a struggle between left-brained Christianity and right-brained.
Left-Brain; Right Brain
The human brain has two hemispheres, and there is evidence that they work in different ways. There is not unanimous agreement with regard to the left-brain, right-brain separation; some believe the distinctions are taken way too far. I am not expert enough to judge all that is involved in this debate, but I am an observer of people and I think that, in general, the distinctions attributed to the left and right sides of the brain describe a very important division in human personalities. So, I will use the right-brain, left-brain terminology to describe this phenomenon, which creates divergent streams of faith.
Those who are “left-brained” tend to be logical and sequential. They love things to be systematic, especially their theology. They like things to be patterned, structured and under control. They tend to see distinctions between people and belief-systems. They tend to eschew emotions and try to operate on the basic of logic. Since they see distinctions they tend to divide things up into categories and divisions. They prefer clear lines of authority and structure. Left-brained Christians love clear distinctions of truth and error, good and bad, right and wrong. Emotional and experiential Christianity is disdained among the left-brained.
Most of the bloggers I know are left-brained. So are most Southern Baptists today. We have divided ourselves into conservatives and moderates, Calvinists and non-Calvinists, Baptist Identity vs “Bigger Tent” Baptists. Left-brained Christians tend to disdain those who are right-brained as doctrinally weak, emotionally-driven and wishy-washy.
For the left-brained, faith is primarily a truth-based exercise. I study the Bible, come to understand truths about God, consider them and am blessed as my thinking becomes more truth-based and Christlike. That is not an insult. I believe that. I think that God’s work begins with the “renewing of the mind” and proceeds from there. But for the extreme left-brained, this is not just where it starts, this is where it ends.
Right-brained Christianity is on the rise. Right-brained people are experiential, artistic, and emotional. They tend to be intuitive and spontaneous and are less receptive to authoritarian structures. They are comfortable with unanswered questions and elusive mysteries. They focus more on the love of God and the importance of a relationship with him than about doctrinal issues.
They want their Christianity to be less systematic and more experiential. Some have actually gone to the point of rejecting doctrine and truth as categories (emergents) while others have just said that they want to emphasize a relationship with Christ over doctrine and rules. They enjoy connectedness and tend to look at similarities instead of differences. They want a Christianity that is more about “us” than it is about “us vs them.”
Are You Right-brained or Left-brained?
I took a test on the internet. It was not a surprise, but I tend toward the left-brained. I love my systematic theology. But I also have a lot of right-brained qualities (Maybe that is why I’ve always threw right-handed but batted and golfed left-handed?). I love experiential, spontaneous, enthusiastic worship. My favorite part of the convention this year was the Pastor’s Conference worship led by Vance Pitman’s musicians – probably the wildest music we have had at an SBC. Maybe that is why I have been attracted toward the “BIFF” thing. I understand our left-brained tendencies to systematize, discern and draw distinctions, but I have enough of the right-brain thing to want to bring the sides together.
What about you? If you are wondering, here is a link to an online test which will give you a left-brain, right-brain score. But I can tell you, if you are drawn to take a test which gives you a score that tells you which you are, it wouldn’t be a gamble for me to lay money on you testing out as a left-brained person.
And let’s face it, bloggers are predominantly left-brained. Left-brain folks are all about words and arguments. Right-brained folks would tend to see blogging as a waste of time and go off to join an interpretive dance worship class.
I am convinced that much of the discussion about culture today is rooted in the left-brain, right-brain thing. It may be less about traditionalist vs contemporary as it is about rational/doctrinal vs experiential/emotional Christianity. Is postmodernism (partially, at least) a preference of the right brain over the left?
These two streams of Christianity tend to shoot bows and arrows at each other. The King of All Left-Brains (Johnny Mac) has written several books on charismatics, emergents and pragmatists, which demonstrate a high level of disdain for right-brained faith. And books by Rob Bell and Brian McLaren can barely conceal their disdain for the left-brained Christianity of American fundamentalism.
