When salvation matters more
As people living in the West, our culture tells us that our feelings are one of the most important things we experience and should listen to. How many times have you been told to “follow your heart”, or “go with your gut”, or “do what feels right for you”? Probably too many times to count.
But how many times have your feelings let you down? How many times have you gone with your gut for it to all fall apart?
Our feelings are a huge part of who we are and heavily influence what we think and do. If I feel happy, I smile. If I feel sad, I cry. If I feel angry, I shout. And the list goes on. My feelings directly correlate with how I live my life. We cannot separate our lives from our feelings. But what happens when the truth matters more?
Recently at my church, we have been going through the book of Joshua. In Joshua 22, two and a half of the twelve tribes build an altar. This is straight after Joshua praises them for keeping all the commandments given to them by Moses (Joshua 22:1-9).
So by building an altar, to the rest of Israel, it seems as if the two and half tribes are sinning! (Don’t worry. They weren’t. It’s all good. (See Deuteronomy 12:1-5, 13:12-18, and Joshua 22:30-34))
The response from the rest of Israel is to get ready to go to war and essentially cleanse themselves of the sins of their kinsmen.
But before the cleansing happens, the leaders of the nine and a half tribes plead with the Transjordanian tribes not to go to the land east of the Jordan if it was going to cause them to sin. They were even willing to give up part of their inheritance (land on the west of the Jordan) so that all could have salvation.
Our minister, while preaching on this passage, got us as a congregation to stand up, divide in two, move to opposite sides of the church, then look at each other. He then asked this question:
“What would you give up so that your brothers and sisters can keep their salvation? What would you give up so that you can keep seeing those same faces one week, one month, one year, ten years, twenty years, fifty years from now? Is there anything more important than the continued salvation of your family?”
I started this piece by talking about feelings because that is my struggle. I am a young, Christian male. Need I say more?
I’m tempted day after day to sin and to give into my fleshly desires. But I know that the truth matters more.
I’m not saying that feelings don’t matter. I’m not saying to rule out emotion completely. As people, we have been created with amazing emotional capabilities and suppressing what we feel isn’t always helpful for our growth as Christians.
It’s in spite of our emotional struggles and agony that God reveals Himself to us and draws us near, that He comforts us by the promise of the new creation. Not the total absence of emotion and feeling, but in light of it.
When what we feel is going to make us sin, then let us flee from it.
What we feel matters, but salvation matters more.
Amen.