The question: What role do emotions play when we sing praises to God?
We know that we are supposed to worship God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). One of the best and most outwardly expressed forms of worship is singing songs together as believers, songs that edify the body of Christ and bring glory to Jesus. Worship is by no means confined to thirty minutes in a church service; we are supposed to have a lifestyle of worship. That is, everything that we do, should be from our hearts responding to the goodness of God and what He has done for us; not just singing and playing instruments. Spheres such as giving, helping, working, socializing and every other conceivable aspect of life, should be done with an attitude of worship.
However, since the birth of the charismatic movement a good forty years ago, there has been a shift in the importance of music within a church context; music has become a major part of any form of charismatic ministry. It is not uncommon for churches to spend millions on sound equipment, instruments, training and professional consultants in order to have their music sounding good, or up to ‘standard’. Does this grossly disproportionate allocation of resources have any substance? Or is it just something that has taken on a life of its own and like many other aspects of modern Christianity, has no real biblical basis?
The main reason for this focus on music and singing is the undeniable link between the emotions that music evokes and our ability to worship God in spirit and truth. Now, this has been abused in many spheres, where the focus has been all about getting as much emotional reaction out of the congregation as possible and when a big response is received it is seen as ‘successful worship’ (if there is such a thing). On the other hand, there are sections of the more traditional churches, who stay away from contemporary music as much as they can, because of what the conjuring up of emotions, through music, could produce in there congregants. They maintain it takes the focus of the congregant off God and onto music. Both views have their merits, but what does the word say?
The bible is full of examples of people singing hymns unto God, where they are shouting, dancing and playing instruments unto the Lord. (Ps 66:1-2, 92:3, 100, 149:3 Acts 16:25) Thus, it can’t be wrong to sing, dance and make a joyful noise to God; the question must rather lie in our motives behind this. It is impossible to worship God in this manner and not get emotional about it. If we look at worship, specifically music and singing, from a perspective of spirit, soul and body (1 Thes 5:23) things become a little bit more clear.
Humans are made up of three parts, spirit, soul and body. When we get born-again we have the spirit of Jesus inside of us, our spirit and Jesus’ spirit are one, the individual characteristics of either have vanished and a new creation is formed (2 Cor 5:17) However our soul (mind, will and emotions) and our body (five senses) still remain the same, they still need to be sanctified or changed according to the perfect will of God. Our soul is the easier of the remaining two aspects, that make-up a person, to change. This can be done by renewing your mind to the truths contained in God’s word (Romans 12:2).
A focused time of praise and worship is thus a unique opportunity for our entire being; spirit, soul and body to come into line and worship God. It’s not a struggle for your born-again spirit to worship God; it’s getting your soul and your body to agree with your spirit. When we encounter God-focused music and singing, our emotions, or 'soulish' realm, start having positive responses towards God and His goodness. We get reminded about what He has done for us and how good it is to be in His presence where there is liberty (2 Cor 3:17) and fullness of joy (Ps 16:11).
It is in this state where our spirits are worshiping, our soul is touched on all levels and all of a sudden we find our body reacting accordingly. We find ourselves lifting our hands, closing our eyes, kneeling down, bowing, clapping or dancing; all as a response in worship to our King. This my friends, is when we are worshiping Him with all that we have; spirit, soul and body; this is worshiping the Father in truth.
Can this be achieved without music and singing? Yes, of course, you don’t need a keyboard player to help you experience God in His fullness. It is just one of the many vehicles available to us to help us experience a real and living God. Should we therefore try and avoid emotion when we worship God? Emotions are unavoidable; if we are going to worship Him with everything then emotions are included. However, we don’t focus on getting emotional, we focus on Jesus, we rest in His presence and everything flows from that. Keep the main thing, the main thing.
Pic by: Bohemianme