But is there a middle ground? I think (I hope, at least) that we all will reject the denial of biblical truth by right-brain extremists. In a search for a relational and experiential faith you cannot leave the historic truths of the gospel behind. In this writer’s opinion, Bell and his ilk do not represent a stream of Christianity but denial of it.
But is there room in our left-brained, doctrinally-sound, expositionally-based faith for those who think first from the right side? Can we meld the left-side and the right-side into a whole-brain Christianity?
I’m not sure, but I have some perspectives I would like to share with you on this. Then, you take the ball and run with it and we will have a lively left-brained discussion. Maybe a few right-brainers can join in with some poetry or something.
Perspectives
1) God created the brain with TWO hemispheres!
Our God is a God of amazing balance, and he created our brains with two sides. If those who advocate the left-side, right-side thing have any validity, then the only way we can have truly authentic Christianity is if we find a way to bring the two sides together.
In doing this, we would be recognizing the predominant sides of God’s nature. He is holy and righteous and cannot tolerate sin. He is also loving and merciful and desires a relationship with his creatures. We all know that both sides are significant, but we tend to lean to one side or the other depending on our tendencies. Left-brained folks focus on the holiness of God and the process of redemption. We consider the love of God, but sometimes only in reference to the holiness of God. The right-brainers revel in the love of God, but could have a tendency to avoid considering the holiness of God in such a way that it renders justification almost meaningless.
But God gave us brains with two sides. Could it be that the best Christianity would be one that seeks to involve both sides?
2) The Left-brains are right.
Christianity is grounded in history and truth and a relationship with God begins with the renewing of our minds. We cannot ignore doctrine, truth and the exposition of God’s Word without harm to the church and to the saints. Whatever compromise would be reached between the lefties and the righties cannot go to that place that some emergent leaders want to go, in which we abandon truth and the facts of the gospel in the name of cultural relevance and relational Christianity.
There are myriad scriptures that warn us that false teachers would come to lead us astray. We need John MacArthur and others anchoring us to biblical truth.
3) The Right-brains are right.
But I think the righties have a point as well. Christianity is not an intellectual, or even doctrinal enterprise. It is meant to be experienced and enjoyed. I have a dear friend who gets a little nervous every time someone uses the Blackaby terminology of a “personal love-relationship with Jesus.” Lefties get a little squeamish at such language.
But, we need to remember that our faith is in fact a relationship – a love relationship – with a real God who is really real, for real! Yes, lefties, you are right that we cannot base truth on our own experiences, but by the same token, our experience of Christ is real.
Those of us who can tend to celebrate an egg-headed, theologically-oriented faith need to listen to the right brain a little. Jesus is not just a teacher from the past, he is a Risen and Living Lord! He lives, and yes, he lives in my heart (or wherever it is that I am indwelled).
My current working theory is that our faith is born in the left brain and finds full fruit in the right. We have a historical faith based on the reality of the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus, his death and his historical resurrection. Does it matter if all this happened historically and is true? Our faith is grounded in those facts and meaningless without them. But God saves us to bring us into a personal relationship with him, to enjoy him and revel in his presence. If you try to skip the left and head straight to the right, you have an empty, squishy faith. If you start and stop on the right, you can develop a stilted faith that fails to experience all the joy of a relationship with Jesus.
4) Recognize that who you are is PART of what God wants the church to be.
I am currently teaching through 1 Corinthians 12 on Sunday nights – lots of verses that make us left-brainers squirm. But the main teaching there is clear: Christians are not all alike and it is our diverse gifts that make us a functioning body. Perhaps the right-brainers can realize that us lefties are not all brainy theology-heads. And perhaps we lefties can open our hearts to the experience of that wonderful “personal love-relationship with Jesus.”
Like Popeye, “I yam what I yam, and that’s all that I yam.” But I need to remember that what I am is not all that the church is. I am an eye, or an elbow, (or if a few bloggers are to be believed – a heel). But I am just one part of what the Body of Christ is meant to be.
