FORUM
Join the conversation with worshippers across the globe
Praise Vs Emotion
Started by Frank on 20 August 2008 - 12:01am
| 20 August 2008 - 12:01am | |
 |
I remember hearing a Christian colleague of mine once saying that the big events are basically emotional hype - OK people relate to God in whatever way but a lot of it is just hype e.g. the screaming, the falling over etc. As it's the festival season and tomorrow I pack bags for Momentum, I wanted to share my thoughts, questions, and start a discussion on the matter. I can assure you now, the following body of text will not make great amounts of sense as I'm going to type it - read it once and then hit submit but please do contribute, I'd love to know other peoples views. Now, I can see where my colleague was coming from slightly although I wouldn't value his opinion too much - he's never actually attended any of the 'big events'! And I do think there are people who respond out of emotion, it's very difficult not to - you're in a hyped up atmosphere, everyone is praising God like mad, you're away from 'normal life' and therefore it gives you an aspect of emotional relief and so on. But then, surely a response to God, or an encounter with God, would lead to an emotion of sorts? OK so it might vary, you might tingle a bit, burst out in spontaneous laughter, crash to the floor - however it may be - it's almost impossible to tell, and the only person that can hold an informed view on whether or not it has been a God encounter is the person it's happened to - and even they won't be sure I expect! I was in my Grandpa's old study the other day and came across 'Reflections on the psalms' by C. S. Lewis - not sure if you have read it, but having flicked through it to random pages it seems brilliantly written and I look forward to sinking my teeth into it good and proper. In chapter 5 he talks about David not giving two hoots what anyone thinks of him and dancing like a madman in front of the Ark - he was just going all guns blazing, rejoicing in the Lord - fantastic stuff! He then talks about the difference between temples and synagogues. Personally, I relate to what Lewis writes - church (synagogues) can be slightly laborious places to go to in that it's often slightly repetitive and going through the motions. Like it or not, if you go to the same place week in week out, and the same people are doing the same things - there will be an element of repetition to it. But the temple is a place of devotion / sacrifice and a special place to go to. Therefore, it seems logical to me that spending four days fully focussing on my relationship with God, away from so many of the normal distractions, hanging out with some of my closest friends and camping in a Showground down the road form me, makes me feel like my life is in a better place and I'm more 'in-tune' with God, not because he has changed, but because I have - I find it an awesome place to be. Do I feel closer to God there, then when I'm alone in my room on a Tuesday night in February - absolutely I do. Lewis then writes how the Jews weren't logical people back then and that they wouldn't have been able to separate the emotion with the religious (or God encounter as I like to call it) element. He expands it in great detail, and it's fascinating so do go and read it, but that is the point that strikes me so much. Do we need to go to such great lengths to separate a person's experience in that place? And even if we did, is there a case for criticism? But by the same token, surely it is important that the focus remains God, and we only seek the encounter with him - if at the same time, we rejoice because we feel in a safe place spiritually for example, that very reason is because it's a God focussed place surely? Over to the forum... |
I think there is always going to be this kind of debate in contemporary worship. I am currently reading Ancient Future Worship by Robert Webber and he says that
"One way to personally worship is to simply delight in the story that worship does (i.e what worship tells us about God) The delight of worship is not "That was a great program today" "I loved the music today" "What an entertaining sermon" "I really felt like I was worshipping today"
These descriptions ultimately are a delight in self as if "I did it, I broke through, I really worshipped" Worship that generates that kind of response is not worship. True worship generates the sense of "I cant believe that god would do that for the world and me" "What a God to become human and restore all things through Christ"
THEN THIS IS THE BIT THAT ADDRESSES YOUR POINT>>
For some people the truth declared in Worship will be received with exuberance; for others the truth of God's story will be received with reserve, a quiet sense of joy, or even relief.But with us all, a worship that does God's story should result in a delight that produces participation.
Because God is the subject who acts upon me in Worship, my participation is not reduced to verbal responses or to singing, but it is living in the pattern of the one who is revealed in Worship.
I can see your point and it is definitely an issue that I struggle with a lot, but I think it is important to remember that we are fallen, therefore our worship is perhaps never going to be "perfect" ie. there will always be some unhelpful "emotion" involved.
Also, remember that "worship" is not just singing or praying or being at church or "big events." Worship should be our entire lives, or perhaps more accurately, our entire lives should be worship. So that would mean that God wants our emotion: our joy, our delight , our praise, and perhaps even our silliness. So really, we can still be "worshipping" when we are being emotional.
However, it becomes a problem if our emotion becomes a distraction from other types worship - dedication, focus etc. So really, in my opinion, the thing we need to look out for is if we start only going to church or singing songs or going to "big events" to get "that warm fuzzy feeling," when really this is just a small (probably the smallest) branch of worship, and we should be striving to encounter God in every aspect of our daily lives.
Hope that makes some sense, good point to raise,
DAN
Anyone every thought that maybe God likes a bit of hype? After all he is God, maybe he deservs Hype??
I think that SOMETIMES, Satan tries to make us feel guilty about enjoying God, enjoying his presence and enjoying the emotional. (Although there are always exceptions where it is ALL hype). But surely God created emotion for our enjoyment, If the emotion is sparked from praising God then all the better. Do you think heaven will have Jesus Patrolling around and "Hype reduction Patrol"....NO, the bible describes it as a banquet, a party and yes that does mean fun and (dare I say it) emotion.
Lets stop feeling guity about enjoying God, Do a couple of tests first...is the organisation running the event God centred? Are the musiicians God centred? Have all ego's been left off the stage? If you can answer yes to these questions then my suggestion is to go and enjoy yourself! Enjoy the high energy praise...worship God and give him all the hype he flipping well deserves!!
[WWJD] what would Jesus Do? Sit in the corner refusing to get caught up in the Hype?? Some how I think not.
---------------------------------------------------
Worsh-er,
---------------------------------------------------
I also feel that emotion has received an unfair evaluation. It seems that a popular consensus is that you worship with your head first and then your heart, because the heart is deceitful. Yet a heart full of Gods wondrous emotion is one of the greatest evidences for the mind. Without emotional responses to God Christianity is one of the most depressing and empty religions. I’d even argue that if you feel nothing in your worship then you are not worshiping at all; or you need to seriously evaluate where you stand with God.
There is an extreme end to emotional expression that causes a lot of mixed opinions on the matter. I personally have witnessed some bizarre emotional demonstrations on TV, or in first hand experiences. After some consideration I don’t think the nature of the worship matters if the motives come from the right place, and if it reacts to the established truths that the Church has stood on for hundreds of years.
That being said, I’d quickly condemn any situation that may try to use emotion to prey on others and cause them emotional, physical and spiritual harm.