Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?
It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were too lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.
Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.
We should note that there is more than one way to interpret doctrine, more than one way to think about the faith, and more than one way to read the Scriptures. We would not suggest that our way is the only way, or the right way; we are not Bible scholars. But we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to rightly divide the Word of God.
Introduction
One of the big criticisms leveled at the charismatic church is its emotionalism. A typical charismatic church service is energetic, active, and celebratory, and perhaps even chaotic, which the more conservative types find distasteful or even irreverent. Emotional expression does not belong in a church service, they think. Church should be somber, reflective, and appeal to rational thinking.
Charismatics generally prefer an interactive, expressive, and involving church service, one that gives room for a more personal experience. For them, church is a place for a wide range of expression, from tearful worship to raucous praise.
This means a conservative church would most likely be more focused on doctrine, teaching, and theology, with the congregation listening in quiet dignity. A charismatic church would probably devote more time to musical worship, corporate prayer, and spontaneous expression. These are loose categories, of course, but the main delineation is typically decorum and reverence vs. participatory and expressive.
The Conservative Perspective
The sticking point for conservative Christians of course is the emotional aspect:
I believe this is the biggest danger of emotionalism: having a fluctuating faith based on our own personal experience, feelings, and emotions. Emotionalism is, to be honest, a false teaching that elevates or even glorifies our emotions instead of the steady truth of Christ and His Word as our rock to stand on.
We believe this writer creates a false dichotomy, as if we must choose between fluctuating faith and the Bible. However, the two are not in tension.
Further, the writer elevates "emotionalism" to a doctrine, calling it a false teaching. But we are unaware of any church that teaches such a doctrine.
John MacArthur writes about his preference for reason:
We use reason to solve a math problem, read an engineering schematic, or diagnose an illness. In the same way, Scripture is understood according to the normal patterns of human reason.God had a purpose when He gave us the capacity for rational thought. If we want to know Him and understand what He has revealed in His Word, we must approach Scripture rationally, following the normal processes of logic and reason with sound hermeneutics to come to a true understanding of its meaning
So for Dr. MacArthur, the intellectual faculties are the only trustworthy avenue to understanding the Bible and for Christian growth.
The most often cited verse in support of the conservative perspective is
Je. 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
That is, they believe that emotion comes from a deceitful heart and therefore should be rejected. However, this distrust of emotion is generally founded upon charismatic excesses, not any Bible verse. So emotional expression is viewed with suspicion because charismatics too often get weird. Further, historic practice and personal taste are often determiners of what a person believes is proper church conduct. And as mentioned, a particular idea of reverence and decorum is expected in a church service.
Emotionalism vs. Emotions
There is a difference between "emotionalism" and "emotion." Emotionalism is the tendency to display emotion freely or to rely on or place too much value on emotion. Emotion is a mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes...
We are all emotional. Emotion is a natural expression of our psyches. While emotion is a part of who we are, emotionalism by contrast may be an unhealthy, excessive emotional state. However, suppressing emotions would also be unhealthy.
In the corporate worship setting, we find God commands emotional expression:
Ps. 68:3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. 4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the LORD — and rejoice before him.
Ps. 71:23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you — I, whom you have redeemed.We believe that corporate worship ought to involve the whole person:
Mt. 22:37 Jesus replied: “`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’" [Deut. 6:5]
In their desire to more adequately worship God, charismatics may have taken the emotional aspect too far, but conservative Christians have also erred by tamping down emotional response.
Soul vs. Spirit.
We quoted Jeremiah above:
Je. 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
But we discover that don't have the deceitful heart anymore:
Ez. 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Christians are born again. The indwelling Holy Spirit regenerated us, and at the moment our old heart was replaced with a new heart.
Jn. 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
Tit. 3:5b He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit...This changed the entire transaction, and changes how we think and act with regard to our relationship with God:
Ga. 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Therefore, our hearts are not the issue. Being emotional is not a product of the heart. Rather, our spiritual nature was made alive by the Spirit, and that is the place we connect with God. Whatever transactions may be happening in the Spirit might influence our emotions. Or to put it another way, the Holy Spirit might be convicting a person, and that would manifest emotionally as godly sorrow (2Co. 7:10). Or, the work of the Holy Spirit might bring the realization that our justification gives us hope, which would cause us to rejoice. (Ro. 5:2)
We would suggest that our soul, not our spirit, is the relevant part in operation here. The soul is the repository for our self-awareness, our intellect, and our emotions. This means both the intellect and emotions find their origin the the soul. Whether emotion or reasoning, both are soulish things.
But God wants us to respond as spiritual creations. He wants our minds to be renewed (Ro. 12:2) so that we might provide to Him our spiritual (not intellectual or emotional) act of worship.
Conclusion
The debate between emotion and intellect is arguing different sides of the same soulish coin. Both the intellect and the emotion are from the same origin, and we cannot therefore claim one is superior to the other. Both must be brought into conformance with the Spirit. Our interaction with God must be on the this higher level.
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