We often divide people into Thinkers and Feelers. A Thinker is someone who takes a more rational approach to life, applies logic to every problem, loves intellectual stimulation, and perhaps lacks empathy. A Feeler is someone who is highly attuned to their emotional life, and very likely the emotions of others, and doesn’t only care about what is logical, but also what simply feels right.
This difference seems to apply in our different approaches to spirituality. Some of us are energised by theology, and others by experience. In fact, whenever you walk into a church, you probably make a quick assessment about whether that church is for Thinkers or for Feelers. Maybe the church cares about long and highly detailed sermons, and displays of emotion are viewed with suspicion. Or the church cares about the experience of transcendence, and the preaching is more a kind of exhortation.
I don’t doubt that this distinction exists, and that we all tend towards one or other end of the spectrum. That said, the distinction is a lot less neat than we pretend. For example, what do you think happens to people who experience damage in that part of the brain associated with emotions? Jonathan Haidt writes about this in The Happiness Hypothesis:
Now that they are free of the distractions of emotion, do they become hyperlogical, able to see through the haze of feelings that blinds the rest of us to the path of perfect rationality? Just the opposite. They find themselves unable to make simple decisions or set goals, and their lives fall apart.
Instead of emotions being a hindrance, it turns out they’re absolutely essential to making basic choices in life. How else do you know what you want unless you can feel your way towards it?
The Bible does not group people into these artificial categories, and for good reason. Here’s a couple of questions to mull on. Was Jesus a Thinker or a Feeler? You know straight away that the answer is: Both. When you read the Psalms, are they the work of Thinkers or of Feelers? Yes, there’s a huge range of emotional expression in the Psalms, but they have also been described as a theological summary of the whole Bible (contrast that with some of our more obviously emotion-driven worship songs today, that tend only to focus on one or two positive emotions, and often minimise any propositions or complicated truths).
It may be true that each of us has a proclivity towards thinking or feeling, but I’m convinced that authentic spirituality involves the whole person, your entire soul. This means that you long to understand God’s ways with your mind, and share Paul’s desire to know Christ (that’s Thinking). But at the same time, you are not content to just think true thoughts: you want to love Jesus better and with a deeper passion, and to actually enjoy him (that’s Feeling). John Piper talks about this in his book, Desiring God:
Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half-full) of artificial admirers (like people who write generic anniversary cards for a living). On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship.
Church should always be a place where our minds are stretched and exercised as we bend our thoughts towards the aim of knowing God in his Word. But at the same time, this should lead us to deep and authentic feelings of love towards God, and expressions of emotion in the way we worship. We don’t have to choose one or the other. Christ has shown us a better way, and a way that is both more human and more divine.