David Ancell / Thursday January 09, 2003
Don’t worry, I will eventually run out of stuff to say about worship. I’ve been writing a little about what worship is, and there is one other point that I haven’t gotten out yet.
If you get Jim Cowan’s Millenium III CD’s, you’ll see that two of them feature a song written by Cowan known as “Prayer of Commitment.” It repeats lines such as “Come Into My Heart” and “Cleanse Me of My Sin.” At the end of the song, someone makes what seems to be an altar call. They make some kind of prayer of commitment.
Now, I’m not against the idea of asking Jesus into our hearts. We Catholics often call this “spiritual communion.” I have begun the practice of doing this every day that I don’t get to go to Mass. However, something about the way this is carried out seems Protestant, and it carries the same problem. Do these “commitments,” made in a moment of high emotion, really last? I can see people singing and clapping and cheering getting all excited and saying “Yes, Lord, I give you my life.” Will these commitments be able to survive the Cross?
I’m not against emotion, either. It can be a help. However, it is not to be relied on as it is highly changeable. The mere fact that emotions were aroused do not make for a true worship experience. In fact, there may be more merit when someone worships when he/she doesn’t feel like it. Holiness does not consist of a feeling. We must change the way we think and live.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
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