I want truth on fire. And that is exactly what God wants for me, and for you, as well. After all, didn’t Jesus say that the most important command in the whole universe was that we cultivate a love for God that includes all our heart and all our mind (Mark 12:28-30)?
Why is it that so often we settle for just our heart or just our mind?
Here’s why: we are afraid.
Some of us are afraid of a theologically robust Christianity that engages only our minds, because we’ve experienced the cold lovelessness from those who prefer arguing over adoring and debating over delighting. We naturally shrink back from those who weaponize theology. Christians who can articulate the doctrines of grace but lack graciousness—who understand the nuances of justification but have lives absent of joy—are, at best, confusing. At worst, they can cause great damage to their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Others of us are afraid of an experiential Christianity that engages only the emotions, because we’ve seen the damage that takes place when spiritual experience is separated from biblical literacy. We’re tired of hyped-up, talk-show Christianity that feels about as authentic as a laugh-track on a 90’s sitcom. We’ve seen the impotency of worshiping worship and having faith in faith. We want the truth, the real thing, the reality of God, as he has revealed himself through his word.
"We naturally shrink back from those who weaponize theology."
It’s time to leave our fears behind by seeing how we can have both—rather than having to choose between—the robust and the experiential. If right thinking is the hearth, then right experience is the flame. We need both.
Without the hearth, our spiritual experiences can run wild, leaving many burn-victims in their wake. Without the flame, our magnificent theology is cheapened into a nice decoration, sitting pointlessly and lifelessly in the corner of our lives. So we cannot settle for one without the other. The 13th-century preacher Anthony of Padua, who was entrusted with the theological instruction of the followers of Francis of Assisi, began each of his classes with the phrase, “Of what value is learning, that does not turn to love?” Our goal must always be both.
In one of the famous scenes of the popular TV show Friday Night Lights, Coach Taylor rallies his high school football team with what becomes the iconic motto of the show: “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”
Doesn’t this describe the kind of Christianity that deep down we all long for? Isn’t this both/and of head and heart exactly what Paul prays for when he writes from a prison cell, “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment” (Philippians 1:9)? Doesn’t Peter say the same thing? “Finally, all of you, have ... a tender heart, and a humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8). If this is normal Christianity, why should we settle for anything less? Here’s some good news: we don’t have to choose between theological precision and white-hot passion. God wants us to reject both dead orthodoxy as well as passionate ignorance.
Clear eyes. Full heart. Can’t lose.
Right thinking. Right feeling.
That is what we are made for: Truth that’s on fire.
This article is an excerpt from Truth on Fire. In the book, Adam Ramsey invites readers to engage both their minds and their emotions in their walk with God as they gaze at him until their hearts sing.
Adam Ramsey leads Liberti Church on the Gold Coast, Australia and also serves as the director for Acts 29 Asia Pacific. The author of several books, including Truth on Fire and Truly, Truly, I Say to You, his favourite parts of life include being married to Kristina, making memories with their five kids, and preaching good news. Adam is quite serious about joy and an avid practitioner of laughter.