5) The full Gospel must travel through both sides.
The gospel is the story of redemption in which God’s grace extends to hell-deserving sinners, rescuing us from the just punishment of our sins and bringing us to reconciliation with God. Man, I love to preach that. I wish every Friday were Good Friday.
But the woman I began this post talking about wants something more than just the story of sin, guilt and forgiveness. She wants to hear about how Jesus fixes her brokenness, how he heals the hurts that have haunted her life. She is more than willing to admit her sin but she doesn’t want the gospel to stop there. She wants a gospel that not only satisfies the needs of her left brain, but provides relationship, joy and hope to her right brain.
6) The Bible provides a template for this discussion.
Romans 14 is all about how Christians who disagree on issues of conscience should treat each other (issues of food and drink, sabbath-keeping, other such issues). Some Christians say “no” on certain issues of conscience and some Christians say, “yes”. Those who say no should not condemn as licentious those who say yes and those who say yes should not disdain as legalistic those who say no. We should accept one another in Christ in spite of our differences.
That can be applied here. Left-brainers should accept right-brainers without condemning them as false for their experiential faith. Right-brainers should not condemn left-brainers as theological automatons.
It’s not that hard. Assume that what you are is okay, but it is not ALL OF okay. Others can be different and disagree and still love Jesus as much as you do.
7) Both sides must beware their dangerous tendencies.
I’ve touched on this, but let me state it clearly. Those of us who are left-brained have a tendency to be overly divisive. Look at the brouhaha over Mohler’s comments. The pro-Mohler and anti-Mohler contingents agree about homosexuality about 90% of the way. But us left-brainers autopsied that exchange for about a month – and there will probably be more articles on it this week.
I’m not saying that’s wrong – I think homosexuality is the key moral issue of our day. But I am pointing out that we have a tendency to magnify our differences and divide when we shouldn’t. Baptist Calvinists and Baptist non-Calvinists have more in common than our blog discussions would indicate. I logged a lot of minutes disagreeing with Baptist Identity adherents with whom I agreed on almost everything except some of the minor points of Baptism and secondary interpretations of the Great Commission.
On the other hand, the right brainers need to realize that a faith without discernment is dangerous in this world. I once went scuba diving off the Palm Beach coast and did not realize that the “green” fluid filling my mask was blood (red is the first color you lose under water). I kept clearing my mask the whole time I was on the floor of the ocean in shark-infested waters.
That is exactly what you are doing if you walk without theological and doctrinal discernment in this lie-filled world.
Both sides have strengths and weaknesses and we do well if we build on our strengths, but also realize the dangers of our tendencies.
Now, Your Turn
My guess is that right now, the left-brained Christians can’t wait to begin ripping into this. Right-brainers, if they bothered to read it, want to get everyone to join in a group hug. tend to think I am way off base (and perhaps have abandoned the faith, etc). If any right-brained Christians have wandered by, they want to give me a hug.
I present this as a theory, so I look forward to the discussion.
Sort of.
I look for a lively left-brained discussion here. I hope you will actually read the article (I’m convinced many start commenting without doing so, but hey…).
I present this as a theory, not as settled fact. So, I look forward to your insights as I develop the theory.
You almost got eaten by sharks? Wait, I only read like 2 sentences….
🙂
Incorrigible.
I took that test…I’m 10/10. Apparently I’m neither right or left brained. I’ll let you guys decide if that means I am both-brained or no-brained.
I was 11/8. Maybe, Mike, you could record yourself doing an interpretive dance and we will post it.
wow…funny you should mention that. I actually already did this awhile back…
http://youtu.be/dm7yAWpX1Mc
That’s just wrong.
What was funny is that this dude actually tried out on America’s Got Talent. He got buzzed after a few seconds…
This actually pained me to watch it….lol….oh my goodness…
On the other hand, maybe I’ll do this to open the worship services next Sunday….
