This study has been interesting for me personally because, I got to tell 3 different and unique stories about the same war. The difference was just which part of the human operating system, soul, mind, whatever you wish to call it, I focused on. On a side note, a ministry that is wanting to genuinely help people learn of God and surrender to God in one of these 3 areas is not to be condemned or torn down, but to be encouraged, and maybe encouraged to broaden, and encompass what they are missing, but not condemned or slandered.
There are times when people who love the intellectual aspect of all this abuse those who love the emotional, who then abuse those who love the will, who then abuse the intellects and so the cycle goes. This must stop, it is damaging in two distinct ways. 1. By doing this, your are discounting, and maybe even writing off, what up to a third of God's disciples bring to the kingdom and 2. You are putting your pet angle of the three up on a pedestal, and God forbid, maybe even worshipping it and thereby making a religion out of it.
Intellectuals might value things like: Seminary, Bible School, College degrees in counseling or Bible. They might disdain anyone, or shut anyone out who does not have certification or some proof of knowledge in any one of these areas. It might not matter to them how wise or profound such a person might be, or what wisdom they would have to offer. They shut them out and refuse to learn more of God because the intellect is most important. To such people, I tend to want to ask them as they know everything that they would please stay out of the way of those who are just willing to do stuff. At the end of the day, when spending time in the presence of God, the finer pinch points of disagreement between Arminianism and Calvinism tend to no longer matter. With all that said, intellect is a wonderful thing, it just needs to be surrendered.
Emotionalists (New word I made, you like it?) want to feel God. They want to feel good, they tend to like spiritual gifts, and music, They tend to love prophecy, healing, and tongues. With all that, people who are not gifted in these areas tend to get scoffed at or dismissed. Especially it seems to me, the quiet servants, who sweep floors, and wash windows for the church buildings or homes that the emotionalists like to emote in. Emotionalists tend to believe that prophecy, healing, and tongues are somehow better than serving and caring. It seems to them like just praying for a headache is better than praying for it and offering the person a pain killer. Once again, all these gifts are good, and emotionalists are incredibly valuable, it's just that the emotions are to be surrendered, and not used to worship good things that feel good.
Willsonites (No, not the sunglasses.) tend to want to serve God. They value virtues like, honesty, and discipline. Willsonites tend to look down on, and judge people who struggle with some of the harder truths. Willsonites often times have solid biblical roots for their rules, and yet to many of them have emphasized and valued the rule so much they no longer remember the root and have drifted off it. When it comes down to it, Willsonites often start from a good place, doing things God's way is right, for God is right, like the idea that those who work, eat, but Willsonites tend to struggle with valuing the work more than God. You should never be so busy doing things for God that you don't acknowledge or talk with him. When a Willsonite prays, it is to often a monologue with bullet points, rather than a heart felt conversation or pouring out to God. It all comes down to surrender, surrender that will, discipline and all to God and let him run it, and use it for the things he wants to prioritize in the corner or the world he put you in.
This thing of surrender, is a common theme through out all this, here is why, God wants to renew your mind, so, to do that, all he really needs is your permission, He gave it to you, do you want to give it back? Do you want to give Him your Intellect? Your emotions? Your will? Or do you want to keep them? If you want to keep them, you may have your way, or the renewed way from God, your choice.
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