Affectionately His
I have a confession to make: I love Jesus Christ! I mean it. I love Jesus Christ with all my heart! I want Him to be honored in my life above all things; above all other ideologies; above all other worthy goals; above all other worthy people. He is my King! He is my God! He is my Lord! He is my Everything! I exist to love and glorify Jesus Christ and help others do the same.
It’s almost 2 am as I poke this out on the keyboard in what is only slightly better than a “hunt and peck” system. I was in bed and couldn’t sleep so I turned on my MP3 and plugged in my headphones. I turned to my favorites and cranked up the volume. I listened to songs like “Your Love is a Song” by Switchfoot, “Christ is Risen” by Matt Mahar, and “Everything I’d Hoped For” by Bebo Norman. I was reminded that the music I listen to now is a far cry from Foghat’s “Slow Ride” or Journey’s “Lovin’, Touchin’, and Squeezin” that blared over my red 1974 Pontiac Firebird’s (complete with glasspacks) stereo system back in high school and my early days of college.
But something happened on my way to follow Bob Newhart into a lifetime of counseling: I met Jesus Christ, and He changed my life! Not as fast as I wished He would have, mind you, but He has changed, and He is changing everything. Mostly, he has changed my affections. He has changed what I love and what I value. In about 12 months time, I went from a close call with death in a head-on auto accident where I was drunk, and having a football bookie tell me he was going to kill me because I couldn’t pay my $3600 bill that I had racked up in a single, terrible weekend as a poor 18 year old college freshman, to meeting Jesus Christ and committing my life to His ministry. In a way, I am thankful that I was never one of those church brats (pardon me if you were and you know who you are) that grew up in church. When I met Jesus Christ, it was because I knew I needed Him in my life, not because of what one guy called his family’s drug ministry, where he was “drug” to church every week. When I walked the isle at North Side Baptist Church in Weatherford, TX, I took a church brat with me because he needed it as much as I did.
That began a journey that I still diligently pursue today. This journey has certainly not been easy, and yes, there have been some major obstacles on the way. But my journey has always pressed onward, because that is where my affections lead me. I do not follow Christ because I am committed to Christ. I follow Christ because I love Him, and because I love Him, I am committed to Him. Though the road has been bumpy at times, and though I have hit my share of potholes, I press on because my affections are for Jesus Christ. Others may turn back, because their affections lie elsewhere. The bible mentions that numerous times, again proving that we humans follow our affections, always. Even to our own detriment at times.
We would like to think that there is something honorable in us that seeks to follow Christ simply because He is worthy. We’re not that noble, so let’s dismount our high horse and admit it. We follow Christ because we see a benefit or benefits in doing so. And because there are benefits, He has our affections, and because He has our affections, we follow Him. So we follow Christ because we see a benefit in it. Yes, when God had John 3:16 in mind, He knew that He would need to show us the benefit to get our affection. Don’t be too hard on yourself, because God designed us this way. It was His idea. Why would He do such a thing you may ask. Because He knew that we would only pursue whatever gripped our affections. Is that to say that there is no place for duty? Of course not, but duty is usually preceded by our affections. We usually feel a duty towards what we are or have been affectionate for. Affections call forth duty, not the other way around.
When you think of John 3:16, what do you think of? You probably think of God sending His Son for us. And why did God do that? Because He was committed to us. And why was that? Because His affections were for us. Exactly! His commitment to us was prompted by His affections for us. Even with God, commitment follows affection.
When Jesus asked Peter in John 21 if he loved Him, He wasn't just asking if he was committed to Him; He was asking if his affections were now solely on Himself - Christ - and off of himself, Peter. Mark 12:30 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." This certainly includes our affections as well as our commitments. In a time when affections and emotions can be blown out of proportion and misused, it does not help to neglect the God given value of them. In fact, it hurts us, because one overcomes sin not solely through commitment, but by his affections being turned to something greater than his sin. We pursue what we love; what we desire; what we have affections for. We leave our sin when we find something we are more affectionate towards, and only then. Otherwise, we would never leave our sin.
I believe that we men have a more difficult time with affection for Christ than the women do. We tend to see our Christianity in terms of “being committed” to Christ. We think that our commitment trumps all this emotional stuff. But don’t confuse your affections with your emotions. They are not the same. They may be involved together, but they are distinct. Affections have more to do with what we value and esteem as worthy. Emotions have to do with how we are feeling about certain things, not whether we value or esteem them. Our commitment follows our affections, and we men sometimes want to skip the “affections” part and go right to the commitment part. We think that is the “manly” thing to do. But ask yourself a few questions: How many wives want commitment without affection? How many husbands want that? How do you show your daughter that you are committed to her without showing her affection? Which hobby do you pursue because you are committed to it, but it has none of your affections? What item do you value because you are committed to it, but you have no affection for?
Let’s think of worship. Is worship at its essence being committed to God or being passionately in love with Him? To worship God is to value Him and to esteem Him above all else. Your commitment to Him flows out of your affections for Him. Men, we NEED to unleash our affections for Him! We need to set our hearts on Him so much so that we become passionately committed to Him. We will never be fully committed to Him without being consumed by affection for Him. Your affections will draw your heart wherever they are aimed. And your life will follow. That is how He made us. That is why the Israelites quoted Dt. 6:4-5 each day. That is why Jesus told us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
So let’s let our affections for Him grow and let’s let them show. Why would non-Christian people ever want a God that Christians were only mildly affectionate for? Seriously, who needs another something to add to their list of things to do? Let’s work on genuinely loving God with our whole heart. Let’s work on worship that is alive with passion, meaning, and joy. Let’s work on singing to the Lord and disregarding people during times of worship, so that our worship is pure and affectionate. Let’s work on serving our neighbor because our neighbor is important to the God we are affectionate for. Let’s humble ourselves and consider others better than ourselves because we love a God who tells us to do this. Let’s be passionately affectionate for this God we serve Diligent commitment will surely follow.
One will not have commitment without affections, and one cannot have true affections without commitment.
1-26-12