NOT!
🙂
David
David,
I’d suggest putting my resume out first…
I mean *your* resume not mine…LOL
David, I don’t know if anyone else will join in, but I will pay $20 bucks to see a video of you performing this – $30 if its at church.
Hey now, don’t dis on my boy John J.
Dave,
I really think that you, Debbie, Christiane, and Joe Blackmon, and I should do this at the SBC in New Orleans next year in the name of unity and good will….lol
I will do a lot of things for a laugh. But even I have my limits!
At least now I know where Lifeway got the idea for all of their VBS choreography stuff.
I totally agree that you can find charactures at both ends. Here’s where I see huge problems with right-brain (as you describe it). Not so much with right-brain Christians, but with people who call themselves Christians and are righties but don’t hold to the central truths of the gospel. In the case of the rightful booting out of an SBC church a few years ago, folks that lean toward the rightie side would be more likely I think to say “Now, we can’t be so unloving to withold fellowship from them. They’re on a journey just like we are.” Further, I submit that these people would be more willing to cooperate with those who reject foundational Christian doctrines such as inerrancy, the necessity of conscious faith in Christ for salvation, etc.
So, while lefties probably come off as more cold, logical (like Vulcans, ?) and less relational, given the choice I’ll take doctrinal precision over someone who is willing to cooperate with pretty much anyone because it gives them such warm, fuzzy feelilngs any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I mentioned the danger of rootless Christianity, that is removed from our historical and doctrinal roots, which is no Christianity at all.
Great post Dave. It is destined to be a classic. I am by nature left-brained, but have been praying for healing.
I think your point #5 is the key to this whole thing. The deeper we go into what the gospel really means, the more we find out that it’s not just an abstract doctrine or a one-time decision. The gospel is life changing for everything that we do and everything that we are for our whole time on earth. Doesn’t Paul say that God is reconciling “all things” to himself through Christ? Don’t “all things” include right-brained things too? I think the solution that for this problem in churches is gospel permeation in every area of teaching, life, and community.
This was an excellent comment. Kinda overlooked it.
Good preaching and teaching should appeal to the mind and the emotions of people…
Preaching and teaching the Word of God should be done with passion…with the fire of the Holy Spirit on you…
Preaching should be a time when we not only learn about God and His great salvation, but we also experience the Lord’s presence… due to the power of the Holy Spirit.
David
I am left-brained. I have friends who are right-brained. We get along fine. I even enjoy exuberant worship that tends to the right side. My problem is when theology and biblical interpretation comes from the right-side. In other words, I have a low tolerance for “feelings” based biblicism. We must not seek to understand Scripture on the basis of our feelings. We must understand our experiences on the basis of biblical truth. Truth is not about feeling. Biblical truth is the truth regardless of how we fell or what experience we might have had.
Do you regard ‘compassion’ as a ‘feeling’ ?
Jesus Christ feels compassion, so it is a feeling. However, compassion in the absence of truth is carnal. Compassion in the light of truth is Godly compassion. Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth. Compassion in the absence of truth = failing to tell the woman caught in the act of adultery to “go and sin no more.” Alternatively, it is compassion for people only, and not compassion towards a holy God who is grievously vexed by the existence of sin.
Job, what denomination are you ?
I am reminded of the command of Christ in the Gospel of St. Luke to ‘love God’ with all of our being:
“”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (St. Luke 10:27)
The concept of ‘dividing’ who we are into thoughts and emotions is a legal concept, I believe, with the goal of thinking ‘clearly’ and not being influenced by ‘feelings’. But when the LAW of God commands us to care, to have empathy, and further, to have actual compassion for the suffering of others, to the point where we cannot walk past them without stopping to help them . . . this does involve ‘gifts’ of the Holy Spirit which are ‘affective’ (impacting emotions and feelings to impel thoughts and actions that are based on loving-kindness, the ‘chesed’ of God).
