Are Displays of Emotion in Worship Wrong?

Seems like a silly question.  Of course they aren't wrong!  You see all kinds of emotions displayed in the Psalms, which is a book to guide worship.  You see tears and chants of victory, sorrow and dancing, grief and hands raised in joyful celebration.  God made us as emotional beings.  That is part of being made in the image of God.  Emotions in corporate worship have been a part of the the human experience for a long time.  However, in some faith traditions, there has been a cautious avoidance of emotional expressions in corporate worship.  There are many reasons why that has been the case.  For some, certain emotional responses are seen as irreverent... a distraction to worship.  Others are very cautious because of the fickle nature of emotions and how they can easily manipulate the human heart.  For others, they are just not used to it, so it seems out of place.  All that said, emotional responses are not a bad thing.  In fact, I would say they it is actually a good thing.  We were made as emotional beings and are encouraged in Scripture to respond accordingly. 

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  -Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.  -Psalms‬ ‭116‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.  -Psalms‬ ‭130‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.  -Psalms‬ ‭150‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

You could go through the entire Psalms and see the different emotional responses in worship.  Worship is a response to greatness and goodness of God.  Even in very sorrowful times, we respond to God with tears trusting in His goodness in spite of our circumstances.  We sing of the victories of God, like the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  It is a response of celebration.  Emotions are good and there is no problem with responding appropriately in worship... even corporate worship.  

Some people are more emotive than others.  For some, not raising their hands in worship seems in authentic to them.  I am one of those people.  I don't raise my hands all the time, but there are times when the truth of the song we are singing hits me and I respond with my body.  Now, I don't judge or expect others to respond in the same way.  Frankly, it is not my place to tell people how they should express their response to God.  I am also aware that in my circles, that isn't done a lot, so as a 6'2" guys in the front row, I kind of stand out.  But I can't help it.  It seems in authentic for me not to get excited about Jesus or raise my hand to God to communicate with Him, I need You.  My pastor when I was in high school was talking about an experience he had in Haiti.  He was warned before going into a church to worship that this church was full of "jumpers".  The person told him that there were the Baptists and the "jumpers".  I remember my pastor's response.  He said, "I don't care how high or how long they jump if when the jumping is over they still love and live for Jesus."  That has always stuck with me.  That brings me to the shift in this blog.

There are certain dangers and things to be warned about when it comes to emotional expressions.  You can get so worked up in your emotions that it stops being about Jesus, and it becomes more about the experience.  I use a term to describe this as sensationalism.  People begin to seek out the experience of worship that they had, rather than seeking and responding to God.  They begin to evaluate their faith based on their experience with Christ, rather the the truth of Christ from the Word.  In other words, they begin seeking the experience more than they seek God.  God is just a means to their pursued end... their experience.  This means that the experience of worship can become an idol.  You have to guard against this kind of emotional manipulation.  I don't think the answer is to never express emotions, but it means you need to keep the right end in mind.  The end goal of worship is for God to be magnified, not for us to be amplified.  It is totally appropriate to respond emotionally to the greatness and goodness of God, but when we begin trying to manipulate our own emotions to somehow reach a certain experience, then you need to pause and reevaluate whether you have made the experience of worship an idol.  Responding emotionally and being caught up in emotions are different realities.  Ask yourself, "Is the truth I am celebrating or meditating on about God driving my emotions?" or "Are my emotions driving me to experience something I perceive as spiritual?"  There is a big difference.  

I also think it is wise to consider the body of believers that you are worshipping with.  You certainly don't want to be a distraction to the body.  Notice I didn't say individual.  No matter what you do, you will likely offend someone.  If a few people are distracted my hands being raised, do you stop raising your hands in worship?  I would say no.  But if they body of believers as a whole is distracted by it, then maybe you need to be sensitive to that.  I had a student who was well meaning years ago and he sat with my wife and I, along with other students, for corporate worship.  He was a senior and was very emotive.  I remember we were singing a rather upbeat worship song of celebration and he started to just clap repeatedly.  It was not in rhythm and it was totally distracting.  For him, he was just expressing his excitement for the salvation that is in Jesus, but the whole auditorium was looking at him, because it was so out of place.  Now clapping was not out of place, but the fast repetitive clapping that didn't even show any sign of rhythm was a bit much.  I had to have a conversation with this young man about the value of considering his other brother and sisters in Christ during corporate worship.  

I would simple challenge you to be careful about judging people as they respond to God in corporate worship, and also to consider the danger of your emotions driving you to gain some kind of spiritual experience.  Freedom in worship that keeps God in the right place and considers the culture of the particular body of believers you are with is a good thing.