Thinkers, Feelers and Doers

Theology is not just about the shaping of our minds but also the shaping of a person.

What does it mean to grow as disciples? What does it mean to be spiritually healthy? These questions are fundamental to understand our journey to follow Jesus.

Churches are filled with thinkers, feelers and doers¹. However, one of the common tendencies among christians is to over emphasize one of these aspects at the expense of the others, leading to what we might call “lopsided christians” or one-sided christians.

In this article, we will explore the advantages and pitfalls of each dimension - thinking, feeling and doing. I will argue that a healthy spiritual life consist in maintaining a tension between these three competencies for a fruitful and flourishing spiritual life. This is not meant to be a reductionist approach to discipleship as if these are the only reasons restraining spiritual growth. Rather it provides a framework to asses our spiritual condition.

Thinkers

Part of being a disciple is to grow in our knowledge of God, but when knowledge becomes an end in itself at the expense of the heart and what we do, then it creates “Thinkers-lopsided christians”.

The danger is that a “ thinker lopsided-christian” tends to be head driven. While they may achieve theological orthodoxy, there is a risk that their affections towards God becomes cold and dead. One of the greatest dangers in Christianity is to become so familiarize with the Bible that it creates apathetic chrisiatians. Knowledge without love is apathy — cold hearted believers. This tends to equalize knowledge as being spiritual healthy. As James 2:19 reminds us, even the demons have an orthodox understanding of who Jesus is “God is one” and but faith that is merely intellectual does not save in itself . When christians over exercise the muscles of the mind and not the muscles of the heart, it can lead to big heads but tiny hearts — having disproportionate bodies. For this kind of persona would be in rage on twitter in order to defend their theological convictions at the expense of mistreating people. This kind of approach to faith seeks not for transformation of the heart but rather transformation of the mind. Man is reduced to a compilation of thoughts. They are more interested in getting information than growing in their character.

We can’t confuse theological and bible knowledge with growth and maturity. We can’t confuse knowledge with devotion, falling pray of undevotional theology.

Maturity is not just about what you know but also what you love. It is about a transforming heart. We have become profesional christians, great at answering bible questions, bible tests, great at exegesis, however not delighting or enjoying God. Professional Christian’s are more interested in winning debates on doctrinal statements and politics than great concern for their neighbor, which ultimately reflects the condition of an unhealthy spiritual life, a one sided christian.

“Thinkers lopsided disciples” tend to see knowledge and theology as an end in itself. They love knowledge more than they love God but our Knowledge should result in growing in wisdom.

This is not a novelty idea, and others have contributed to this conversation. Bavinck in his book “Reformed Ethics” talks about the pathologies of the christian life and his concern with excessive one-sidedness. Knowledge of God should lead to a great love and adoration for him. The christian life can’t be reduced just to knowledge, for sure it is not less than that, but is also measured by the condition of our heart and what we do. For them, theology looks more like ideas and doctrines to master than to know a person, God himself.

Luther said : “Theology master the man; the man is never to master the theology’.

Theology should not lead us to say “I know all there is about the Bible,” theology should lead to love and know God deeply. There is a connection between what we know and everyday life. Theology is not just about the shaping of our minds but also the shaping of a person.

At the same time there are strengths to being a “thinking, one sided christians, after all to be a disciple is to be a learner. In a world that is saturated with information, there is a theological and bible illiteracy problem. Rather than growing disciples vertically we have been growing disciples hortizontally, nominal christians — Christians of name only. Healthy disciples are marked by knowing God.

Feelers

In an overly therapeutic world we have given more priority to the life of the heart than to the life of the mind — In evangelical circles we tend to prioritize one above the other. In our Western culture expressive individualism is driving our world. Their primary message says that to be fulfilled and be true to ourselves we need to express what we feel, that we are what we feel. Rather than truth determining what is real, subjective feelings determine reality.

Unfortunately, this trend has influenced and affected evangelicalism. Giving priority to our feelings above everything else creates “Feeler-lopsided Christians” — feeling driven. Movements like the seeker sensitive moment have arised in the last decades. The risk is to have feelings about God and not feelings for God. This kind of beliver is looking for the next spiritual dopamine. This spiritual ecstasy is the thermometer of their spirituality and communion with God. The more intense the feeling the more spiritual they feel they are. The assessment of their spiritual condition depends on how they feel.

“our union with Christ, we fall into the trap of assessing the security of our union with God or his love for us based how am I feeling or what I am doing? And we get seduced into thinking it's up to us to keep it up. Abiding then becomes a chore, a box to check, a bar to clear-"Read your Bible!" comes across like "Clean your room!" "Pray more" sounds like "Do more. It is as if his love for us and approval depends on us. But is it this union with Him that leads us to communion, to delight in him, to love him because he first loved us.”²

Feeler lopsided Christians experience church antithetical to its main telos. The main purpose for worship is to make us feel good about ourselves, the purpose of the sermon is to inspire us. This has even lead to increased reading of “devotional bible studies.” I’m not saying that there is not any benefits with reading the Bible this way but if this is the only way we read the Bible then that would explain the literacy crisis we live in today. We gravitate to devotional studies to help solve our immediate problems, like a pill that you take to alleviate your headache. One of the risks is to assume that feelings and experiences determines my growth as a christian.

The seeker sensitive moment searches for ideas to captivate people through entertainment, political affiliation, etc. It seeks to keep people happy and comfortable, emotionally engaged so that they stay in church. Formation is shallow and reduced to good feelings. It can create some sort of moral therapeutic deism Christianity. But experiences and big feelings can’t determine my growth as a christian.

