Part-1–The Rule of Emotions Over the Lives of Certain Christians

In following up with my last Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections post (episode 88—”When Tradition Overrides Truth and Reason”), I explored how some of the traditions of the church (namely the modern Southern Baptist Church) seemed to override and supersede many biblical truths and in some cases even commonsense and spiritual reasoning. I reflected upon the things that I had witnessed that transpired in and around the passing of one of my close, dear family members and how many of the traditions and practices of the Baptist Church related to the passing of members of the Baptist Community are not in any way biblically-based and that some of those things defied what I would say is general reasoning. These things—these traditions and practices–are part and parcel of my upbringing in the Baptist Church of my youth and at the time of my upbringing, I of course, bought into all of these traditions and practices lock-stock-and barrel without question. Why would one question such sketchy traditions and practices when members of the Baptist Community have been taught from birth to not question the ways and things of the Church because those ways and things were biblical and had always been. Questioning the traditions and practices of the Church was tantamount to questioning God Himself, and everyone knows that one does not question God—for the Church and God are essentially one and both are sovereign and authoritative.

In many parts of this community, the pastors, ministers, evangelists, and teachers of the church are believed to hear directly from God and Jesus Christ and what they say and do is relatively infallible. Thus those anti-biblical traditions and practices remain entrenched in the fabric of the Baptist Church Community to this day.

I must mention one thing that I did witness throughout the course of this journey of mine related to the Baptist Community: there are a small handful of members of this community that are becoming more and more emboldened to question many of those established practices and traditions. This I found to be a relatively positive thing, for when one is able to move beyond the fear of questioning why he or she do the things he or she does or believe the things that are taught in one’s chosen Faith they’ve taken the first step in establishing their journey on the path towards finding Truth—that is, if finding Truth is important to that individual. Indeed, I have come across many folks during my stay here who are in absolutely no rush to find Truth, or for that matter, to establish a true and substantive relationship with the Creator of the Universe. For these individuals, it is more important to maintain traditions, practices and culture than to find and live out Truth and have a personal relationship with the Almighty. Nevertheless, I am encouraged that there appears to be that remnant that is actually reading their bibles and who are beginning to perceive that the things that they once held as sacred in the Church may not be as sacred as they’d always been taught or have believed them to be.

In my reflections on some of the traditions of the Baptist Church of my youth (mainly centered around death and eternal life), I touched upon how some of these traditions and practices that I observed seemed to target the emotions of the members of Baptist Faith Community. I found this focus and targeting of emotions to be such a powerful and prominent thing that I have been led to reflect upon it in this episode of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections. It is clear to me, dear Saints of the Most High, that human emotions have such massive potential to be exploited by people and things that may be good and holy and beneficial, just as they can be exploited by people and things that are bad, evil and damaging to us.

Clearly, the enemy from the very beginning identified the power that emotions can and do have over us as human beings. This is of course not to say that emotions are a bad thing: on the contrary, I believe that our emotions were implanted in us by our Creator and they were given to us for purposes that would glorify and honor Yahweh/Yahovah/Yahuah—as strange as that may seem.

Part-2–Just What Are Emotions Anyway?

Google defines emotions as that of “a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.” They are described as feelings and sentiments. They are instinctive and intuitive and are separate from reasoning and knowledge.

In episode 88 of this program I mentioned that traditions and many of the practices of the Baptist Church played heavily upon the emotions of the members of the community, which I believe in great part has blinded the members from Truth and distracted them from sound reasoning. Now, this reality does not only apply to the Baptist Church; it applies to any denomination, faith or religion in existence today. The difference between them, us and the world is that Abba’s grace was extended to us such that we received the True Gospel and committed to walk according to the covenant and provisions set forth in His Torah.

So it’s not that these well meaning, precious believers in Jesus Christ are bad people; on the contrary, they are simply blinded to the Truth and it will take an outright act of Yahovah to loosen the scales from their eyes just as happened to Shaul (i.e., Paul) on that Damascus road shortly after the ascension of our beloved Master (i.e., reference Acts 9).

But back to emotions. The definition contends that emotions are natural and instinctive feelings and sentiments that are derived from one’s circumstances, moods and relationships with others. The traditions and practices of churchianity certainly attach themselves to members’ emotions and they work effectively to keep members of the denominational community in spiritual bondage.

Question: Why do so many people in this community go to church every Sunday? What are they looking for?

Well, there are a number of reasons why members of this community go to church each week, but the primary reasons I believe are to get an emotional fix for the week ahead and get an emotional release from past, present and perceived future challenges and problems. They want to feel better about themselves and their life’s situations. So they want their souls to be stirred and their fears allayed. Mind you, there is no obvious stated desire to learn the ways of their Creator. It’s all about having their emotions tickled and manipulated and  I would submit that many of these folks are addicted to having their emotions tickled and manipulated. Thus, the point of attending church each week is all about them as individual members of their Faith Community and God is relegated to a secondary and even a tertiary place in the reasoning matrix of their minds and souls.

