Heart, Mind, & Strength

"What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God? Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone." - Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

In the summer of 2003 I got a tattoo. The tattoo is of a triangle interwoven through a cross (reminiscent of the emblem of the Christian Reformed Church). At the point at the top of the triangle is the word "dianoia", which is Greek for mind. At the point at the lower right is "kardia" (heart), and at the point in the lower left is "ischus" (strength). At the center of the cross is "psuche" (soul). The reference, of course, is Mark 12:30 - "And you shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all you soul with all your mind and with all your strength".

The significance for me at the time was that I had come to the realization that I must submit my whole life over to Christ. I must worship Christ with my studies, my emotions, and my body. Not only should I work towards making Chrsit the Lord of my mind, my heart, and my body, but I should also make every effort to have more to offer him by expanding my mind through studies, by opening up my heart emotionally, and by keeping my body healthy. The idea surfaced in my mind while I was reading Plato's Republic. It seemed to me that many of Plato's ideas concerning justice corresponded exactly with this verse. Furthermore, it seemed that God himself modeled this through the Trinity. God the Father is represented by the mind, it is His Will that is done on Heaven and on Earth. The Spirit is the heart, the will of the Father, the force that continues to drive us and inspire us towards obedience. The Son is strength, the Word become flesh, the example of perfect action and perfect holiness.

These past few months I've been thinking more about this and have come to another sort of realization. The Christian life is largely comprised of three things: right understanding, right attitude, and right action. As a Calvinist, I was raised heavily under the influence of right understanding. As is the case with most Protestants, we tend to get caught up in the idea that our salvation hinges on our ability to properly understand how it is we are saved. If we somehow miss a critical piece of doctrine, we are condemned to hell. However, James tells us that even the demons have a proper understanding of who God is, what is critical is their ATTITUDE toward him - they shudder. Having a right understanding is meaningless unless it produces a proper attitude and righteous actions.

While I believe that a right understanding will often lead to a right attitude, and a right attitude will often lead to right action, I have to remember that my understanding is limitted, and that ultimately God has called me to love Him and serve Him, not to understand Him. So, I always try to temper my theological studies with the following two questions: "How does this affect my attitude toward God?" and "What does this knowledge provoke me to DO?" The purpose of these two questions is to make sure that my imperfect understanding does not influence my attitude or my actions more than God's scriptural commands for my life.