Certain things have been on my mind about worship lately. I have been cautious of pleasant sounding and entertaining music during worship, as I think that one may think they are feeling the Spirit when really they are just being moved by the music. From this perspective it seems that plainer and less extravagant tunes and services would be better, since one would be less likely to mistake musical appreciation for the Holy Spirit moving them.<br><br>But on the other hand, music itself is a form of art. Is a worship service necessarily less glorifying to God if one takes the art of music and enacts an extravagant and emotionally moving worship time? Is it bad for ones emotions to be influenced by music? If i take a more holistic perspective of the person, it seems that perhaps our emotions are part of our being and the moving of them can be part of the worship experience.<br><br>One thing i thought of is, why do we sing at all? Why not just read liturgy? What is the point or relevance of putting something into song, as opposed to ordinary speech? I'm wondering if one reason people started using song to worship God was precisely because it was an artform that moved them emotionally. Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but it seems that people opt for song in the first place is because of the emotional impact of the art of music.<br><br>So basically I'm confused. On the one hand i tend to cringe with suspicion when i see a worship team performing songs in a pleasing and entertaining fashion. When the congregation is excited and reverent after a song was it because of the lyrics and/or the Holy Spirit or was it because the music pleased them? But on the other hand, what if part of the function of music is to move one emotionally? What if emotions aren't deceptive, but rather part of one's worship experience?<br><br>Maybe there is a medium. I know some times when I am by myself i'll sing some short made-up melody off the top of my head to God. Music appeals to me and I am more moved when i sing than simply speak. If i take the former view to its logical conclusion, it would seem that emotional and/or extravagant preaching would be bad too, since a listener might assent to the message because he is being emotionally moved by the preacher's zeal and not by the Spirit. Are the two(emotion and the Holy Spirit) even mutually exclusive necessarily? The Spirit will affect one emotionally, but emotions don't necessarily mean the Spirit was the cause. <br><br>Any thoughts, answers?