One the pitfalls about “feelers-lopside” believers is to undermine the life of the mind. It is to undermine the scriptures, theology and tradition. Maybe they have belived that too much theology deviates one’s affections and feeling about God. The Bible does not teach that knowing the Bible and theology will lead someone astray from the faith, rather it is the opposite. Israel did not go into Exile because they knew God too well but because they didn’t know him at all. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees not because they knew the law but because they didn’t know the God who gave them the law. We can’t grow in our love for God if we dont grow in our knowledge of God.

The other pitfall and pendulum swing against the idea that we are what we feel is to consider that any kind of emotion is bad. You hear things like “you are too emotional”. In one sense this is a kind of christian stoicim that denies any kind of emotion. But the Bible has an entire book that places our emotion in the right place. The psalms are full of emotions — emotions are like a window, that shows us what we worship and what is in our hearts. Rather than understanding and being gnostic about how we were created, we must bring our feelings to God. Emotion are a key to our christian life, they help us to determine what is good and bad, they help us flourish.

But also David shows that we are not to be ensalved to our emotions, as the only thing that drives our actions and thoughts. We need to train our emotions according to wisdom.

Love without knowledge is infatuation — Passionate but ignorant, zealous but ignorant. Following the language of Bavinck of “pathologies of the christian life,” this overemphasize in the heart over what we know and what we do creates a pathology of having a big heart but tiny head. God wants all of our affections and allegiances to be pour towards him, it is not to live emotionless lives but a life that lives fully for him.

Doers

When “doing” becomes a means in itself and is over emphasized above what we feel and what we think we fall pray of being “doers lopsided christians”. One of the pitfalls of “doers lopsided Christians” is the notion that it doesn’t matter what you believe, what matters is what you do. As if Christianity is all about behavior improvement. Reducing chritistiny solely to spiritual disciplines. The disciplines do not make someone a christian, the gospel is not just “believe in Jesus and read your bible”, rather is faith in the resurrected and glorified Christ. The spiritual disciplines do not bring transformation by itself. The work of sanctification must begun first from the work of regeneration that is carried out in our hearts by the power of the Sprit. we need to be aware that spiritual practices are just the means for the restoration of our hearts, they are the means that God uses to sanctify us.

For them spiritual disciplines become a means in itself to earn God’s approval or demonstrate some form of work righteousness. Overemphasizing “doing” without a foundation in the gospel creates legalism. It creates a litmus test that places all confidence in ourselves rather than Christ. Thinking that we can present to God a moral spiritual resume and moral accomplishments to earn righteousness and salvation by our merits.

For them, every religious acts becomes a rule for morality. This error could lead to doing the right things with the wrong motivation. Rather than cultivate a mind and heart for God they are zealous for good works to show their piety. As if salvation is just about doing the right things. We see this in the people of Israel “These people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” — they were doing the right things but without devotion to God. Salvation is not about getting you into heaven but fellowship with the triune God — it is heaven coming down to us.

The gospel is against earning God’s favor but it’s not against effort. Spiritual disciplines are our response to the gospel. We Don’t bring transformation to ourselves, is the Holy Sprit who brings the transformation and maturity to our lives through means of grace. Transformation is not just about behavior medication, it is to pour ones affections towards God.

One of the strengths of “doers lopsided christians” is the recognition that the gospel must be applied. The gospel is not intelectual ideas that informs our head only, but is truth that is put into action and brings transformation.

They are also strengths of emphasizing “doing” or actions. Certainly the Bible commands us to live holy lives and persue righteousness. Overall, the goal of discipleship is to image Christ. But that does not mean that discipleship is reduce just to what we do, it certainly includes our hearts and minds. Good works should be the fruit of genuine faith. The basis for our salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ by grace. James warns us that faith without works is dead. Tom Schreiner once said

“We are justified by faith but true faith is never alone”.

Genuine faith should show itself in our actions and how we live.

Conclusion

Lopsided christianity not only hinders our growth and ability to mature but it also hinders to image Christ fully. If the goal of discipleship is to image God then “we are healthy to the extent that we image Christ”³. Loopsided Christianity results in malnourished believers.

God commanded Israel to love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. Following Jesus involves to follow him with all of our being. The gospel should remind us that the most important thing is not our accomplishments but what Christ did for us, the gospel remind us to turn our hearts to God above everything else, the gospel is an invitation to know a person. Mature disciples are those who grow in the knowledge of God aiming for intimacy and communion with God, whose feelings draw them closer to him and who put their faith in action and recognize that the Holy Spirit is the one at work in them. The gospel should feed our mind, hearts and body.

I argue that to have a wholistic approach to discipleship and have an integral way of walking with the Lord, all of these competencies above must be hold together for a path of growth and maturity that results in imaging Christ to bring glory to his name. Holistic disciples are to have proportionate bodies —big head, big hearts and big feet. And the primary context and means that God uses to form and grow disciples of Jesus Chist is his church. The teachings and the discipleship environments of the church should aim for our head, hearts and hands. If as Christian’s we tend to prioritize one above the other then we end up being lopsided disciples.

1. The first time I heard this concept of thinker, feeler and doers was from Rhyne Putman, although he used it in a different context.

2. Wilbourne, Rankin, “Union with Christ.” David Cook, 2016.

3. Bavinck, Herman, “Reformed Ethics, Volume 1.” Edited by John Bolt. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019