My Dear Friend,

Some think that Christian worship should involve our human emotions. Others do not, believing our worship should be doctrinally correct, in biblical order, and, if not ritualistic, at least very calm, quiet, and, in their view, reverential. Which is correct?

A. W. Tozer, a 20th-Century pastor, exceptionally gifted writer, extraordinarily clear-seeing observer of the church, and most importantly, a deeply committed worshiper, gave this abbreviated definition of worship: "to feel in the heart." This, as Tozer's writings often do, set me to thinking. And praying. And writing.

Ideally, Christian worship should involve our entire beings - spirits, minds, bodies, and, yes, emotions, too. The Bible bears this out.

Jesus taught that all true worship begins in the spirit, that those who worship "in spirit, and in truth" are the only ones His Father "seeks" and considers "true worshipers" (John 4:23-24). It should be obvious that, when worshiping, our minds are engaged contemplating the One we worship. David frequently expressed his worship bodily by raising his hands toward heaven: "I will bless thee ... I will lift up my hands in thy name" (Psalm 63:4). He further described his desire for God and delight in God while worshiping in terms of the deepest human emotions: "My soul thirsts ... my flesh longs for thee ... thus will I bless thee while I live ... [and] my soul shall be satisfied [praising and worshiping you] as with marrow and fatness [the most delicious foods]" (Psalm 63:1-5). So, the biblical norm is that true worship engages our spirits, minds, bodies, and, yes, our emotions also.

Friend, if your norm is to attend worship without feeling anything "in the heart" stirring, may I suggest one of two things is the cause:

1. YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SPIRITUALLY REGENERATED - or born again, as Christ clearly mandated not once but twice (John 3:1-8).
2. SOMETHING IS WRONG IN YOUR SOUL - something which only you and the Holy Spirit know about and must quickly get resolved by humble, honest self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:31; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 John 8).

Some may misunderstand, claiming I am calling us to live and worship by emotional stirrings. Not at all! But God made us with a full range of emotions, some healthy, others not: gladness, sadness, joy, frustration, peace, anxiety, hope, discouragement, anger, delight, jealousy, envy, contentment, bitterness, sweetness, and, yes, pleasure, whether sanctified or sinful. Some feel we should turn even the best of these emotions to the "off" position as we enter the sanctuary, or wherever else we encounter Christian worship.

Scripture, as stated above, clearly disagrees. Not only David, cited above, but virtually all the sacred psalmists experienced, and frequently testified of, powerful emotions stirring in them when they worshiped God. Perhaps the clearest expression came from King David: "In thy presence is the fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). Clearly then, in worship, David "felt in the heart"; and what he felt was "joy"; and he described it as "the fullness" - implying there was no stronger, higher, or purer joy anywhere in the realm of human experience. David attributed his great joy to the tangible manifestation of God's presence enveloping him as he praised and worshiped God in spirit and truth: "In thy presence is the fullness of joy."

Even though they are fully aware of David's testimony, many Christians step back for fear of engaging their emotions in their worship. If you, perhaps, have feared religious emotion, may I point out something? Certainly you do not fear other human emotions.

For instance, you shout for your sports team. You sense elation when you make a sale or earn a profit. You feel peace and joy when you help the poor. You are glad when you are favored or befriended. You experience peaceful satisfaction when your endeavors, works, or labors come to a successful issue. And, if married, you have undoubtedly experienced ecstatic physical joy as well. So, there, you see, you are an emotional person after all.

Then why in the world would you - a confirmed emotional being - exclude or suppress all expression of emotion in your relationship with God? Shouldn't He be most worthy of expressed human emotion? Perhaps you fear you may overdo it a bit and become like this or that group of Christians whom you have long considered foolish fanatics.

Yet, it may well be that you've never attended one of their meetings, spent a half-hour conversing with their leaders, heard their pastors' teachings, or sought to find out about their lifestyle, meetings, and beliefs. You've just heard this or that rumor - often from others who have no firsthand knowledge of what the Christian groups in question teach or practice. So, actually, you've just listened to a bunch of slanderous misinformation and taken it as gospel truth. Or, to put it bluntly, you don't know what you're talking about. Ouch!

Church historians will bear me out: throughout church history, there has never been any group of human beings who encountered God up-close-and-personal who did not have powerful, flowing human emotions. And express them - bodily, audibly, enthusiastically. Sadly, when we do not experience this holy emotion in our Christian worship, our emotions do not shut down. They just switch to other feelings attached to objects other than God.

For instance, in church meetings, we lust after the beautiful young woman two rows in front. Or we cringe with disgust at that foolish Christian brother or sister who we try our best to avoid - but run into anyway. We bristle with fresh, hot anger at that fellow church member who wronged us months or years ago and never asked us to forgive him. Or we envy the Joneses for their possessions that are finer than ours. We fear to displease deacon Smith or elder Robbins, who are easily offended, so we are very careful to not say anything that they might take the wrong way. Here, again, you see just how emotional you really are, even while in church meetings! But these are wrong emotions directed at the wrong objects.

God still patiently awaits the worship you owe Him. Your heart still remains unemotional in worship. Not offering worship "in spirit and in truth." Proudly independent of your Life-Fountain. Spiritually dry. Alive by God's grace, but just barely. Disengaged from real, meaningful fellowship with the Living God.

My friend, if this in any way describes your Christian life, I pray you will receive and ponder this message. Sin of any kind, self-will pressing against God's call or guidance, chronic spiritual laziness, these things quench the normal, healthy emotions that should flow whenever you "draw near to God" and He, as James promises, "draws near to you" (James 4:8). Intellectualism, doctrinalism, denominationalism, ritualism, and even good 'ole evangelical formalism (and yes, we evangelicals can be just as rigidly formal in our worship as the high [litergical] churches), these things may become poor, cheap, unsatisfying substitutes for the amazingly pure, inspiring, re-energizing, Spirit-given emotional blessings that await you in true worship.

From this moment forward, whenever you go to worship, privately or publicly, may you "feel in the heart" as with your whole being you give God the worship He deserves and, with His heart blessed, He gives you the blessing you need.

And may you never stop doing so. Until you are in His presence. There, I guarantee it, there will be a mighty river of glorious emotion flowing. For ever. And ever. And ever!

With "feeling in my heart,"

Dr. Greg Hinnant
GREG HINNANT MINISTRIES