Complex Beings

We are complex beings. Jesus indicated as much when asked about the Greatest Commandment. The answer was first of all to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, secondly to live it out by loving others as ourselves. He even goes further by saying that everything is wrapped up in these two commandments. Luke 10:27.

I have some thoughts on this subject:

Our heart is the emotional part of our being.
Our soul is the motivational part of our being.
Our mind is the mental part of our being.

Our strength is the physical part of our being.

Everyone of us, whether we are Christ-followers or not, have the same complexity. We are emotional, we have an internal purpose that drives us, we are intellectual, and we are physical. What separates us from the world as Christ-followers is that our commitment to following God’s will is what motivates us in this life and the part that continues with us to heaven. In contrast, the unbeliever’s motivation is devoted to the ways of the world.

I don’t consider myself to be an intellectual Bible scholar. I have many friends and acquaintances who are educated way more than I am, and vastly surpass me in this area. But I am of the belief that God intended His Word to be simply understood by common people. He didn’t give us the Bible to trick us, nor did He expect us to be dependent on the intellectually elite to interpret it for us. In my opinion, the reformers in the 16th century addressed that error that existed back then. Admittedly there may be nuances that I’m missing, but I believe that Jesus identified the Greatest Commandment to be simply lived out by regular people whom He created with the multiple innate components of heart, soul, mind and physical (strength). 

Emotionally, we are able to express ourselves, which can be good or bad. We need to love God and others, and at the same time keep things like anger in check. The emotional part of us needs to love God with total devotion. 

It’s hard to wrap our minds around our “soul” part. There are varying views about it. To me, this is where we use our intent, motivation and passion to do what’s important to us. To love God with all my heart means a total and passionate devotion to His will.

The mental component is more than thoughts or knowledge. It is the part of us that intentionally focuses on thinking the right things. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think about such things .” It is important to fill our minds with the right stuff, but we all know how hard that is to do.

The physical part of us is obvious — maybe too obvious, because many people are obsessed with how they look, which usually ends up producing either a low self image or an inflated and vain image. The strength of our physical body, however, is what puts feet to the heart, soul, and mind. Whether we have much strength like some, or we are in a weakened state like others, we are to devote our physical energies to loving and serving God. Whatever we do, we do it to the glory of God.

We are complex beings for sure. We have multiple components. As finite human beings, none of us fulfill the Greatest Commandment perfectly. That doesn’t change the fact that we are children of the Most High God! Neither does it change the necessity to take care of our complex selves. We need to keep our emotions in check and we need to keep our motivation focused. We also need to care for our bodies.

The Body of Christ has not typically done well with people who have depression, addictions, anxiety, or any number of “mind” issues. I used to tell those who came to me for pastoral care specifically with these concerns — somewhat apologetic or embarrassed — that we don’t feel the same way about our physical issues. I would tell them if they had come to me with their intestines hanging out, they would go to the hospital ED immediately.  We would probably start the prayer chain. The church would not be judgmental. Why should we treat mental health any differently? God could heal both and sometimes does but not always. We take medicine for pain and drugs to control the parts of our body that are not functioning correctly. Why do we think medicine for our mental health should be any different? It’s not. 

So my concluding thoughts are these: We are not yet what we will become. So let’s strengthen our emotional and motivational devotion to God. And use our mental and physical strength to be all we can be to the glory of God. 

You and I are complex beings. Let’s take care of ourselves.