During my undergraduate years a theology professor asked our class a question that has had a profound effect on my understanding and perception on the Christian life. The impact was not anything overtly intellectual but rather revealed in me a frailty to my disposition toward God. It drew out within me a fallacy that was buried deep down inside my subconscience and conveyed an idolatrous notion to my existence. My answer to this question exposed my false exertion in living an autonomous life outside of God. It placed front and center my attempt to be my own savior, my own righteousness, my own standard. My professor's question brought me to realize that error is evasively subtle. That morning my professor invited the class to ponder upon what kind of life we would lead if God was not real? If we were free from the existence of God how different would our lives be? What would life look like without God? What would we strive after? What would be the purpose to our endeavors?
Upon the question being asked the floodgates of hedonistic pursuits came crashing into my depraved mind as I considered a life without God. I selfishly conceived of a life centered on my wants, my desires, and my needs. Yeah, I'd still be moral. I wouldn't be raping and pillaging villages nor would I being rampaging through the city in a blood thirsty streak seeking and destroying. I wouldn't be stealing nor would I be cheating (excessively). I would, I thought, just do life my way.
The moment of enlightenment came when the professor concluded that there was a false dichotomy in our thinking — yes, because the entire class had come to the same conclusion as I did. We had separated the reality of life and the reality of God. We didn't realize that without God there is not such thing as life. He is life (John 14:6)! It didn't cross my mind to think that "[in] Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). Simply put, without God there would be no us!
A Matter of the Heart:
Another dichotomy, false as it may be, runs pervasively throughout our society and has sprouted its seeds within evangelicalism. Christians have built into their thinking a false dichotomy between action and heart. Christianity has been boiled down to a mere affection toward a transcendent being that does not transform nor intervene into daily life. This is evident by sayings such as "God knows your heart" or "God looks at the heart." These types of sayings assume that my actions are detached from my heart. It suspects that God has no concerns over the actions of my life as long as I had great intentions. Hence a false dichotomy!
In a society that has severed the two topics, let us take a look at the biblical scope and see how we are to understand the usage of heart and action.
A Transformed Heart Transforms Action:
According to the bible the heart is not merely a part of who we are, but rather is the centerpiece of our existence. Proverbs 4:23 warns us to "[keep] your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." The heart is the control center for the person. Therefore, the heart is the central place where authentic transformation occurs. Romans 10:9-10 conveys that "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Notice that when the heart believes the mouth confesses. The heart impacts the movement of action.
It must be noted that many of the writings within the New Testaments are filled with commandments. These commandments are linked as a proper response to heart filled conversion. Paul writes, "[be] kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephe. 4:32). The Apostle Paul presupposes that the heart has believed and the mouth has confessed; therefore, the commandment to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving flows from the regenerate heart. The Apostle Peter exhorts the community of saints to "make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue" (2 Peter 1:5). Gospel virtue is contingent upon Gospel faith. The heart impacts the action. Our Actions Reveal Our Heart:
Not only does the heart impact the action but the action reveals the setting of the heart. The action become the fruit to which we can become aware of the internal health of an individual. Jesus taught us that "out of the heart of man, comes evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person" (Mark 7:21-22). The actions of an individual can become a lens into the nature and health of the person's heart.
Jesus addressed this issue with many of His accusers, in particular, the Pharisees. Jesus questioned the Pharisees' genuineness of love toward God because their actions toward Him and others demonstrated that they truly lacked what they professed to carry. Jesus would describe them as "whitewashed tombs" (Matt. 23:27). He went on to describe the Pharisees as "[cleansing] the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you" (Luke 11:39-41). Their actions revealed that the Pharisees were not sons of Abraham, but rather sons of Satan who accomplishes the desire and will of him (John 8:44).
Healthy Understanding Leads to Healthy Living:
The tension of holding heart and action together must be understood in light of the Gospel of the work and person of Jesus Christ. Action without heart-change via the Gospel will revert in an attempt to be one's own savior, while heart without action will put into question the genuineness of regenerate faith. Yet when heart is coupled with action through Gospel power, the newness found in Christ will lead to a life that will bring honor and glory to the one true God.The Gospel is the means to align our depraved hearts to an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. The work of the Son and the seal of the Spirit moves us toward God's creative design for human life and the establishment of His Kingdom. By His Spirit we have access to the renewal of mind and the transformation of new life (Rom. 12:2). Only then will our journey in sanctification be wholly embraced and biblically true.
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McYoung Yang is the husband to Debbie Yang and the father to McCayden (7), McCoy (6), McColsen (4), and DeYoung (6 months). He graduated from Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, MN with a Youth Ministry degree and has served as a Youth Pastor in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota for over 8 years. He is currently studying at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY for his Masters of Divinity. He hopes to use his training to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens.
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