A couple things happened in the recent few days to draw my thoughts to the question of "Spirit-filled worship."
The first thing was running into a young lady who attended our church until a few months ago. She maintains contact with our fellowship, but has started worshiping with another group. In our conversation, she referred to having been raised in a "Spirit-filled church" and the implication was that this formed a large part of why she now worships at the other church.
The second event involved visiting family out-of-town and going to their pentecostal church service on Sunday. I feel fairly confident that if I had put the question to any of those who regularly worship there, they would confirm that they believe they have "Spirit-filled worship."
So my thoughts over these few days come back to the question of what do we mean by "Spirit-filled worship"?
Both of these fellowships mentioned above have a worship style that encourages people to clap, move (or even dance) to the music, raise their hands and in other ways express themselves freely. Does that validate calling them "Spirit-filled"?
Does that suggest (accuse) my fellowship of not being "Spirit-filled"? We rarely clap to the music and would feel very reticent to dance to the music. A few will raise their hands in praise sometimes. And during the sermon, we occasionally hear an "Amen" or a "That's right" from the audience. Are we not "Spirit-filled"?
Taking it further: I have at least a couple nephews who worship at Anglican churches. They feel drawn into the presence of God in that context. The liturgy, structure and reverence of the services ministers to them and encourages them in their growth in Christ. Are these fellowships not "Spirit-filled"?
I suggest that any fellowship that focuses our attention on the Lord Jesus Christ qualifies as being "Spirit-filled" and that worship can be described as "Spirit-filled worship." I believe this because Jesus told us that one of the primary jobs of the Holy Spirit is to draw attention to Jesus, God the Son. So whenever we believers lift up Jesus Christ, we cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when this lifting of Jesus occurs in the worship context, we engage in "Spirit-filled worship."
By contrast, just because we clap, dance, raise hands or otherwise express ourselves, does not necessarily mean we are experiencing "Spirit-filled worship." We may indeed be involved in a spirited event. But it may not even be worship. Because Christian worship must--by definition--involve worshiping Jesus Christ. And just because we exercise our bodies in these manners does not mean we are worshiping Jesus Christ.
My experience suggests that often the spirited gathering forgets even to mention the name of Jesus (this weekend's experience did indeed focus on Christ; so it does not fall in this category). Watch someone like Benny Hill or John Hagee. They will talk about Scripture and this concept or that. but the mention of Jesus and lifting up Jesus comes rarely. The spotlight--figuratively as well as literally--stays on the speaker. (Again this Sunday's meeting is not of this ilk.)
At the same time, my pastor, in our reserved congregation, consistently points to Jesus and lifts him up in our eyes. Similarly, pastors in churches stereotyped as stuffy and straight-laced, often point their fellowships to Jesus and lift him up as the answer to the world's needs.
Having said all that, I ask: Which fellowship qualifies as "Spirit-filled worship". The clapping-dancing group may simply be "spirit-filled" (i.e. lower-case "s" indicating human spirit). The reserved group may truly be "Spirit-filled (upper-case "S" indicating the Holy Spirit). Or the clapping-dancing group may also be truly "Spirit-filled" as well as "spirit-filled". And the reserved group may in fact simply be dead--with neither the Spirit nor any spirit.
It all comes back to whether the worship leaders and the preacher draw our focus to Jesus and lift him up as God's answer to our needs.
Having said all this, it occurs to me that I have said nothing new. And that's okay, because I still needed to say it and get it out of my system. To any who were with me in worship yesterday, April 28, I reaffirm: I enjoyed the worship and I felt the presence of the Lord--in spite of being distracted by human activity. God was indeed Emmanuel in our worship.
me with my beautiful, wonderful (bw)
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4 comments:
It has been my observation that in the Western Church when one's human spirit is stirred during worship, this is automatically equated with it being "Spirit-filled" worship. Having recently viewed an OPB documentary on the "Summer of Love" in SF, was that a "Spirit-filled" event since their human spirits were definitely stirred? If I understood it correctly, LSD ("LET the SPIRIT DESCEND"?) was the big thing at that time. JAT
Thank you JAT, for this perspective. I think it is a valid comparison/observation.
One of the major pitfalls of religious fervor, and specifically the contemporary evangelical church (broadly speaking), can be its reliance on emotionalism to validate or deny spiritual speculation. It's hard to get around these feelings that we have. Once we connect those feelings with a spiritual experience, we can end up pursuing the emotional outcome of the spiritual experience rather than choosing to encounter the living Christ, whose presence is always available and is always transformative. At one time a particular emotional response to this presence may be appropriate and genuine, at another time the same emotional response would be inappropriate and often hurtful. I wouldn't suggest that you're falling prey to this, Eddie. Rather, I think we would both agree that an external examination of emotional response is not indicative of much of anything, let alone 'Spirit-filled' worship.
It's also tempting to categorize behavior as being spirited or not. My emotional response behaviors will look much different from yours, and both of ours from others. So to say that waving one's hand in the air, clapping, or dancing, is the authentic way that the Spirit manifests itself is to do the same as those who elevate one spiritual gift over another (think glossolalia). We can neither expect nor demand that response from anyone, let alone use it as the arbiter of Christian worship.
That's not to say that everything is okay and can be worshipful. Not at all. There are certainly and clearly non-Christian responses and non worshipful (sorry for the neologism) behaviors. We are given other criteria for determining that, however.
In peace, Shawn.
Alleluia. Christus surrexit.
Thank you Shawn for this thoughtful reply. I have one comment and one correction:
Comment: You are right in warning against connecting an emotional experience with the presence of God. The challenge for me (and perhaps for many) comes at this point: I have to remain open to the emotional expression(s) involved as I respond to the personal presence of God. I must remain open to giving vent to those emotions. (My father gave me the example of unashamedly crying when he felt blessed. But he never sought that expression.) So, I must remain open to expressing the emotions, without seeking a certain manner of venting the emotions. If I close myself to emotional expression, I run the risk of quenching the Spirit. But if I seek a certain expression, then I fall into emotionalism. I'm certain you agree with this.
One correction: You inadvertently (I hope it was inadvertent) referred to the Holy Spirit as "it" (your statement: "the authentic way that the Spirit manifests itself"). You know and we agree that the Holy Spirit is a person. Part of my spiritual gifting involves being highly sensitive to these slips.
Thank you again for a thoughtful and insightful response. Glad to hear from you. Say hello to Sara for us. See you in June.
God's best to you,
Eddie
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