The Chaos of Concupiscence

one

Emotional Distress

a.  Why don’t we feel good? In fact, why do so many of us feel so bad so much of the time?

                                         i.    Why is it that we get so stressed out?

                                       ii.    So anxious?

                                      iii.    So depressed?

                                     iv.    Why do we get so angry that sometimes at the end of the day we’re simply exhausted from pure anger?

b.  This can’t be how we’re supposed to live. This can’t be what God wants for us.

                                         i.    But how does it happen?

                                       ii.    How is it that we feel so badly so often?

two

The Disorder of the Passions

a.  Getting to the root of the problem means looking at what are traditionally called “passions,” which are basically the same as our feelings or emotions.

b.  These passions exist as a kind of propulsion system in the soul

                                         i.    They’re like little bursts of psychological energy, that generally get us to move, prompt us in a certain direction.

c.   But here’s the problem – what if they pull you in the wrong direction? What if those bursts of energy are heading towards something you know is evil, something you know won’t make you happy?

                                         i.    What if your strongest feelings have to do with what other people think of you? Or making money? Or sexual gratification?

                                       ii.    What if your deepest fear is the fear of missing out, or the fear that you’ve lost your opportunity for a full and rich life?

                                      iii.    What if the dominant feeling you have for the members of your own family, or even for God Himself, is boredom and distaste?

d.  Well, then you are in trouble. And the truth is, most of us are in this kind of trouble. Most of us are unhappy because we feel the wrong way about things.

three

The chaos of concupiscence

a.  “concupiscence” is a fancy theological word

                                         i.    What it means is that, because of the damaged humanity we’ve all inherited from Adam and Eve, our emotional life is a mess.

1.  Our desires, our urges, our emotions, are constantly pulling us towards the wrong thing – and because there are all kinds of wrong things, our passions are also pulling us in conflicting directions.

a.  That’s why we’re stressed out. It’s why we’re exhausted.

b.  Imagine getting onto a carriage drawn by six horses. You’re supposed to be the driver. So you grab the reins, and you try to steer the horses to the path that will take you home.

                                         i.    But instead of the horses all moving together in the right direction, they all go in different wrong directions.

1.  And they all get tangled up. And you’re just there, holding the reins, not making any progress – you’re just there, frustrated and worn out.

c.   That, right there, is the experience of having an emotional life that is disordered and disorganized. That is the experience of concupiscence.

four

There are right ways to feel

a.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.

b.  Our emotional life can be an asset, not a loss.

                                         i.    Our feelings, our passions, can enhance our life, not diminish it.

                                       ii.    They were meant to be a feature, not a bug, in human existence.

c.   But for that to happen, we have to take charge of our own feelings, and recalibrate them, discipline them, and drive them towards that truth and goodness which finds its ultimate foundation in God.

                                         i.    This is the process of virtue, and it isn’t easy – but when you attain it, you will have that perfect combination of passion and peace.

1.  And that combination is the essence of human happiness.

five

Christ and Ordered Passion

a.  There are a variety of techniques for forming the passions, for harmonizing our inner emotional impulses, and many of those techniques are very effective.

b.  But all the methods of controlling and harnessing the emotions are secondary – the first step always has to be recognizing the final goal: unity with Jesus.

                                         i.    That’s home. That’s the destiny. That’s what should be the standard for our feelings.

1.  Do our emotions lead us closer to the Lord? Then we encourage them, delight in them, allow ourselves to experience them fully.

2.  Do our emotions pull us away from the Lord and towards sin, selfishness, and pleasures that we know aren’t sustainable?

a.  These are pleasures to resist and reform.

c.   Once we know the standard for right feeling, once we know the ultimate goal of our emotional life

                                         i.    Then we can begin to cultivate a life of passion with and for Christ.