Worship: Emotions or Intelligence?

 One of the many things that distinguish one church from others is the style of worship.  One church has a formal structure of worship, usually accompanied by bulletins that inform what the next thing in the order of worship will be.  Another church has a spontaneous order of worship, in which there is very little, if any structure, and in which the congregation relies on "the moving of the Spirit."  In this type of worship there is a lot of hooping and hollering, shouting, dancing, hand-clapping, physical movements, etc.  These types of churches attribute these human responses to the "moving of the Holy Spirit" in their midst.  They tend to consider the formal worship of other churches as a way of "suppressing/quenching the Spirit," and replacing "the Spirit's move," with a cold and dead form of worship, which usually consists of prepared liturgies, prayers, sermons, etc.  Other churches, are deep in liturgy, as they believe that the  liturgy should reflect the contents of their beliefs.


This writer has experienced a variety of worship experiences.  In my pre-teen years, I attended a Sunday school and worship service in a United Methodist church.  It was in this church that learned a hymn which later on in my spiritual journey became a favorite of mine, i.e. "I Love to tell the Story." It was there that I also learned the hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today."  In the meantime, because the clause of separation of Church and State had not yet been enacted, the public school system in New York City would release students early on Wednesday afternoons to attend religious instruction at the faith community of their choice.  I attended a Lutheran church for faith instruction, and the teacher would usually end the class by leading us in singing "God Answers Prayers in the Morning."


In my adolescent and teen years, I attended a predominantly Puerto Rican Pentecostal church, where I made my confession of faith in Jesus at the age of thirteen and was baptized at the age of fourteen. I attended this type of church for many years, being immersed in this type of worship, which emphasized not only the worship, but also the very presence of the Holy Spirit in the services. I was ordained a Pentecostal minister, something which I retained for nine years until I graduated from seminary and transferred my ordination to the Reformed Church in America, with which I am still affiliated.  In my seminary years, in my experience as a Reformed Church minister, I became acquainted with the Presbyterian and Reformed order of worship. The Presbyterian and Reformed Churches stress an "informed and intelligent" worship.  By this they mean, that people should know why they are worshipping in a particular manner, and what worship is all about, i.e. a focus on God and not on ourselves.


I've attended and preached at worship services of various traditions (Baptists, Mennonite, Methodist, Nazarene, Salvation Army, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, etc.).  I've also attended Catholic Masses, divine liturgy in the Eastern Orthodox traditions, etc.  I can truly say from both my personal experience and from the contents of the way that the Word has been proclaimed in these communities, I have experienced the presence of God among the people.  It has been a very interesting experience in sensing God's presence in these communities, even when I am not in complete agreement with their theological perspectives.  But then again, I am not in complete agreement with all of the theological perspectives of my Protestant sisters and brothers. Next Sunday,
God willing, we will be attending a Unity church in Florida with some friends.  I have never been to a Unity church, but I look forward to hearing the Word of God, and also the integration of the emotions and the intellect.


In answer to the question as to whether worship should be an emotional experience, or something that engages the intellect, my response would be both.  In the same way that Jesus taught us that we should love the Lord our God, with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, I believe that we should worship God with both heart (emotions) and mind (intellect). We cannot emphasize one at the expense of the other.  Both the emotions and the intellect play a very important role in the faith experience.


There are dangers when we emphasize one to the exclusion of the other.  These dangers are
as follows:


1.  Emotions- There is a danger of converting the worship service into a "feel good experience." When believers follow this trend, they fall into the trap of identifying their relationship with God on the basis of how they "feel" at a given moment.  During the worship service, they experience a euphoria or a "high" which only lasts as long as the music is playing or as long as the service lasts. Then at the conclusion of the service, when they return to their daily routine, nothing has changed in their lives.  They just attended a service where they "felt" good and equate that "feeling good" with the presence of God.  But when they return to their routine lives, they speak as if God is not present with them or as if God has taken a weekly sabbatical until they return to worship the next time around. Then they go back for a weekly dosage of the "feel good" experience.  I remember a colleague who described a service which had taken place at the church he pastored.  He said that the service was "so good that the Holy Spirit was there for about fifteen minutes."  If time had allowed (we were at work that day), I would have asked him "Where did the Holy Spirit go after the fifteen minutes were over?"


2.  Intellect- There is a danger of allowing our intellect to lead us to a point where we become cold, heartless, and rigid.  If, and when this happens in a worship service, what occurs is that we fall into the trap of doing things as a perfunctory activity.  In other words, we do them, because we have been taught that this is "the proper thing to do."  We do things out of routine.  I remember that when I was a prison chaplain, a couple who were serving as volunteers, shared with me a story about a preacher who had preached at their church.  This preacher, they said, was not only dynamic, but also controlled his content in such a way that the majority of people understood what he was talking about.  This couple spoke to the preacher after the service was over, congratulating him on how good the sermon was.  He responded and said to them "Are you kidding? I don't believe in half of what I said during the sermon."  The couple shared with me that they felt "like choking him." Do we repeat the Apostle's Creed and/or other statements of faith because that is what we truly believe, or are doing it out of mere intellectual assent?  In this case, the role of the intellect in the construction of a Christian theology can only result in mental gymnastics and not heart-felt convictions.


Please respond to this article by sharing with us where you stand on the role of both emotion and intellect in the worship service.  Should it be hollering, hooping, and shouting?  Should it be standing still and singing hymns and knowing why we are singing?  Is there a way to blend the emotions with the intellect in the course of the worship service?  Please share your perspectives with us.


Grace and peace,


Pastor Juan A. Ayala-Carmona