THE WILL TO LOVE - Vital Christianity

94The author of the book of Hebrews concerning Jesus,“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do nothave a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we haveone who had been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was with-out sin.Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receivemercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb 4:14-16).Jesus is not a celestial icicle; He is the God-Man who understands us and our feelings asno one else does. He can relate to our weaknesses, our hurts.So far we have looked at the place our emotions should play in our relation to otherpeople, but what part should our emotions play in our relation to God?Some Christians seem to place highest priority to our feelings in our relation to God. Tothem a meeting is not “real” or “alive” unless there are a lot of emotions expressed. Experiencesbecome the prime goal of significant worship. Emotionalism often stamps such meetings.It is important to realize that the free reign of our emotions in worship does notnecessarily mean genuine worship. Lively meetings might be the result of carnal enthusiasm andreligions excitement rather than a true visitation of God. Emotionalism and dreamy experiencesare not to be confused with God’s presence.Because of this fear of being radical, fanatical, many of us have gone to the oppositeextreme. As Elmer Murdock put it, “For the average evangelical church an emotional outburst isabout as dangerous as a riot in a cemetery.” 4 If we have to choose between deadness andfanaticism, fanaticism is to be preferred. For, it is easier to put out a forest fire than it is to raisethe dead. We evangelicals who are so afraid of extremism need not be. We need to loosen up andshed some of our hangups.The balance that God is looking for is God-controlled emotions. God wants us not only tounderstand truth, but to experience it. But we must not seek experience for its own sake; it is tobe a byproduct of our seeking God. The reason why so many believers who seemingly have suchgreat experience in worship are not permanently changed is because they had an experiencerather than a meeting with God. There is a great difference! One produces religiosity andspiritual pride, the other spirituality.Let us look at some examples of men and women in Holy Writ and church history whoknew what it meant to worship and serve the Lord. These people were not just deep worshipers;they were also men and women of action. True worship always leads to zealous and effectiveservice. If this does not follow it is not genuine worship.