The other primary reason why these individuals attend church each week is because the local culture requires it. Many individuals attend churches down here each week because that is what you do every first-day of the week—you go to church—it’s the proper thing to do. Again, God is found nowhere in their decision-making matrix for attending.

Now, I came across a few lists of emotions on the internet and most of the listed emotions are pretty obvious. There seems to be three-general lists that are regarded in the realm of psychology: “Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions;” “Aristotle’s Rhetoric;” and Darwin’s, “The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals.” Many of the individual emotions found on these three-lists are repeated on these respective lists. I will not burden you by mentioning and exploring all of the emotions from these three-lists, but I would like to explore just two of these emotions that denominational churchianity seems to target most. Unfortunately the fallout from the exploitation of these emotions sadly impedes the True Gospel message from reaching the ears of the members of the Church Community.

Part-3–Joy—The Fun Emotion—Right

The first emotion that I’ve seen exploited is “joy.” Certain church traditions and practices target the members’ desire to feel better about their present life situation. Thus the preaching and singing is fashioned to incite joy in the members.

I came across 155-verses in the KJV (i.e., King James Version) where joy is mentioned.

Joy denotes “gladness,” “exaltation,” and “rejoicing.” And if you’ve never had the experience of attending charismatic Christian denomination services, you’ve missed something that is distinctively American and generally of African American origin. Joy, exaltation and rejoicing is part-and-parcel of charismatic church services. There is customarily a feeling of exuberance and happiness that spreads throughout the congregation like a wildfire as a result of the heart-pounding, soul-stirring music and forceful preaching that is expertly dispensed by some very talented and motivated individuals.

Clearly, joy is a welcomed and revered emotion in this setting. The healthy-minded individual would prefer to be joyful than sad, grief-stricken or in despair. Thus the leaders of denominational churchianity realize this and they seize upon every opportunity during such church gatherings to elicit joy from their members for various and sundry reasons to include dropping a few more dollars into the offering plates. The methods employed by the singers and preachers to bring about joy among members of their congregations are generally centered around well-crafted promises to members that everything in their members’ lives is going to be alright—one way or another—and that there is coming a day when they will live out eternity in the happiest place in existence—heaven. The problem with this situation is that 9-times out of 10, the story lines that are being put forth to these members as a means to elicit joy, are not based on biblical Truths and or sound reason. Promises that members are going to heaven and that things are going to be alright in the morning, regardless how bad those things might be at the moment; regardless the lawlessness that reigns in the members’ lives; regardless the lack of obedience to Yahovah’s instructions defy commonsense and established biblical principles.

I guess it is preferable to hear about happy and fun things than to hear of stark truths that require us to conform to Father’s instructions and not our own. The joy that comes from true service to Father lasts throughout one’s earthly life—as opposed to joy that is based upon lies and misinterpretations.

Although joy is not mentioned in Torah, joy is mentioned throughout the remainder of the Tanakh (i.e., the Old Testament) and the writers firmly suggests that true joy is had by the people of Yahuah who focus their attention upon Father. In other words, joy that is centered on the individual and what that individual is going to get from God is not of Abba, but biblically-based joy is focused on Yahuah our Elohim exclusively and it is that exclusive focus on the Creator of the Universe that pays dividends to the worshiper whereby they receive a happiness and joy that the world can not fully and truly comprehend.

For us Spirit-Filled Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah, obedience to Abba’s way of life as stipulated in His perfect Torah, brings about a joy that is indescribable—certainly contrary to the understanding of the secular world and denominational churchianity. These entities see any adherence to Torah as bondage and legalistic drudgery. But the truth of the matter is that observance and obedience to Torah—Torah observance from the heart that is done by the Believer in Yeshua because he or she truly loves the Father and wants to please Him at every opportunity—brings about true everlasting joy. Reliance upon the protection, provision and spiritual guidance of Yahuah our Elohim brings about joy. Knowing that we are Abbah’s chosen and that we have a special purpose in His plan for mankind brings about joy. Our joy is not born on lies and scriptural misinterpretations.

Just a simple perusal of the 155 or so verses where joy is found in the Holy Writ strongly suggests that joy—true joy—comes from Yahweh, our Elohim. True joy does not come from man nor does it come from convenient man-centered circumstances such as stirring Church services. That joy is fleeting at best and is easily diminished and even destroyed once reality kicks in.

