A recent Facebook post honored the work of Francis Schaeffer
and the wonderful gift God gave his church through this man and his ministry.
The post identified that there had been a gradual shift from the early years of
intellectual focus, to the later years of ministry to “emotionally needy
Christians.”
I have only benefited from Francis Schaeffer’s ministry
through his writing, and the two film series that introduced me to him in the
late 70’s (How Should We Then Live? Whatever Happened to the Human
Race?). However, in reading the comments to the post, I was troubled by a disparaging
remark that showed appreciation for the early years of intellectualism, but a
distaste for “holding the hands of emotionally needy Christians.”
I have witnessed so many heartbroken Christians experience
further hurt by the insensitivity and self-protection of the heartless,
stuck-in-left-brain, intellectualism of fellow believers that I felt (thought?)
it would be helpful to clarify that this whole “emotionally needy” side of God’s
children is equally important to the intellectual needs of people coming to Christ.
The fact that God created our immaterial being with heart,
soul, and mind, and our bodies with two quite different (but wonderfully
compatible) brain hemispheres, makes clear that God deals with us as whole
people, both intellect and emotions included on level ground.
While much could be said about the maturity of the apostle
Paul in both thinking and feeling at the same time, I would simply summarize by
quoting his God-inspired words, “Rejoice
with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). Admitting
to an inability to do the latter shows just as much need as the “emotionally needy Christians,” that are
missing out on the church’s impartial devotion to both sides of this
exhortation.
With all this in mind, I wrote a response to the post, hoping
to encourage anyone who would think that the left-brained, self-protective
declaration was somehow more scriptural than Francis Schaeffer’s example of
weeping with those who weep. Just in case you know what it is like to have
someone disparage your emotional needs, or you know someone who has experienced
greater hurt when they tried to share their hurts with the church, or you
sincerely believe that Jesus would not give any room for our emotional needs in
his church, please consider the following.
“I highly recommend
that you find Francis Schaeffer’s book of letters that were compiled after his
death (Letters of Francis Schaeffer). It appears that he could teach all of us
something about weeping with those who weep. He seemed to be able to relate to
people out of his heart, soul, mind, and both sides of his brain, all at the
same time.
“When I first began
dealing with people in the church who were faced with crippling memories of
abuse, I discovered that the church was exactly as described, unwilling to weep
with those who weep (hold the hands of the emotionally needy). I think that
Francis Schaeffer’s example, as expressed through his letters, might encourage
all of us to put off our self-protective stance, and open our hearts to bearing
one another’s burdens however those burdens come.
“I have only met
Francis Schaeffer through his books, and can only imagine what he was like to
those who came to him with their heartaches and sorrows. I suspect from the
letters that people came to him because he was a branch of the vine who made
them feel like they were coming to a man who was being conformed to the image
of Jesus from one degree of glory to another.
“I am sharing this
because a post that seemed aimed at honoring a man and his ministry (as we
ought), seems to be diminished by honoring a self-protective stance towards
God’s heartbroken children that was quite out of character from the man being
honored. If we look closely at why the shift from the intellectualism of the
early years, to the whole-person ministry of the later years, I suggest that we
have a testimony of a man becoming more like Jesus our Savior. People felt like
God was finally giving them the ministry they could not find in their churches
because people were not willing to leave their comfort-zones to bear such
burdens.
“Francis Schaeffer
obviously opened his heart to the emotional needs of the people who came to
him. And, he did this as one of the greatest thinkers God had given to his
church in the past generation. If such feeling made sense to him, perhaps there
is more to learn from a man whose legacy lives on, and still has so much to
teach.”
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures
are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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