Emotionalism is defined as an "undue indulgence in or display of emotion." Emotionalism occurs when a person (or group of people) gives in to their emotions so much that their emotions override other facets of their being. Emotionalism is dangerous, and it is especially deadly to the church.
Emotionalism has been a danger to believers, since before the New Testament. Take a look at what happened in a worship service recorded in the book of Nehemiah in chapter 8: There was a day, when the priest Ezra stood before the people of Israel on a raised platform and read aloud the Book of the Law, the first five books of the Bible (5). Ezra began by praising the Lord, and all the Israelites listening raised their hands and worshiped the Lord (6). As Ezra and others chosen for the task read the Law, they strived to make what they were reading clear, "giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read," (8). As they read and worshiped, the Isrealites listening were weeping and grieving, but the governor Nehemiah stood up and told them, "This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep," (9). Nehemiah then said to the Isrealites, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength," (10). After this, those who had read the Law calmed all the people (11), and as the Isrealites ate delicious food and drink they began to "celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them," (12).
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| A depiction of the Isrealites' response to Ezra's reading of the Law |
This historical account illustrates a worship service where those listening gave themselves over to an undue indulgence or display of emotion (in this case, being consumed by grief and weeping uncontrollably). Their emotional state prevented them from understanding Scripture, even though those reading Scripture did what they could to make it clear. Because of this, those who read the Word of the Lord had to calm the people, while one of their leaders told them "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength,” (Nehemiah 8:10). When those listening began to respond with a right emotional response (rejoicing in the Lord), they were able to understand the Scriptures that had been read and explained. From this, we can see that unchecked emotions in a worship service can be dangerous. Their biggest danger is they can cause people to be unable to understand The Word of the Lord. In this way, unruly emotions distance people from the Holy Spirit, as it is the Holy Spirit who makes clear the true teachings of Scripture. The Holy Spirit guides all people who receive Him "into all the truth," (John 16:13). Anything that prevents Him from working in us who believe is something that can quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). When we hold onto things that stifle the Holy Spirit, we can grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30). We must not do such harm to God and so fail to love Him "with all [our] heart and with all [our] soul and with all [our] strength," (Deuteronomy 6:5). This is why the church must avoid emotionalism.
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| "Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord." (Psalm 134:1-2) |
The danger of emotionalism is present in any environment, especially the church. Consider the music we, as believers, sing in church. Indeed, believers are called to sing in the Lord's presence (Psalm 100:2). Even the disciples sang a hymn at the conclusion of their last supper with Jesus (Matthew 26:30). Singing in church is more than encouraged, but it must be done rightly, as with all things done unto the Lord. The songs we choose to sing carry emotional resonance (joyful songs make people happy, somber songs make people sad, etc.). The church needs to make sure the songs they sing are not chosen simply to make the people feel something. If a series of songs are chosen to make everyone singing happy all the time (never allowing for any other emotional display), then that church has a problem. They overlooked the example song book all believers have been given by God, the book of Psalms. In God's divinely inspired song book there are songs saying, "For You make me glad by Your deeds, LORD; I sing for joy at what Your hands have done," (Psalm 92:4) and also songs saying, "I say to God my Rock, 'Why have You forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?'” (Psalm 42:9). The songs believers sing should not forego the wide range of emotional resonance God's song book provides. When a church only sings songs for the purposes of expressing one emotional state, that church is near being caught in the snare of emotionalism.
Churches are filled with people who are hurting. Even the cream of the Christian crop struggle with deep wounds, painful heartbreak, and profound sin. Happy-clappy churches ignore this reality in order to create an environment that shouts, "Keep attending this church, and you won't have any problems." What a lie. What insensitivity. People are hurting and happy-clappy churches don't give them permission to be genuine.
