Don't Follow Your Heart

June 11, 2023

Pastor Patrick presented "Don't Follow Your Heart." A video of the message is here.

First, let's remind ourselves that "Words Mean Things" (see the tab "Words). When we moderns read the word "heart," we assume what's being discussed is feelings or emotions. But that's not accurate, particularly from older parts of scripture. To the ANE (Ancient Near Easterner), it was the heart that did the thinking, not the feeling. To the ANE, the kidneys were the seat of feelings and emotions. That's how "learning by heart" came to mean using your brain to memorize something. So when you read "And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart (lay-bawb, לֵבָב) and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), you should think "all your mind, soul, and muchness." ("Muchness" here includes "all you've got": your talents, your property, your resources, etc.; everything!) The cold hard truth is: your heart pumps blood, period, full stop.

Don't feel bad if you've thought that your conscience should/could be your guide. God made the same mistake. Many people think, even if unconsciously (pun intended), that the conscience and the heart are the same guide. Technically, they are not the same thing at all. Remember, your heart pumps blood and your brain runs ALL the thought/feelings processes, including the conscience. But, you get the point, they are confused into the same thing.

Wait, what do you mean "God made the same mistake"?

From the moment that Man chose to know good and evil, God has been trying to keep us on the right path, the path of good. Presumably, the human being has always had a conscience, was created with it. Interestingly, the Bible makes no mention of any "laws" God might have given Adam and Eve. We do know that right out of the chute the conscience didn't work. Cain killed Abel over his perceived value of a sacrifice. Cain's conscience obviously didn't work. So God tried again. He destroyed an evil, world population with the flood, saved Noah's family, and gave what are known as the Noahide Laws (for more on that, click here). That was attempt #2. The third attempt was giving the Israelites the Ten Commanments at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20).

For a good example of following your heart/conscience and being totally wrong, consider the story of Korah (Numbers 16). Korah and others were so sure of themselves that they literally bet their lives on being right. Korah and his boys had a point (a valid elegalitarian argument), but they were wrong. Dead wrong.

< SOAPBOX > Bottomline, your conscience ("heart") is an awful guide to goodness. And the Bible warns of this over and over (watch the video for a sampling of verses Patrick references). Far too many people sleep and have slept perfectly fine despite the evil they've perpetrated. Don't think you're immune from the same trap. And don't think you can get away with: "How could I have known he would kill six million Jews?" Adults are not allowed the luxury of naivete. All of us adults have a duty to find out the truth and act accordingly, including in how we vote. < /SOAPBOX >

P.S. On a personal level, I'd like to note that this is the 100th consecutive weekly essay that I've done. These started in late summer 2021. Simchah (sim-khaw, שִׂמְחָה) is a celebratory Hebrew word meaning joy, gladness, mirth, and is used for instance, in "Simchat Torah," a celebration of completing the annual cycle of reading the entire Torah. Simchah also occurs in Numbers 10:10 when "in the day of gladness," etc. "you shall blow your trumpets!" So, I'm having a little simchat today, including blowing my own shofar (ram's horn "trumpet," example pictured above)!

Bonus

The Trolley Problem

If you're not familiar with "The Trolley Problem," do a search for it in YouTube and watch a few of the videos on the subject. For example, click here. You knew I'd pick a train-related example!

It's basically an exercise in how to decide a moral question. Or better, what goes into deciding a moral question. It's fascinating how the smallest detail added to the problem description can entirely change your mind as to the correct moral decision.

Given how confusing this "little problem" can be, it's not hard to imagine how confused and misled the conscience can be if not supplemented by external "hard" truths and wisdom, like those you get from the Bible.