Back in the summer, Disney’s Pixar Studios hit yet another home run with the film Inside Out. The film enters the mind of eleven-year-old Riley, and personifies five dominant emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. The five characters in Riley’s head, led by Joy, man a control panel that guides her through life, forming memories, the strongest of which form islands of personality that define Riley (silliness, hockey, friendship, and family). The movie is entertaining and inspiring, and seeks to engage us all in a way that will change us. After watching, you likely will not witness a temper tantrum or tear-filled meltdown in the same way again. The writers and animators do an excellent job exposing and making us all feel the absurd, but real tensions inside the human heart. Chris and I both, after watching the film, thought it would be a good idea to reflect on the whole idea of human emotion from a biblical standpoint.
Inside Out deals with only with five emotions (which is one of the problems with the film, but that’s another discussion). There are many more emotions in life, but researchers have basically boiled them down into eight categories—anger, sadness, fear, joy, disgust, surprise, shame and love. Almost everything we feel in life can be categorized into one of those eight. Over the next four weeks, Chris and I will take a biblical look at only four, and we start this morning with the emotion of joy.
Let’s admit, right up front, that we are emotional creatures. We are made in the image of God, and that means we are made to feel. God feels, and Jesus had emotions. Take a quick look at John Chapter 11, and you’ll see that Jesus expressed a myriad of emotions in a very short period of time. When Jesus’ friend Lazarus died, we can read of Jesus expressing anger and sadness, but at the same time, giving praise to God. Emotions are real and they make us feel certain ways. Having emotions and being an emotional person is not the problem. How we deal with those emotions is what matters. Emotions can be confusing and overwhelming, but as disciples of Jesus Christ, even our emotions need to reflect our discipleship.
In the film, the first emotion born in Riley is joy, and we find joy frantically trying to micromanage all the other emotions so that everyone and everything remains calm and happy. Of course, we soon see the problem with trying to make everyone happy when Riley’s world is turned upside down by a move from the simple, comfortable life of rural Minnesota to the hectic urban life of San Francisco. That move causes an emotional upheaval, and it reflects the reality that life can cause us to crash into some stormy waves of our own.
I find it interesting that the writers and producers ground Riley’s life in joy but leaves it rootless. The joy is real, and even mature, but it’s not safe or reliable. It’s not made or even expected to last the stormy waves that will crash into our lives. When one island of personality falls — whether silliness or hockey or friendship — we’ll start building another. Pixar beautifully illustrates the problem, but doesn’t present a satisfying solution. Joy, in the film, is almost Pollyanna. Sometimes, we make it that way in our lives, too. Our joy is not rooted in anything outside the circumstances of our lives, and that’s why it’s so easily lost. We’ve created this Pollyanna world where everything is supposed to be perfect and happy, and when it’s not our lives fall apart.
Joy is supposed to be different, though. I suppose we must first understand what joy is, and what it is not. If we think joy is feeling happy all the time (which is the world’s definition), we’ll always live with confusion. But, if we understand that joy is grounded in something other than circumstances, we’ll respond to life with greater emotional intelligence. Actually, Daniel Goleman argues in his book Emotional Intelligence, that how we deal with emotions is the greatest determination of success in life—greater even than being the smartest kid in the class.
Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation. That’s why the Apostle Paul could instruct the Philippians to rejoice. Rejoicing is rooted in joy. Paul believed it so much he repeated the admonition—rejoice! As disciples, our lives are rooted in joy. Joy is the core emotion of disciple’s life. Let me use the Pixar imagery…joy is supposed to be at the control panel. The other emotions are present, for sure, and each has its own place, but joy is our driver.
How do we make joy the driver of our emotional life? First, tell God what we’re feeling. Prayer is key. So often, I’ve had people tell me they didn’t know how to pray, or what to pray for. Well, when you don’t know what to pray for, how about starting with telling God how you feel. “Lord, I feel angry today because…” “Oh, God, I feel lonely today…” “My Lord, I’m so disgusted by…” That’s Paul’s advice to the Philippians: “Pray about everything and tell God what you need.” Here’s a revelation for you—you’re not going to surprise God. God already knows what you’re feeling. To tell God is to surrender those feelings to Him.
Second, identify the source of the emotions. Why am I angry? Why am I disgusted? Why am I worried? Why am I sad? I love what the Psalmist says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23 – 24). When we identify the source of our emotions, we can validate them or invalidate them. While every emotion is real, not every emotion is valid.
One reason for that is because emotions are often unreliable and can be manipulated. That’s why advertising is so effective. Advertisers tug on our emotions to get us to act or react in certain ways, and the emotions we feel are subject to the same power of sin as the rest of God’s creation. One way to look at emotions are as indicator lights on the dashboard of a car. When a light comes on, it indicates something needs checking. Emotions are an indication of what’s going on inside of us. We may be feeling angry, but we may not be justified in feeling angry. We may be feeling disgust, but disgust may not be the appropriate feeling for the situation. We need to check the emotion. Like my check engine light in my truck. It comes on, and it may indicate that my fuel is burning a rich mixture, meaning it’s getting too much oxygen. That’s not a big problem, but left unattended to, it will eventually lead to my exhaust emitting a rancid odor, and if still not addressed, will eventually clog up my converter causing a major and expensive problem. I use that illustration to say we need to check the emotions we’re feeling to see what they might be indicating in our lives.
Third, we need to surround ourselves with godly support. We need people in our lives to help us through the tough times of life, and we don’t just need people who are going to sing to us “Put on a Happy Face.” The worst place we can be when we’re afraid, or worried, or angry is all alone. When our emotions are running rampant, it’s difficult to have perspective on what is right and true, and yet that’s exactly what Paul is telling us to focus on. He could say that because he encouraged the Philippians to watch him, learn from him. He was their mentor. We need mentors in faith. We need friends in faith. The disciple’s life is not meant to be lived alone. Go all the way back to Genesis 2:18 where God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” The wisdom writer of Ecclesiastes understood this notion, too:
Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one;
they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls,
the other can reach out and help. But people who are
alone when they fall are in real trouble. (Eccl. 4: 9 – 10)
Kay Warren, wife of Rev. Rick Warren, has a unique perspective on joy. She says life is more like train tracks than hills and valleys. Every day, wonderful, good things happen that bring pleasure and contentment and beauty to us. At the same time, painful things happen that disappoint, hurt, or fill us with sorrow. These two tracks run parallel to each other every single moment of our life. That’s why, when we’re in the midst of an amazing experience, we have a nagging realization that it’s not perfect. And while we’re experiencing something painful, there’s the glorious realization that there is still beauty and loveliness to be found. That, my friends, is joy! That, my friends, is peace…the peace that passes all understanding…and it’s ours through Jesus Christ.
