Of Clicks & Compasses

23 September, 2026

“Be careful of people who focus on the truth.”

This was the lede for a social media post. And, seeing as I clicked the link, it worked.

Without going into too many details or giving additional audience to the account that shared the information, the short video shared the following:

·       Truth can be important to churches.

·       We should be focusing more on feelings.

·       After all, Jesus would never let truth get in the way of loving people.

If I may respond, point by point:

·       No. Truth must be important to the church

·       No. Our culture caters to emotion quite a bit already.

·       No. God’s truth defines His love.

I saw this riveting clip days after preaching Ezra 2 and 3. A better example of contrast I cannot imagine. In this passage, people were turned away from serving because they didn’t meet God’s standard. People worshipped God according to His word. People responded to God’s provision and holiness with authentic worship directed towards His name. Feelings weren’t a part of the equation. God’s truth was the ground beneath the returning exiles’ feet and the air in their lungs.

This passage does explicitly acknowledge feelings, though. The heights of joy and the depths of sorrow are poignantly described at the end of chapter 3. It would be foolish to say that the Bible doesn’t shy away from acknowledging human feelings, emotions, etc. But it does articulate quite clearly that God is the one who establishes the parameters of which heart postures honor Him and which do not.

Over and over again, God’s truth is positioned as true north for those looking to follow Him. We do not get to create moral compasses out of our experiences and feelings. The bearing given to us in scripture must be the point on the horizon to which our hearts are oriented. Here are some other examples from the Bible:

Psalm 42:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him, For the salvation of His presence.

Isaiah 35:4 Say to those with an anxious heart, “Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

2nd Corinthians 4:7-10 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; in every way afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

Each text illustrates how we, as humans created by God, have feelings. Each text also provides us with a compass bearing leading us to a right heart and a right mind. It is God and His salvation. Consider this final illustration:

Matthew 26:38-39 Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

The emotions Christ was feeling in the garden were beyond anything any other person will ever experience. However, His prayer was for the will of the Father to be done. His feelings were legitimate; grounded in the felt consequences of mankind’s sin, and finding their resolution in the truth of God’s good plan. His mind knew truth, and His heart was conformed to that truth.

Christians can’t deny that feelings matter. They are an essential part of who we are as people. But they, like every other part of us, have been negatively impacted by the fall. In our day and age, sentiments like “be careful of people who focus on the truth” steer us to prioritize the subjective (what happens in our hearts) over the objective (God’s revealed truth). The only way to find emotional fulfillment is by renewing our mind[1] according to a heart covered in God’s law[2].

[1] Romans 12:2

[2] Jeremiah 31:33