Big Brains and Bad Hearts

Big Brains and Bad Hearts

Big brains and good hearts: they do not necessarily go together.

I’m thinking here about the human brain, that neurological organ that is studied and continues to amaze. What are the limits of the human brain? And the heart? I am not thinking of the heart studied in cardiology. I am thinking rather of the Biblical heart, from which flow the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

By “big brain,” I mean smart people. They are people who use their brains to remember and to synthesize and to figure things out. They have a hunger to learn, and they want to know how things work. They want to be able to do what others do, whether to learn the art of juggling, or to design tall buildings. We know that the brain can develop strengths in many different directions, and that it can be a powerful tool. Oh, and it was created by God in man and woman, and it has served them well, though not as well as we would have liked.

A “good heart” is a bit of a puzzle. This is the heart that the surgeons cannot find when they open your chest. It is the center of your being, and is immaterial. Your heart is the real “you.” It shapes how you think and how you act and react. Your spiritual heart causes you to see yourself in a certain way, and to see the world in a certain way. Your most noble thoughts and actions arise from your heart. So do those thoughts and attitudes and words and actions over which you are most ashamed (or, should be)

Would it make sense that those with the biggest brains would also have the best hearts? It is a pleasant fantasy, and yet it is not necessarily so. There are brilliant people who have very dark hearts. There are very simple people who seem to have hearts that are unusually sincere and pure. Neither does it work in reverse. A person with a good heart does not immediately become “brainy.”

In redemption, that plan of God to bring about the recovery of this fallen world, and humans in particular, – where does God begin? Does He begin with the brain, or the heart? You may know the answer, and yes, it is the heart. In theology, it is called regeneration,and Jeremiah and Ezekiel describe this “heart change” in metaphorical terms (since, after all, we are speaking of things spiritual, not physical). Jesus describes it as being born from above, or being born again. But it doesn’t start with the brain. It starts with God’s attention to our heart.

So once the heart is cured, why does it not spread to the brain? Oh, it will, in measure, over time, if one follows the Word and the Spirit. But these brains of ours are going to be distorted to one degree or another until the renewal of all things, when Jesus comes again. In fact, the more we depend on our brains without coming to terms with their deficiencies, the more likely we will be given over to pride and a kind of certitude that refuses to admit that one is wrong.

Well, at least we have whole hearts, right? No, even there we find that our hearts are “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” Our hearts are gradually being discipled even as we remain anchored to Jesus, seeking to learn from Him, in dependence upon the Word and the Spirit. Welcome to life in a fallen world. Big Brains. Bad Hearts. And a few who are on the road to restoration.