Whatever ‘weight’ we have of brain activity on the ‘affective’ side, we have seen the nightmare of what results when people are let loose on society who have NO empathy or compassion for others . . . look at your serial killers, and their interviews in prison, and listen to the doctors who worked with them . . . these killers were ‘detached’ from all feeling for their victims, unable to empathize or have compassion . . . the result: true evil.
We were given our gifts by God . . . ALL of our gifts.
We need to be thankful for the affective gifts as well as the cognitive gifts.
If you want to understand that all of our gifts mirror aspects of the Creator who gave them to us. . . look at Our Lord, as He was with people when He was among us here on Earth. Then, you will see that powerful compassion and ageless wisdom are not incompatible.
If we want to ‘separate’ the two sides of the brain with a lobotomy, so that one side has nothing to do with the other, a person will lose their ‘person-ality’. They lose ‘who they are’.
The cognitive and the affective are both necessary interactive aspects of ‘who we are’.
amen, Edmund!
Edmond, as I said, I think that the process (sticking with the illustration) starts on the left side. But I think that among many of the folks I know, the problem is not basing our theology in our experience but refusing to let our theology become an experience.
I read one author who basically branded anything experiential, enthusiastic or emotional in Christianity as “gnosticism.”
“But I think that among many of the folks I know, the problem is not basing our theology in our experience but refusing to let our theology become an experience.”
David, perhaps it’s not so much ‘refusing’ to do it, as not knowing quite how to do it . . .
I’m a newcomer. Enjoyed the article – intriguing. Aside from the fact that you, like every writer, desperately need an editor, I noted that this article, like so many in blogosphere, makes the mistake of reducing the argument to a matter of human philosophy and psychology (and physiology in the case of right and left brain function). My question is, “What, in all of the exchange of opinions, is the role of the indwelling Holy Spirit?” As I understand it, Christians are to be led not so much by their right or left brain tendencies (I took the test and am definitely a righty, but I like my systematic theology and believe there in a ‘truth’ of God, and His Word as well {our problem is discerning it and describing it). Are not our brains are to be renewed- and dominated- by the injection of the third element – God’s Holy Spirit. The transformation and renewing of our thinking comes by, and through, our interaction with Him. It seems to me that both righties and lefties in the blogosphere are more interested in hearing themselves expound on “vain disputings wherein is no profit” than allowing themselves to be influenced and guided by the Spirit. Since “God is not the author of confusion” – it is clear to me that He is not being allowed to guide many at present. Blessings.
Charles, I believe that the Spirit works through our various personalities, not nullifying them. For that reason, when you and I are both filled with the Spirit, we will still be distinct personalities. The Spirit controls me, but I am still me.
That is why you have Spirit-inspired scriptures written by different authors that still demonstrate the personality and style of the author. Paul was Paul and Peter was Peter, even under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
As you to the editing, it is what it is. I’m not submitting academic papers. It takes time to write these posts and I simple don’t have the time to edit them.
I’m trying to get a point across, not impress anyone with my rhetorical skills, so I simply do not take the time to edit that perhaps I should.
That’s the way it is.
“I’m a newcomer” … ”
“Aside from the fact that you, like every writer, desperately need an editor …”
“I noted that this article, like so many in blogosphere, makes the mistake of …”
“It seems to me that both righties and lefties in the blogosphere are more interested in hearing themselves expound on “vain disputings wherein is no profit” …”
Wow, what a first impression! I mean WOW!!
“Since “God is not the author of confusion” – it is clear to me that He is not being allowed to guide many at present. Blessings.”
Let me say it again. WOW!! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! WOW!! Lack of self-awareness alert! WOW!!
Job,
Add a “Wow!” for me, too.
I do agree, some writers could use and editor (myself included). It was with a bit of glee I clipped this sentence from Charles:
“””I like my systematic theology and believe there in a ‘truth’ of God, and His Word as well {our problem is discerning it and describing it). “””
Got Sense?