As it relates to our responsibility in this joy thing, it certainly does not fall upon a reliance of man to bring us joy. Instead, the Prophet Habakkuk, suggests that we rejoice and find joy in the God of our salivation (Habakkuk 3:18). Furthermore, one’s joy should not be contingent upon the preaching and singing of the Church, but instead, it must flow from Yahuah our Elohim to us and from us outward to Yahuah. Shaul (i.e., Paul) wrote that we should rejoice in Yahovah always (reference Philippians 4:4), regardless what is going on in our lives at any given time. This is certainly not an easy thing to do and it stands to reason why so many Christians default and turn to the Church to find joy. We humans love to take paths of least resistance don’t we?

I am working each day to be joyful in the things of Yahuah and my Master. It is that joy that we have within us through our obedience and relationship with the Most High that wins the spiritual battles that each of us must fight in each day.

Part-5–The Rule of Emotions in the Hebrew Roots Community

Far too many of us erroneously believe that simply filling our heads with the latest and greatest Torah tidbits—minutia—the net result of going deep; of digging; of splitting scriptural atoms—far too many of us believe that we are effectively doing the will of Master Yahoshua. Some of us who fall into this realm ultimately come to a place in our walk where we abandon the teachings and example of Master and dive headlong into Judaistic, religiosity; and we engage in pointless babble and debate that does not serve the Kingdom of Yahuah at all. What does the accumulation of too much knowledge do? It puffs up (reference I Corinthians 8:1). The Apostle Paul (i.e., Shaul) suggested that instead of valuing head knowledge as it relates to Torah, it is better to exercise charity.

Emotions not only harm our cousins in churchianity, they also create havoc in the Hebrew Roots Community. Our community has some of the most angry, bitter, sad, disgusted, envious, shameful, grief-stricken and hateful people you could ever find in any religious circle outside of radical Islam. It is truly a sad situation to behold.

Simply consider FaceBook where we have so many Hebrew Roots-based communities in existence, and the members of these various communities are constantly at war with one another. We tend to wear our Faith on our sleeves in such communities and it doesn’t take much to fire some of us up over some of the most innocuous issues and topics. Just a few months ago, I had one brother who I had been FaceBook friends with for well over a year, swapping varying and frequent posts on various issues and topics related to our Faith, who out of the blue berated me for using the title “God” in one of my posts. I mean he lit into me and ceremoniously unbefriended me in FaceBook public—so to speak. I had another so-called brother in the Faith call me a heretic and heathen in FaceBook public because I did not agree with his posted Lunar Sabbath ideas. And still, there are countless others in our Faith who have been beaten down by other members of our beloved Faith for the goofiest of things. 

As supposed Spirit Filled Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah, we should not in the least be influenced by our emotions. If anything and if one considers love to be an emotion (which Aristotle considered it to be), then that is the one emotion that we should constantly be displaying towards one another. We can never love Father and one another enough.

Our Faith Community cannot stand the coming storm of the end times if we are slaves to our emotions. It’s quite clear to me: if we fear; if we are always angry; if we are constantly sad and disgusted; if we are envious of others those who have this and that and we don’t; if we have low self-esteem, then we are essentially setting ourselves up for spiritual and even physical failure.

You see, the carnal world doesn’t have time to deal with all our insecurities and lack of integrity. The world is secure in their way of life and if we are trying to show the world that what we have is better than what they currently have, yet we are living contrary to the acclamation that Abba’s way is the one true path to the life abundant, then we will be made to appear as fools in the eyes of the nations.

Part-6–Closing Thoughts and Reflections

I don’t know about you, but I do not want to fail Master. I don’t want to finish this life that Abba has given me and not accomplish something of eternal significance. There are many things that can stymie the accomplishment of Yah’s will for our lives. I hope I have competently shown in this post, the negative influence that emotions have over our lives and how they have the potential to impede Abba’s will in our lives.

One of the things that every Believer is wanting to hear when they stand before the King is “well done thy good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things; enter into the joy of the Master (reference: Matthew 25:21-23).” If we allow emotions to rule over our lives, there is a good chance that many of us will not hear these words from the Master, but instead hear “depart from me you worker of lawlessness (reference Luke 13:27).” Now that is something to genuinely fear.

I personally have a problem controlling some of my emotions. I am not afraid to admit this. I don’t want you to think that I am an emotional basket case because that is certainly not me. But I must confess that I have need of the Spirit (i.e., the Ruach) to mold me into image of Master Yahoshua such that I am able to control my emotions better and that they do not interfere in my day-to-day walk with Master. I don’t wish to lack in anything in this Faith. I am in this for the long haul and in this to win it. I seek to see this thing to its perfect end so that I can hear my Savior say to me well done good and faithful servent.