I have strong opinions about worship. Some people have very strong beliefs concerning worship that I think are absolutely ridiculous. Most often my rantings concerning chapel begin with a description of the worship service. Throughout these rantings and several discussions, I have developed a rather unique perspective on the whole worship process as seemingly defined by today's Christian culture.
I have come to believe that singing, dancing, throwing hands up in there, and praising loudly is not only irrevelant to real worship but also slightly harmful to the image of Christianity as a whole.
Now, before I am lynched, please hear me out. I believe I have some very valid points here.
First, let me explain what I mean by "modern worship." Imagine that you are sitting in a large room packed with people. These people all have "bubbly" personalities and are all wearing Christian paraphernalia. Suddenly, the light goes down, except for the stage light, and a band of mostly good-looking people walk across the stage to their instruments. They ask everyone to stand up. They begin with a prayer that is accompanied by some small musical notes played on a guitar or piano. This sufficiently calms everyone down and puts them in the "right mood" to worship. The band thens begin to play songs that are highly emotionally charged. After about an hour or so (more if it is a concert), the band stops playing, gives parting words, prays, and exits the stage.
Now, let's examine the physiological effects of modern Christian worship. The first thing asked of the audience is to stand. This makes sure that the blood flows through the body. Since the audience is also standing, it is easier and more natural for them to begin swaying back and forth in time with the music. This also helps the blood flow throughout the entire body. Once the audience starts singing, the amount of carbon dioxide in the room rises a great deal. The oxygen intake becomes quite diluded with carbon dioxide and causes the audience to feel slightly light-headed. Depending on the amount of singing, the blood of the audience can become slightly alkaline. This is due to the amount of carbonic acid leaving the blood stream. The effects of this and the carbon dioxide in the air help cause the typical happy feelings one gets while worshipping.
Let's move on to the psychological effects of modern worship. An observation was made in a book I recently read that claimed most people do not have severe emotions if no one is watching them. While I believe that there are several exceptions to that idea, I do believe that, generally speaking, it is quite accurate. Think of someone you know who is both deeply fond of worship music and sings quite loudly during worship services. Think back to times when this person is listening to worship music with a small group of people. Does this person still sing loudly and make almost-obnoxious movements? Typically, the answer in no. In a crowd, however, this person has an audience. These people can have a large effect on others in the audience. People might see this person and believe that they are not appropriately worshipping. Consequently, they may begin to sing louder, clap harder, or move faster. On another note, the "happy" feelings produced from the physiological effects of increased carbon dioxide are connected by the mind to the subject of the song. Thus, people begin to believe wholeheartedly that they are happiest when singing about that subject. A sense of belonging also develops between those in the audience. They begin to feel that they are accepted within this large group because of what they are worshipping.
Now, before you begin to object too loudly, I'd like to point out that this helps to explain the devotion many have to cults. When they worship, chant, or whatever they do, the misguided people feel happy and believe they are doing the right thing.
Many people experience many things while worshipping. I believe that a large portion of those experiences form from the physiological, psychological, and emotional manipulations (whether done knowingly or not) of those who lead the worship. True worship does not need music, lyrics, or a large crowd of people. All it needs is a heart in tune with God and the dedication to praise Him. Is it nice to worship with others? Absolutely. Is it always necessary? Absolutely not.
I currently prefer worshipping on my own rather than worshipping in Chapel. I don't like the crowds of people who constantly mock and ridicule those who are serious in their devotion to Christ.
Posted by Randy at March 29, 2004 12:11 PM | TrackBack"An observation was made in a book I recently read that claimed most people do not have severe emotions if no one is watching them."
From my observations, I would think that the opposite is true. When no one else is watching me is when I feel I don't have to conform to another standard and I can feel free to express myself how I want. But it probably has alot to do with each person's expressiveness.
So carbon-dioxide makes you feel high? Doesn't deep breaths of oxygen do something similar [fight club]? I'll have to start experimenting again.
Posted by: Hookah at March 29, 2004 12:27 PMNot necessarily high. More like just a little light-headed. Oxygen does do something similar. It all has to do with not getting the right amount of gases into your system, I think.
By severe emotions, I meant things such as panic attacks, loud shouts of joy, and other attention-grabbing outbursts. Like I said, there are quite a good number of exceptions to that. I just agree that, generally, people enjoy being the center of attention. Emotional reactions can easily grab the attention of others.
Unfortunately, I have personal experience with this. Looking back at the time around my sister's death I have realized that, excluding the first few nights, very rarely did my family members cry if they were alone. The tears came when someone was there to give comfort.
