Lighthouse
Renewal Center © 2003
TWO KINDS OF LOGIC
Many disagreements could be avoided, or
at least dealt with in a charitable way, if people only realized that there are
two important kinds of logic—head logic and heart logic.
The head logic folk place a high value
on what is “intellectually logical.” For them, what satisfies the
reasoning power of the mind is right: The truths in scripture, hard facts,
the law, company policy—all are respected and defended. They have the lawyer
and police officer mentality. To do what is right is to apply the
conclusions of the mind honestly, exactly, and without compromise. The
reasoning process determines one’s decisions. People may be hurt in the
process, but what is right is right.
The heart logic people value persons
and what happens to them more than what the cold facts seem to demand. For
them, the cold facts, while accepted and respected, are not the only facts that
need to be considered. What will happen to the people affected is a higher
value than what will happen to an inanimate object like the state or a
corporation. What is “right” is tempered by what happens to people.
The head people call the heart people
illogical, emotional, impractical, controlled only by feelings, head in the
clouds. The heart people call the head people heartless, cold,
insensitive, unloving, uncaring....
Head logic is logic. And
heart logic is logic. Both logics are important. Each can and must
learn from the other.
A good leader with a pastoral heart is
one who is solidly anchored in the truths of head logic, but in applying the
truths has a heart. There is genuine concern for the person. There
are no razor sharp edges that only cut. Neither are there blunt surfaces
that crush a person. It is not a question of watering down the
truth or eliminating the pain, but “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we
are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” (Eph
4:15)
Two prayerful persons. One a head
logic person with a deep respect for heart values; the other a heart person with
an openness to the truths nestled in the head logic. Two prayerful persons
who act pastorally only when they are of one mind and one heart. What a
joy. What a blessed pastoral team!
**************************
Feb. 05