A scripture I continually come back to in thinking on worship is John 4:24. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Can you do one without the other?
Can you worship with truth and no emotion?
Can you worship with emotion and no truth?
I don't believe so. And if you could, it wouldn't be very meaningful. Let's consider...
Worship with emotion and no truth.
Trying to worship with emotion and no truth is like a Grateful Dead concert. People (they were called "Deadheads") were very enraptured by the atmosphere, a frenzy of feelings being tossed about, yet not tied to the Source of Truth. Drummer Mickey Hart says this of their concerts: "For many Deadheads, the band was a medium that facilitated experiencing other planes of consciousness and tapping into deep, spiritual wells that were usually the province of organized religion. They got people high whether those people were on drugs or not." (reference) Sound like a type of worship to me. Yet not truly meaningful in an eternal life giving way.
Admittedly, I've never been to a Grateful Dead concert. Yet I've read much about them due to the nature of the concerts which to many attenders have said felt like worship. But make no mistake. There was no Truth present in their concerts. There was no focus on the Creator of Truth. There was... death. In our churches, if we do not emphasize truth in our worship, we encourage shallowness. Perhaps even... death. Life is, of course, only found in Jesus (John 1:4), who is truth and life (John 14:6). Truth in our worship is two-fold. It must be truth as who you are as well as who God is. Truth is absolutely needed in our worship of God, the Creator of all truth.
Worship with truth and no emotion.
Have you ever read the Bible? It shows God is fulls of emotion. We are in fact created in the image of God and we are very emotional beings. Not experiencing emotions in our worship means shutting off a big piece of who God created us to be. We all have emotions. To separate emotion from our time of worship, when we all feel emotion, is akin to lying in our worship. Lying about who we are. Which is not what God is asking for when reading John 4:24.
Truth without any emotion in our worship just produces dead belief... dead theology. It creates intellectual admirers without the heart or spirit God is looking for. Throughout scripture, God is looking for our hearts, not just our words. Jesus is angered by the religious elite in the gospels because they "serve" God through their intellect, yet have no heart connection with him. God does not simply want your mind, but all of your heart and soul (Mark 12:30). Emotion is absolutely needed in our worship of the God we are imaged after.
Emotion & truth.
We must have the truth present in our worship. We must have emotion present in our worship. God desires both. Our study of scriptures informs our praise with realization and understanding of who God is and his enormous love for us. Our expression of heart infuses our praise with reaction and expression regarding that understanding: contentment in his grace, brokenness from our sin, joy in our redemption, sorrow in our failings, thankfulness in our salvation.
Correct belief and deep emotions create true worship. Worship with both.
worship Him 24/7...
Scott
Can you do one without the other?
Can you worship with truth and no emotion?
Can you worship with emotion and no truth?
I don't believe so. And if you could, it wouldn't be very meaningful. Let's consider...
Worship with emotion and no truth.
Trying to worship with emotion and no truth is like a Grateful Dead concert. People (they were called "Deadheads") were very enraptured by the atmosphere, a frenzy of feelings being tossed about, yet not tied to the Source of Truth. Drummer Mickey Hart says this of their concerts: "For many Deadheads, the band was a medium that facilitated experiencing other planes of consciousness and tapping into deep, spiritual wells that were usually the province of organized religion. They got people high whether those people were on drugs or not." (reference) Sound like a type of worship to me. Yet not truly meaningful in an eternal life giving way.
Admittedly, I've never been to a Grateful Dead concert. Yet I've read much about them due to the nature of the concerts which to many attenders have said felt like worship. But make no mistake. There was no Truth present in their concerts. There was no focus on the Creator of Truth. There was... death. In our churches, if we do not emphasize truth in our worship, we encourage shallowness. Perhaps even... death. Life is, of course, only found in Jesus (John 1:4), who is truth and life (John 14:6). Truth in our worship is two-fold. It must be truth as who you are as well as who God is. Truth is absolutely needed in our worship of God, the Creator of all truth.
Worship with truth and no emotion.
Have you ever read the Bible? It shows God is fulls of emotion. We are in fact created in the image of God and we are very emotional beings. Not experiencing emotions in our worship means shutting off a big piece of who God created us to be. We all have emotions. To separate emotion from our time of worship, when we all feel emotion, is akin to lying in our worship. Lying about who we are. Which is not what God is asking for when reading John 4:24.
Truth without any emotion in our worship just produces dead belief... dead theology. It creates intellectual admirers without the heart or spirit God is looking for. Throughout scripture, God is looking for our hearts, not just our words. Jesus is angered by the religious elite in the gospels because they "serve" God through their intellect, yet have no heart connection with him. God does not simply want your mind, but all of your heart and soul (Mark 12:30). Emotion is absolutely needed in our worship of the God we are imaged after.
Emotion & truth.
We must have the truth present in our worship. We must have emotion present in our worship. God desires both. Our study of scriptures informs our praise with realization and understanding of who God is and his enormous love for us. Our expression of heart infuses our praise with reaction and expression regarding that understanding: contentment in his grace, brokenness from our sin, joy in our redemption, sorrow in our failings, thankfulness in our salvation.
Correct belief and deep emotions create true worship. Worship with both.
worship Him 24/7...
Scott