Questions for the head and the heart

The head and the heart - not always in sync. The head thinks one thing but the heart assumes another. It is a common struggle we all face. Leaders that have integrity have less conflict between their head and heart. Leaders that create followers with integrity must help them resolve conflicts between what they say they believe and what actually influences how they think, feel, and act. Transformation occurs when the heart's messages to the soul matches up with what the head has learned is right.

Psychologists would call the conflict between the head and heart cognitive dissonance. There are significant consequences of dissonance not resolved appropriately, such as abandoning head knowledge or contaminating it to fit what's actually believed in the heart. For Christians this is a particular risk. Often proper doctrine and theology is learned only to be contradicted by human nature inherited from Adam. RC Sproul reminds us "the entire human person, including all of our faculties, was ravaged by the corruption of human nature."

Unless a spotlight is shed on the implicit assumptions of human nature that "war against" what we learn from God's Word, Christians struggle to have "the mind of Christ" inform their thoughts, feelings and actions.

It seems this is what Paul tells us in Romans 7, the iconic cognitive dissonance passage, and Romans 12, "be transformed by renewing the mind."

Sean McDowell recently blogged about the types of questions that lead to transformation. Effective questions for transformation are those that are not quickly answered, are somewhat unexpected and lead us into new territories of thought. Here are just a few specific questions leaders can ask young Christians who are seeking to discover a heart that matches what they have learned from parents, teachers, and church during their formative years.

1.  How can you depend on evidence you cannot see (faith) in a world that values only science to determine what is true?

2.  Does something seem right to you as long as it is fair?

3.  Why are you concerned about rewards and punishment when you have been given unmerited favor?

4.  Why do you protect the status quo when God has invited you to change?

5.  Can you explain how sovereignty actually works?

6.  How can you be humble and get your feelings hurt at the same time?

7.  What makes anything "good"?
  
Laying beneath each of these questions are subtle influences of human nature that cause us to feel differently than we think. "Walking in the flesh" vs "walking in the Spirit" is not a question of salvation, but one of quality of life and testimony for a Christian. Its the difference between a life where the heart matches the head or not. Its light or darkness. Its about pondering questions that lead to transformation.

Blessed is the power of plowing ground with the Spirit by asking the right questions .....