I particularly like points #4 and #6 because they are straight from the Lord and don’t depend on our study of the brain!
Problem is, so many of us don’t know our gifts or believe they are important in functioning together, e.g., in our committee meetings or ministries. Also, often we haven’t done the work or developed the knowledge in the Spirit to discern a good difference (giftedness) from a bad one (false teaching, divisive and fruitless complaining, ambitious faction-building).
I really appreciate the patient explanation of these things in Christian ministry. We can’t be reminded too often.
almost didn’t take the test because you almost pre-determined my outcome. but since I do most tests for fun and not for information on who or what I am, I went ahead and gambled. ha ha. I was 7 L and 11 R. Seven come eleven has something to do with throwing dice, doesn’t it? I find myself being left when necessary to follow God’s Word, and right when following the Spirit of God. Just saying…I’m not as compartmentalized as most writers and never use an outline.
The more I grow in the Christ, the less I find a need to give my opinon about stuff. Am beginning to realize with age that the majority of the world really isn’t all that interested in my opinion or any others. They just like to use all opinions as jumping off points to give their own.
As far as right and left being able to work together is a given. The LORD says he gives each of us gifts to be used, and just because the ears don’t like the mouth, and the mind don’t like the backbone, it is what it is in God’s perfect created body. Guess that’s about all I can think of to say at the moment. ha. fun post.
I’d have pegged you in that range, Hariette – kind of the flip side of me (11 left, 8 right).
And I agree with the rest of your comment.
🙂 thought you might. that’s because some folks say I’m psychic…hee hee
Some folks say I’m psychic too. Or was that psychotic? One of them.
Took the test, but gave up. Took me too long to analyze the questions.
That is funny.
Back in the 70s the Sunday School Board’s dept. of pastoral ministries use to give what, if my memory serves correctly, what is called the pf-15 or 16. What amazed me was the number of ministers who turned out be rigid, authoritarian, controlling (note – this is not necessarily a thing of theology…as both moderates and conservatives had some fo the same dominating characteristics), and they were usually the pastors with the biggest churches. That was a surprise. Now as to the matter of right and left bring, when I was doing my research in church history and writing my thesis in American Social & Intellectual History, I stumbled across the nature of biblical truths, namely, that they are two-sided and apparently contradictory and they fit the right-brain/left-brain configuration. The two-sided truths, apparently contradictory, are not meant to be reconciled. Instead, what they do is serve the purpose of setting up a tension between the two parts of the brain to enable and empower the believer to be balanced, flexible, creative, and magnetic. In other words, sometimes the believer needs to be objective and gather and assess the facts of the situation. At other times, one must be subjective, warm, affirming, supportive, and loving. Evidently, every biblical doctrine is so constructed. My thesis, for example, was concerned about the doctrine of ministerial qualifications which involves the ideas of education and/or illumination. God ordinarily uses a both/and approach in order to prepare a servant for the ministry He has planned for that individual… My thesis was bore the title, “The Baptists & Ministerial Qualifications: 1750-1850.” It was completed and accepted and I passed my oral examination on it at Morehead State University, a real sweat. The person who conducted the examination was a fellow who was noted as a Ph.D. Generalist who had earned his degree from the University of Vienna, Austria, one of the great universities of the world. Before I came to that exam, back in the period of ’67-68, I rememebered making a list of some 15-20 doctrines or more. These truths were all two-sided, composed of two ideas what seem to be contradictory (one could not reconcile them, and they were not meant to be reconciled). I wrote a paper in the Spring of “71 at Univ. of S. Carolina (where I took 6 hours while teaching 12 hrs. at South Carolina State College) in a class… Read more »