- Todd Friel
Even if a church chooses songs rightly reflecting God's divine inspiration, there can still be emotional pitfalls in how the church members sing those songs. Emotions among believers should not be forced. If someone were to sing in church with a showy expression of gladness, even though they truly feel no joy and at that moment feel rather miserable, then their singing (even though it is done in church) is sinful. Forcing oneself to sing with an emotional facade is lying (especially if that person is not rightly reflecting on the worship song's lyrics, which will bring them to a more natural emotional response). Believers need to keep themselves away from all falsehoods, for "the righteous hate what is false," (Proverbs 13:5). No one should lie about their emotions, during their worship. Our worship is not done for others, but for God alone (Luke 4:8), so everything we do in our worship is done to Him. God can see through a show of emotions to what is true, because He can see our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). He knows when we are lying to Him, and lies are an abomination to Him (Proverbs 12:22). When we make a show of our emotions for others (especially when what we express is untrue to our heart), we disrespect God and reach out toward emotionalism.
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| Empty hands held high. Such small sacrifice. If not Joined with my life, I sing in vain tonight. So may the words I say, and the things I do Make my lifesong sing, bring a smile to You. - Casting Crowns |
Still, there are more ways a church can lead themselves into emotional sensationalism, even if they sing glorifying songs, respond with true emotions and say what is true. These days, a popular phrase to say during worship is "Jesus is here." But of course, Jesus is present among believers at all times, for the Children of God are in Jesus and He is in them (John 14:20). The statement "Jesus is here," or similar statements such as "We are in the Lord's presence" should always be true anywhere believers are, but perhaps many churches are not speaking these statements rightly (and they may not even be aware). Oftentimes, believers will say "Jesus is here" as a response to their emotional state, subtly stating (and enforcing through repetition) that feeling God's presence is directly related to one's emotional highs and lows. Isaac David, known as the Daily Disciple on YouTube, says “One of the big issues I have with this kind of terminology, ‘Oh, God is present,’ or ‘Jesus is here,’ in big highly emotional environments is that we’re teaching ourselves to understand God’s presence as relating to how we feel about His presence.” He says, "using that type of language is damaging and confusing." We, as believers, should not conflate our emotional states with the reality of God's presence and how we worship Him. Tying our emotions too tightly to our understanding of God's presence can draw us into emotionalism.
I worship you, Lord. God's not like, "Yeah, but do you feel the vibes? 'Cause otherwise it doesn't count." No vibes... I'm going to worship the Lord. I don't care how I feel... The irony is, as a result of developing that habit over time, worship has never felt so wonderful... The more I become independent of having to have the fuel of "feeling good," I end up having the result of feeling good, without it being the goal at all.
Beyond believers' worship through song and response, the preacher too must keep away from the destructive power of emotional indulgence. A preacher's worship through their sermon is bound to (and should) stir up emotions among those in church, as Jesus' preaching did (Matthew 7:28). This emotional stirring, though, should not be a preacher's goal. The preaching of the Word is not primarily meant to evoke an emotional response, but to teach, rebuke, correct and train believers in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). A preacher should not use their sermon to emotionally manipulate their congregation, even if what they are preaching is righteous and true. One preacher who presented emotionally stirring sermons was Jonathan Edwards, and he worked hard to avoid emotionally manipulating his congregation. This was especially true, when he preached the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." As Edwards preached this profound sermon on the fires of hell and God's wrath, "people were shrieking in the audience." Stephen Nichols, president of Reformation Bible College and a teaching fellow for Ligonier Ministries, studied what Edwards did when emotions were high during his sermon. Nichols says Edwards "stopped talking. He let people calm down so they could get a hold of themselves, then he proceeded with the sermon. Then the same thing happened again and he stopped talking." Nichols says Edwards' reigning in of emotions during his sermon is not typical in modern churches. Nichols says, "This is the opposite of what happens today. You see it on television: [preachers] play it up, they know how to do it, and once they get [their church] going, there is no way they stop the train." Nichols concludes saying, "Those who teach the truth, and those who are teachers in general, can manipulate the emotions. Be warned against that... It is not a responsible handling of God’s Word, nor is it caring for the [church]." We who preach the Word of God need to restrain ourselves from using emotional manipulation, or else we doom our listeners and ourselves to emotionalism.
