“What do you mean by artificial emotional responses?”

One of the neat things about the Qs from the Pews series is that one good question leads to another.

 Since the ‘Can Christian music cause an emotional response?’ message, I’ve had a few people ask what I meant by ‘artificial emotional responses to God.’  I’ll try to unpack that here.

 ‘Artificial emotional responses to God’

 Admittedly, there is a lot going on in this phrase and it has a lot to do with the modifiers ‘artificial’ and ‘to God.’ 

 To be sure, when someone (regardless of their religious conviction) experiences a thing of beauty, whether a song or painting or sunset, they may have a genuine emotional response (they are moved to tears, they get shivers or goosebumps or whatever).  When people hear the Hallelujah chorus (Handel’s or Cohen’s) ;), they may genuinely be moved by the music.  There’s nothing illegitimate about that – as people made in the image of God, we naturally respond to beauty and wonder and talent.  Those are genuine, emotional responses to those artifacts, whatever they may be.

 That’s also true for people who are actively following Jesus.  When we witness something that is particularly moving, we may very well respond emotionally.  The difference though is what exactly we are responding to.  ‘Solid Christian music’ should help us to respond to God.

 To take an example, some may respond emotionally to the haunting Celtic melody of Be Thou my vision, while others will respond to the God who is ‘our vision.’  The first group may be having a genuine emotional response, but if they’re responding to the music, rather than to the God it describes, then (in the language of the original question), it’s an ‘artificial emotional response to God.’  I suppose you could also put it this way – they are having a genuine emotional response to the music, but not to the God that it points to.

 And that’s why this is an important question pastorally.  One of the most basic dynamics in the Christian life is that ‘God acts and we respond.’  One of my most basic jobs as a pastor is to enable people to respond to the God who has acted in Creation and Salvation.  And so my goal is to enable people to have opportunities for genuine emotional responses to God where through teaching and music and prayer, people are able to draw nearer to Him.  

 Let’s take one more example.  Let’s say that someone comes to Christmas Eve at Langford and is moved to tears by the experience of hearing a whole congregation of people singing the carols that they grew up with. 

 Are they having a genuine emotional response?  Yes, absolutely.  Is there anything wrong with that?  No, absolutely not.

 Given that it’s a Christmas Eve service at Langford Church though, I think that we also need to ask ‘are they responding to God or are they responding to something else, say, the music or the nostalgia of it?’ 

 To use the language of the original question, if they’re responding emotionally to the experience of hearing people sing traditional hymns in a cute little church building on Christmas Eve, that would be artificial emotional response to God.

 What I would love as a pastor is to be able to point that person beyond the music and tradition of the moment to the God who inspired it so that they can experience and respond to Him specifically, rather than just the music. 

 And that does bring up an important point – a lot of this depends on how we CHOOSE to respond.  I can see a beautiful sunset and be moved by the colours, but I can also choose to recognize that it points to a creative Creator and so choose to respond TO Him specifically.  I can go to a big worship concert and be moved emotionally by the power of thousands of voices singing together, but I can also choose to make use of that artifact (corporate singing) to respond to God in genuine praise.  I can fully admit that Christmas Eve at Langford is essentially ‘people singing traditional hymns in a cute little ‘candlelit’ church on Christmas Eve, and choose to respond to God through it. 

Emotional responses are good; in church, emotional responses to God that draw us nearer to God are even better. 

 By all means, contact me if you have any other questions or want to explore this more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Qs from the pews 2025

July 13

Can certain types of Christian music bring on an artificial emotional response to God? How do we decipher what is solid Christian music?

July 20

My family sometimes asks what kind of church we are and I never know what to say.  What denomination are we? / At communion, we say the Apostles’ creed. It says that we believe in the holy catholic Church but we’re not Catholic. Are we lying when we say this?

July 27

If we’re grateful for what we’ve been given and humble, how can we also be ambitious?

August 3

VBS Sunday

August 10

The Bible says to pray without ceasing for situations in life e.g someone is sick, we need a job, whatever the need. But where is the line between continuing to pray and leaving the situation with God and trusting Him? If we keep praying, does that mean we don't necessarily have faith?

August 17

If the church is the congregation and not the building, is it wrong to have nice churches and cathedrals? (As this money could be used to help people.)  How much opulence is too much?

August 24

Is it important to have your own Bible? Or is it just as well to use one from church?

August 31

Should people baptized as infants be baptized again when they become believers? Does God even recognize infant baptism?

September 7

September Kickoff!

 

The Exodus and the Cross

The Exodus is the pivotal event in Old Testament faith; the Cross is the pivotal event in ours.

The Exodus is God delivering His people from slavery in Egypt; the Cross is God delivering His people from slavery to sin and death.

The Exodus happened because of a sacrifice; the Cross is the ultimate sacrifice.

The better we understand the Exodus, the more we’ll appreciate the Cross. Join us for this Lenten sermon series.