I find all of this quite interesting. The fact of the matter is that I’ve given it a great amount of thought in the past. Mostly for this reason — I am an artistically inclined, emotional, sympathetic what more, left handed individual. Incredibly disorganized, sporadic, with quirks of all sorts, and, well, whether or not you believe ADHD exists, I exhibit every symptom commonly attributed… Do the math. (No, really, please! Math makes my head hurt!) If you knew me before I became a Christian, you would have never thought that if I had, I would gravitate toward anything like “Calvinism.” … So how in the world did I come to Christianity and find myself inching toward, until full-out adopting a thoroughly confessionally Reformed stance? I am as theologically staunch as it gets, loathing that anyone should attempt to give a gospel without thoroughly including God’s wrath and judgment (these things are important, after all!) Discernment is of utmost value to me, enough so that I have spent probably a good few years of my life blogging against “love only” “Mushy gushy” Christianity. That doesn’t mean I neglect to speak of God’s love, don’t take it to mean that. I just think balance should be kept! But even I am baffled that this would be where I would wind up. I suppose it just makes sense that God would do such a thing. My salvation wasn’t my doing — perhaps my doctrinal convictions weren’t, either. 😉 In the end, I’m told I have a unique advantage. Many of my left-brained Calvinist brethren have a difficult time communicating with others, because they always come off as being so strict, so staunch, that while they intend all of the love in the world, little of it can be heard in their voice. I’m not without flaw, on the contrary I am full of it. At times, I can be too lenient, other times, too snarky. I suppose that regardless of WHAT brain I’m thinking with (listen to me, it sounds like I have two brains! I wish… Or maybe not.) … Regardless of which hemisphere, I must always be willing to humbly submit that I am a sinner, only God is perfect. I cannot ever out-think the perfection that is in His word. 🙂 OK. so one place I suppose my left brain HAS won me over — wordiness. (This reply is… Read more »
Enjoyed this comment, Heather. Well spoken (or written, I guess).
Do you still feed the right side sometimes?
Great blog Dave! …Very thought provoking. I spent the day thinking through the concept. First, I would have to agree with Christiane’s earlier post about the greatest commandment. Interesting how he addressed the left brained ‘expert in the law’ with a right brain answer to love and build relationships? Secondly, I spent the day analyzing Bible characters and labeling them as either a lefty or righty. Then the ultimate question…is God a lefty or righty? Most likely He is the perfect balance! Since we are made in His image, it would be great to someday have that conversation with Him about how he designed our thought patterns. My fear is that we are taking a left brain concept from the 80’s and putting God in our own humanistic box of understanding. True it may help us to relate to each other and who knows maybe even love each other more, although I fear that we would use this as a leftist excuse in our relationships, “They don’t understand me”…”I can’t relate to how they feel”. The right brained people would just as well…”There they go on their soap box”…”They think way too much for me”. The key would be that balance in maturity, which is a constant work. Thanks again Dave for the thought provoking blog!
God is the perfect balance between left and right – I like that thought. That would be why both lefties and righties seem to find justification for their viewpoints in the revelation of Scripture. God reveals truth but also calls us to relationship.
Thanks for stopping by.
I tested out at 13/5 which my right brained wife will attest to after I rearrange the draws and cabinets.
I grew up in a pentecostal church and since leaving I have come to greatly prize doctrinal precision. Sola Scriptura, The Word as our sole rule of Faith and Morals, should be a standard for the True Church as a whole.
Emotions without truth are dangerous and carnal and will lead to various heresies and hedonism. If it feels good do it.
I don’t disagree. But I would say two things (which, since you are logical, I hope I can say without offending).
1) Just as emotion without truth is dangerous, so also truth without emotion, without passion, without spiritual enthusiasm. God’s redemption is of body, soul, mind, spirit, even emotions.
2) Look at your scores. You are 13-5. Now, Mr. Spock, is it possible that your views on the supreme importance of doctrine and truth are somewhat skewed by your left-brain dominance?
Wouldn’t someone who was 13-5 right brain likely see things completely differently and couldn’t the truth be somewhere in the middle?
Truly there is no doctrinal correctness without a working out in the community of faith and positive community has no true faith without doctrinal correctness.