Posted by: Randy at March 29, 2004 01:19 PMWell, you went out on a limb; guess I might as well join you there.
You put some scientific specs to something that I have pondered for quite some time: "modern worship" seems, in many ways, to be more of an emotional experience than a spiritual one. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I never quite understood how such actions as swaying, waving the hands, and repeating the same verses over and over and over again were supposed to "bring us closer to God."
Don't get me wrong; there's nothing wrong with an emotional response to worship. . . as long as it's not the focus of worship. And as long as the emotions don't overcome our ability to think and reason. Worship is about communing with God, praising Him, and opening our minds and hearts to hear what He wants to tell us (or at least that's how I think of it), and getting "high" on emotions seems a sure-fire way to prevent any of those from happening.
Of course, those are just my thoughts. I am neither a philosopher nor a theologian. Maybe I'm wrong. I'd like to see some discussion about this. . . but now I must return to work. Drat.
Posted by: Martinez at March 29, 2004 08:48 PMSince Wilson so graciously sent readers over here, I thought I would make a comment. The one thing that has hit me more this year is that "worship" is always connected with music and singing. It should reflect our lives.. not just our songs.
Posted by: Julie at March 29, 2004 09:08 PMMartinez, you hit on something that I had actually forgot to include. Worship should not be simply an emotional high people use to recharge themselves. Repeating verses consisting of emotion-intensive words quite obviously emphasizes the emotional feeling of worship. This becomes quite obvious when certain bands at this school (which will remain nameless solely because I can't remember who is in them) slice songs to shreds in attempts to achieve the maximum emotional high.
Posted by: Randy at March 29, 2004 09:13 PM"A little bit louder now," anyone? *grimace*
Posted by: Martinez at March 30, 2004 12:08 AMHookah, experiment time is over; you can put the marker down now. :-). I agree with Hookah on the emotions bit, in a lot of ways its the exact opposite [of what Randy described] for me . Back in elementary school I had serious problems displaying emotions in public, and I can vaguely remember multiple visits to the school counselor for related reasons. There seems to be a fear instilled in people, a fear to display an emotion that might not be viewed as acceptable in a given situation (I don't really think this applies to a traumatic situation however). It is almost human nature to unknowingly laugh when other people laugh, etc... Now I'm just rambling, but my point is that some of my strongest emotions are when I am alone, and it is only me and God. It is in these times that all the piles of Shit I hide behind disappear and I am able to express my true emotions.
This is why I think it is important to have a time of silence, a time apart from the constant influence and distraction of the world. It is necessary to discovering who we are and more importantly why we are...
Posted by: Codepainter at March 31, 2004 01:52 AMI always wondered why it was okay to scream at a baseball game and not a church;to stand and shout at a basketball game and not a church;to scream and dance at a concert and not a church. Is not my love for the Lord greater than all of those events combined? I am not saying that everyone should praise God the same but who am I to question one's expression of praise. As you may have guessed, I am an excited praiser. If I were in love with someone who makes me feel whole, who knows me and understands me, who challenges me to be the person I was meant to be. I would scream it from the rooftops. I agree that worship is not about music it's about a daily and consistent relationship with God. Not only do I worship loudly at church, I also allow my life to be the loudest song of worship sung to my heavenly Father. So I say Live GOD Loud and worship!
Posted by: Excired Praiser at May 25, 2004 09:16 AMI'm taking the time to peruse some of your archives ... reading these makes me wish I had been reading your blog at this time.
I'm not sure what to think. I've seen people ridicule others for not "worshipping" with ecstatic emotional displays, and I know it isn't right. I know that the person who sits and watches, or stands and sings but doesn't exhibit much of an emotional reaction, can be worshipping God just as much as I am.
On the other hand, your post makes me feel rather defensive, since I tend to be a emotive worshipper. Or I can be. It depends on the song and depends on my mood. There are times when songs just touch my heart and I discover that I mean every single word of them, and it starts to flow out. That probably has something to do with my personality - I show rather than hide emotions, so they build.
But I know that I also love to sing songs by myself; it doesn't matter what the audience is. In addition to seeing people look down on others for not worshipping emotionally, I've seen excessively rationalistic people look down on those who do worship emotionally. This class of people tend to think "I am the one who is truly 'worshipping' - those other people are just getting an emotional high, but I am different from they are. I am not frenzied or out-of-control. I am better than they are, because my praise comes from my mind, theirs from their emotions" Why on earth can't the two fuse? I know that's probably not what you meant, Mr. Ross, but its part of my defensive reaction to your post.
Good post, by the way! I'm sorry I'm a year late in discovering it.
Posted by: Daniel at March 8, 2005 11:46 PM