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| "In worship there is always understanding with the mind and there is always feeling in the heart. Understanding must always be the foundation of feeling, or all we have is baseless emotionalism. But understanding of God that doesn't give rise to feeling for God becomes mere intellectualism and deadness. This is why the Bible continually calls us to think and consider and meditate and remember on the one hand, and to rejoice and fear and mourn and delight and hope and be glad on the other hand. Both are essential for worship."John Piper |
There are many more places in the church where emotions can trap and deceive, though the last place I shall mention are in people's experiences. It is common in churches (in some on a daily basis) for people to get caught up in a moment and let their emotions shape their understanding (informing them whether the experience was positive or negative). It may not seem bad for someone to trust their emotions, but it was bad when Peter did this. When Peter walked on water with Jesus (an overwhelmingly positive experience), he let his emotions shape his understanding of this experience, and his emotions were misguided. Peter was afraid of the storm around him, though Jesus said, "Don’t be afraid," (Matthew 14:27). Because Peter let his misguided fear control him, he began to sink under the waves, (Matthew 14:30). What should have been a positive experience quickly became terrifying and almost ended with Peter's death (Matthew 14:31). Emotions come from the heart, and "the heart is deceitful above all things," (Jeremiah 17:9). It can get confused, and be unsure whether an experience is truly positive or negative. There is a terrible danger that can come, when someone puts their trust in their emotional experiences. Jonathan Edwards wrote these cautionary words on believers who hold close to what they consider positive emotional experiences. He writes, "Having received what they call spiritual discoveries or experience, their minds are taken up about them, admiring their own experiences; and what they are principally taken and elevated with, is not the glory of God, or beauty of Christ, but the beauty of their experiences. They keep thinking with themselves, what a good experience is this! What a great discovery is this! What wonderful things have I met with! And so they put their experiences in the place of Christ, and His beauty and fullness." The same way Peter's negative experience kept him from walking with Jesus, so too can a positive experience keep someone away from the One they should seek above all things (1 Chronicles 16:11). To let our emotions shape how we view our experiences is to stumble into emotionalism.
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| "Give me understanding, so that I may keep Your law, and obey it with all my heart," (Psalm 119:34). "May my cry come before You, Lord; give me understanding according to Your word," (Psalm 119:169) "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace-as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people," (1 Corinthians 14:33). |
Emotionalism is dangerous. It must be fought and seen as the "pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God" that it is (2 Corinthians 10:5). It can pervert what is right, true and beautiful and turn it into something that is wrong, false and despicable. It prevents believers from loving God with their heart and also with their soul, their mind, and all their strength (Mark 12:30). The church should never have anything to do with emotionalism.
All believers should worship as Jesus commands, when He says, "God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth," (John 4:24). We are not called to worship with a show of emotions, but with true emotions that align with what the Spirit reveals through the Word of God. There is an illustration that was created to emphasize how a believer's emotions should rightly affect them. This illustration features a train with an engine labeled "Fact", its coal for fuel labeled "Faith" and its caboose labeled "Feeling." It shows that a believer is moved by the truth, which is powered by God in whom they have placed their faith, and their feelings follow as a response in line with what they know and believe. A believer's emotions should not (nor do they have the power to) be the source of their worship filled lives, but a believer should worship with emotions that show God is their only desire, the strength of their heart, their refuge and their lord all their life (Psalm 73:25-28).
- The Bible (New International Version)
- Merriam Webster Dictionary: Emotionalism
- Spirit & Truth: A Film about Worship
- Todd Frield: Judge Not
- Casting Crowns: Lifesong
- Daily Disciple: Destructive Belief about Worship
- Desiring God: The Place of Preaching in Worship
- Ligonier: Emotional Sensationalism in the Modern Church
- Jonathan Edwards: Religious Affections
- Mike Winger: How to Worship When You Don't "Feel It"
- Desiring God: Fact! Faith! Feeling!
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