Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings!

Do you remember that old song, "Feelings"?  It begins with "Feelings, nothing more than feelings..." and continues on about a lost love.  The first line of the song actually speaks a truth that can easily be lost in all the "feelings."  The "jilted" lover is saying that his "love interest" is gone and "nothing more than feelings" is all he is left with.  The reality is over and all that remains are the feelings.

Friends, God built us with feelings, but we are not to live by our feelings.  You ever felt like punching someone?  You ever felt like telling someone off?  You ever felt like quitting your job and sleeping till noon every day?  We've all felt like doing these things...but we refrained from doing them...why?  Because we don't live by our feelings...we live by truth.  This brings me to my subject.  The church is not to live by feelings, but by truth.  The modern church of our day finds herself focusing on feelings over truth much of the time.  Church members living in open immorality are not confronted for fear of hurting their feelings and possibly leaving the church.  Certain topics in scripture are never preached on for fear of upsetting feelings and losing members (topics such as hell, giving, sacrifice, lordship, faithfulness to name a few).  Biblical doctrine (truth) is cast aside and replaced with experiences that make us feel excited or "close" to God.  Truth has given way to personal experience and feelings have become the gauge to determine whether something is "spiritual" or not.  If I "feel" it, it must be real.  If I don't "feel" it, it is unimportant and irrelevant.  So....the church spends her time trying to create "experiences" for her congregants so that they will be satisfied and "feel" good about the church (and keep coming and giving!)  On any given Sunday, today's church presents anything from a "Christianized" rock concert to a "free for all" with people lying in the aisles, laughing for hours on end. Even in the more doctrinally conservative churches, many have resorted to pragmatism...whatever works to get people in.  Survey's are given, asking church members what they "want" in a service or what they "want" in a pastor or staff person.  Wouldn't a better question be...what does God want in our services?  What does God want in a pastor or staff person.  Do you see the difference?  The church must not operate on feelings, but on truth.  Scripture says that the fear of man brings a snare...and it will every time.  Don't be too quick to trust your feelings, put your trust in the truth...called the Bible!