Qs - What's the difference between preaching and teaching?

What is the difference between preaching and teaching?  Is there a time or place where one should be more emphasized over the other?

  

Broadly speaking, ‘preaching’ is all about ‘proclamation.’  It consists of opening up Scripture and revealing who God is and what He has done, especially emphasizing what He has done through Jesus to redeem the world.  ‘Preaching’ then is essentially ‘proclaiming’ the good news of the Kingdom of God. 

‘Teaching’ on the other hand is all about the ‘implications.’  What does it mean to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God?  If we have been redeemed by the Cross of Christ, how then shall we live?  Teaching helps us to apply and work through all the details that preaching proclaims.   

The Bible sometimes refers to ‘preaching’ and ‘teaching’ as separate activities,[i] but in practice, the lines between them get blurred.[ii]  For that reason, I think it’s most helpful to think of preaching and teaching as two ends of the same spectrum.  In many ways, they overlap, but there are certain things that tend to be more true at either end of the line.  For example:

 

  

As you can see, the differences are really nuances.  Good teaching must proclaim the redemptive work of God and good preaching has to help people to think about the implications of the Gospel.  Preaching and teaching are integrally related so that I think it’s probably best to situate any given message on a spectrum ranging from ‘preaching’ to ‘teaching,’ rather than labelling it as one specific kind of message. 

 

That being said, a Sunday morning sermon is usually closer to the preaching end while Bible studies skew more towards the teaching end.  ‘Bring a friend’ sermons will be closer to preaching as they anticipate a less committed audience, but Qs from the pews lean heavily in the direction of teaching, given that they are coming from more mature believers.  Even so, I want to proclaim the Gospel in a way that helps new people come to faith and apply it to life (like teaching) and address Qs from the pews in light of the Cross (like preaching). 

 

The difference between preaching and teaching is really one of nuance.  They are two ends of the same spectrum and any good message or study will lean towards one end while incorporating aspects of the other.  Despite any differences though, preaching and teaching both have the same goal – to help people to know God and grow in their relationship with Him!

 

If you’re reading this, will you click the ‘Contact Us’ button and let me know how you got here? This article gets way more attention than any other and I’m curious to know why. Is it linked somewhere? Thanks!




[i] For example, Matthew lists them as unique aspects of Jesus’ ministry: 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, [1] teaching in their synagogues, [2] preaching the good news of the kingdom, and [3] healing every disease and sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23, repeated in Matthew 9:35 and Matthew 11:1.  See also Luke 20:1).  1 Timothy 4:13 is similar.  Paul reminds Timothy to apply himself to three different aspects of ministry: 13 Until I come, devote yourself to [1] the public reading of Scripture, to [2] preaching and to [3] teaching (numbers added).

 

[ii]  For example, Luke 4:15-16 tells us that Jesus had a practice of ‘teaching’ in synagogues and that on one particular Sabbath, He went to do ‘as was His custom,’ ie., to teach.  The content of His ‘teaching’ though was textbook ‘proclamation.’  He opened up the Scriptures to Isaiah and through Isaiah, He ‘preached’ good news to the poor and ‘proclaimed’ freedom for the prisoners (vss. 18-19).  This proclamation of Good News came in the context of ‘teaching,’ blurring the lines between the two.    

 

 

Do not fear (Christmas edition)

Did you know…
that the words ‘Do not be afraid’ appear in the Nativity account four times?

 

* When Joseph was considering divorcing Mary because of the surprise pregnancy, “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20 NIV).

 

* When an angel appeared to Zechariah announcing that he and his wife would have a long awaited child (John the Baptist), “… the angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John’ (Luke 1:13 NIV).

 

* When an angel declared to Mary that she would carry God’s son, “…the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus’ (Luke 1:30-31 NIV).

 

* When the angel appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus, “the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’” (Luke 2:10-11 NIV).

 

Whenever the Bible repeats something, our ears should perk up because it means the God wants us to hear something.  And what does He say at Christmas time? 

 

Do not be afraid.  Do not fear.

 

Now admittedly, every time it says ‘be not afraid,’ it’s because there’s a supernatural messenger appearing to say something life-changing.  We’d probably be afraid too if an angel broke into our every day.  But these appearances are all about God calling people to play a part in His story of redemption.  And we have that in common with them.

 

Do not be afraid, God says to us.

 

When you start something new.  When you act with grace instead of anger.  When you bear witness to the goodness of God.  Do not be afraid. 

 

Jesus says it too:

 

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27 NIV).

 

And do you know why?  Why we need not let our hearts be troubled?  Joshua 1:9 answers that:

 

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

 

This Christmas and the year ahead, the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.  Draw near to Him.  Go where He goes.  And let the peace that Jesus gives crowd out fear from your heart.  Do not be afraid for Emmanuel “God with us” is with you.