The Limits of Passion

see the video on passion here.

While emotions are good and necessary in our Spiritual walk, emotionalism--the worship of emotions--is a danger for anyone who would seek God.  Emotionalism is not the pursuit of God through passion, but the pursuit of passion through God.  It is an addiction to a feeling. 

There is nothing wrong with letting our emotions loose in the worship of God, but feelings can become overpowering.  When emotions rule, they can be cruel masters. 

In chapel in a school where I teach, a preacher preached a stirring, passionate sermon. The congregation responded emotionally, shouting and lifting their hands.  It was a powerful moment.  Afterwards, I asked my preaching class.  “Did you enjoy chapel?”

They responded with an enthusiastic “Absolutely!” 

“How many of you ever got that kind of response to one of your sermons? Is it a good feeling?”  Many said they had, and that they loved it.

Then I went on.  “What would you do for that feeling? Would you lie to get that feeling? Would you push others aside to get into the chance at that feeling again?  Would you pretend to hear from God, just to get that feeling?”

This time, no hands went up.  But they all said they knew preachers who did.  There are very few things quite so addicting at the attention of others, especially in church.  The feeling of pride and power which comes from being in front of a crowd is just as addictive as cocaine or heroin. Passionate desire is wonderful, but seeking it for its own sake cuts us off from God.

Emotions are not constant. Sometimes they come with great power. Other times, they may to dry up altogether. This does not mean God abandons us. Our relationship with God does not depend upon how we feel today. 

Passions can be divided into three classes:

·       unconscious passions that we do not recognize,

·       ordinate passions that we both recognize and master,

·       and inordinate passions, which master us.  

Unconscious passions are our prejudices and preferences. If we prefer chocolate ice cream over vanilla, a red dress over green one, or rock over jazz, we we may not even know why-we just feel it.  Superficial preferences make little or no difference spiritually--they are simply the byproducts of our upbringing, conditioning and heredity.  They do not cause a problem spiritually unless we mistake our feelings for what discernment from God. If we think that God is for chocolate over vanilla, red over black or one kind of music over another, then we have confused our unconscious feelings for God.

When applied to people, the preferences become prejudices.  We may feel that fat people are lazy, rappers are not real musicians, or tall people make good leaders—without any true rational basis for such assumptions.  We may try to rationalize these feelings, when there is really no rational basis. Our attempts to justify our prejudices are the result of emotional suppression. We may react to someone positively or negatively because of some past experiences with someone similar. If we recognize our prejudices for what they are—echoes of past feelings, we can laugh them off and go on. But if we do not recognize them, they cloud our perception of the truth.

The best way to overcome unconscious feelings is to make them conscious. Acknowledge that we—like everyone else in the world—is prejudice to some degree, due to our previous emotional training.  If we recognize this, we can make allowances for it, like a marksman adjusting for the wind direction when he takes aim. But if we deny our feelings of bias we miss the truth every time.

Ordinate passions are feelings that are recognized but under controlled. Every passion has its proper time and place.  “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Eccl 3:1)    Knowing our feelings and when to express them is essential to wisdom. 

Passions must be expressed sometime.  They cannot be suppressed forever.  Ignoring our feelings is like ignoring a fire alarm.  If we do not pay attention to our feelings, they will consume us. Learning to express our feelings in controlled, non-harmful ways prevents them from exploding into destructive behavior. 

All passions are linked. If we deny our negative feelings such as fear, lust, and anger, we will usually find that our positive feelings—love, joy, and happiness, will become harder to express.  To deny one passion is to deny them all. 

Inordinate passions are the loud, insistent and demanding passions that are out of control-- anger so strong that we strike out in violence, lust so strong that it leads to pornography and adultery, appetites so strong that we cannot stop eating, or fear so strong that we panic and run from a fight. They cannot be ignored or allowed to run wild, any more than we can ignore a mad dog in our yard. They ruin lives and destroy relationships.

Philip St. Romain offers these warning signs of an inordinate passion:

·       When every decision in life centers around it.

·       When the thought of not having it causes us to be anxious and afraid.

·       When our desire for it eclipses all other desires

·       When cannot imagine any circumstance that would completely satisfy our desire.

·       When we compare ourselves with other people’s so-called fulfilled desires.

·       When we lose our passion for everything else. [1]

If we fall victim to inordinate passions, we must confess them to God and to others. Pray for help from God, confess the hurts we have caused, and seek professional help if necessary to learn how to manage our inordinate passions. 

Inordinate passions are serious; but equally serious and dangerous are passions which are not high enough.  We cannot adequately serve God and others unless we feel love or help without feeling empathy. Bridling our emotions is not enough. They are the engines which will power our faith.  

We must say something, too about guidance and passions.  God has spoken to us subjectively through dreams, metaphors, visions and feelings. But we must remember that our capacity to receive God’s guidance through such means has been seriously affected by our own inordinate and unconscious emotions, and by our sinful nature in general.  Do not trust subjective feelings alone, but test them against what God has given us for objective guidance.  Test them through the Word of God and through seeking the guidance of others who are not as emotionally involved as you.  Do not trust temporary feelings to make permanent changes in your life.  Long term changes comes from changing daily habits. Habits will be the subject of our next article.

Have you discovered any unconscious prejudices or inordinate desires in your life? What do you find is the best way of dealing with them when you find them?  Write and let us know. 

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[1] Philip St. Roman A Handbook for Spiritual ho Directees;  a book of Spiritual Exercises, (Kindle Edition)