Head & Heart

Focus Statement

Faith in Jesus is not either head or heart.

It is both, together —

understanding and experience,

wisdom and compassion.

Point of Relation

John Wesley knew the Scriptures.

He knew theology.

He had the head part down.

But for years his faith felt like it had no pulse, no fire.

Then, one evening on Aldersgate Street, he went unwillingly to a society meeting.

Someone read from Luther’s preface to Romans,

and suddenly the gospel leapt off the page and into his chest.

He wrote that his heart was “strangely warmed.”

The head and the heart came together,

and he knew Christ’s love not just as an idea but as a living reality.

Wesley’s story is not so different from ours.

Some of us know the words but struggle to feel them.

Others feel deeply but can’t quite anchor what they feel.

His story tells us what it means to bring head

and heart together in faith.

Things to Consider

Some of us meet God best through study, others through music, prayer, or service.

Too often we pit these ways against each other.

But Jesus calls us to love with heart, soul, mind, and strength —

not one alone, but all together.

Split apart, faith grows brittle or burns out.

Held together, it comes alive.

What Scripture Says

When Jesus was asked what mattered most,

he answered with the Shema:

love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

Not a slice of yourself, but the whole.

And then he added, love your neighbor as yourself.

We hear that call again in Acts,

when Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch on the wilderness road.

The eunuch wrestled with the words of Isaiah,

his mind searching, his heart yearning.

Philip brought knowledge of Jesus,

but also listened to the Spirit’s prompting.

Together, head and heart opened the way for baptism,

and the eunuch went on his way rejoicing.

The good news is clear:

God wants all of us, and God meets all of us —

the thinking and the feeling, the seeking and the rejoicing.

What This Means for You

Maybe you lean on your head.

Maybe you lead with your heart.

God meets you where you are —

and invites you to more.

Friends, faith is not either/or.

It is giving all of yourself

to the God who already loves all of you.

So why hide?

What This Means For Us

As a church, we need both.

We need thinkers who study deeply,

and we need hearts that love freely.

Around the table at our community dinner,

in Esther’s Circle,

even in the quiet work of the knitting group,

head and heart meet in service.

When we bring the fullness of who we are together,

God uses us to bless our neighbors and reveal Christ’s love.

Amen? Amen.

Written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI).