It was such an honor to get to know Dr. Eric Johnson last month at the Mental Health & the Church Conference. Not only did I enjoy hearing him speak, but I enjoyed several conversations with him about life, ministry and soul care. The main focus of his talk was about the importance of the heart in the life of Christians and also how that trickles into our care for other people.
Psalm 62:8- “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before him. God is our refuge.”
When Scripture speaks about the heart, it’s not usually referring to our physical heart that beats in our chests, but it’s an imagery referring to our inner life – what’s happening deep in our soul. Other words such as spirit and mind are also often used to refer to this. Although the inner life is a bit mysterious, Dr. Johnson did such a great job explaining this.
Because this conference was geared more towards people who care for others in various ministry settings (counselors, pastors, chaplains, lay leaders, etc), his focus was on how being attuned to God through our hearts gives us the ability to be attuned to others.
Attunement means: The experience of one person knowing and feeling the experience of another.
Sometimes we use the word empathy to describe this, but it’s a similar concept. I’d like to share some quotes with you that I wrote down from his teaching, about being attuned to God to others so you can care for them well:
- Attunement is social, personal, emotional, neurological, felt and spiritual.
- Modern psychology is fixated on our minds, but the heart is where the action is. Focusing on the heart gets us out of our heads.
- Emotions come from the brain. The conscious, will, motive and desire come from the soul. When we regulate our emotions, they can get into our souls.
- God is always attuned to me, even when I’m not attuned to Him.
- God wants you to attune to Him, to open up and be present.
- Attunement is embodied, personal, psychological and therapeutic.
- You can’t have a cell phone in your hand and be in attunement.
- Our sin compromises the ability to attune. Without attunement, we fragment.
- Christian love pursues the other good. When in attunement to others, there is an effect by both parties and a joint intentional focus.
- When you attune to another, you are listening to their heart.
Thank you Jesus for always being attuned to me. Help me to be fully attuned to you, so I can then care for others from that overflow.
Matthew Weaver 