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WHAT IS THE HEART?

By Roger Hornbeck

We are surrounded with references to the heart, but do we have a clear picture of what we speak about? Even more to the point, do we have an accurate understanding of how our hearts function? Depending on the speaker or teacher, the heart may be presented to be either equal with the human mind or equal with the human emotions. While the heart is seen as the key to an authentic life, these reductions of heart to equal mind or emotions fail the test of real life. In the Church, both of these positions can be found. Through fear of the emotional excesses and an unfounded faith in objective rationalism, many in the Western Church have prostituted the biblical term "heart" to support their rationalism by defining heart as mind. In mutual reaction, others in the Church would follow the cultural definition that heart equals emotions. This leads to the belief that an experience which has touched the emotions has, by definition, touched the heart.

The weakness of these definitions of the heart is revealed by their failure to bring about biblical character and obedience. Jesus taught that the beliefs held by the heart produce the real character and actions of the person. If the heart equals the mind, then mental affirmation of the truth should be enough to change the person. The truth is that biblically literate people sin when they know better. The seminary student that spends his days filling his mind with biblical truth, while spending his evenings feeding his heart with pornographic images, is a strong rebuttal to the premise that truth in the mind equals truth in the heart. The Church leader teaches his pupils the values of mercy, love and grace only to close the public doors and abuse his family and coworkers through anger and manipulation. The simple truth is that in light of the biblical teaching on the heart, the concept of mind is not adequate to explain the heart. Jesus addresses the Pharisees, who had an extensive understanding of the Bible, with their need to have their hearts changed. In fact, He described their knowledge has a whitewash which covered and hid hearts full of death.

This is not just an issue of semantics. A focus on the mind dictates what methods and tools are necessary for behavioral change and character development. If the mind is the target, then the communication, reception and understanding of information is the sole goal. This premise would lead us to believe that if a person is struggling with obedience the problem is that they do not know and understand the Scriptural teaching on the subject. If this person knows the truth, then it is a matter of rebellion. The solution offered to both conditions is to give more truths until the person changes. If they do not change in the face of the presentation of Scriptural truths, then they are in rebellion and there is nothing more that can be done for them.

If the emotions are the target, then the goal is to pursue a religious experience until the emotions are touched. The reality is that this kind of focus leaves the person without long-term change and obsessively looking for the next experience. This is not the picture of heart change recorded in the Bible. Those whose hearts were touched by the living God experienced a deep change that was not at the mercy of their circumstances. Paul encounters the living, resurrected Christ in a way that changed his heart. The fruit of that heart change was a single-minded passion to live the rest of his life for his Lord. This kind of change is not often seen in those running after the latest move of God. Sadly, many who have made these false equations between heart and mind or emotions have given up, convinced that either the Bible is not true or that they must be uniquely lost.

Before you hang me, let me say that I do believe that the study of the truths of Scripture and the encounter of the living God are important to every Christian. It is not Scripture or experience that is the problem, but a misunderstanding of the nature of the heart which results in the heart being left untouched by these God-ordained resources. We read a passage of Scripture, affirm its truthfulness and believe that the job is finished. We are confused when our lives continue in rebellion to the very truth we have affirmed. The problem is not the power of the truth, but that we do not let it get to our hearts. Our understanding of human make- up blinds us to this failure. We read the Psalms which tells us to treasure the Word in our hearts so that we will not sin against God and conclude that we need to memorize scripture. The passage is not about information storage, but about having our hearts captivated by the Word of God! Paul describes this as being controlled by the love of God. The same blindness robs us of the benefits of the heart changing power of an encounter with God. We are like king Saul who encounters God, strips naked and prophesies for 24 hours, but goes away with no long-term change. Our hearts, and not just our emotions, must encounter the living God.

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