Many think a church service does not amount to anything unless there is more or less noise, mass enthusiasm, and a great deal of emotion worked up and visibly expressed. They never enjoy a sermon, no matter how edifying, unless the preacher is full of certain emotional enthusiasm, fluent in the accepted spiritual phraseology, and able to generate in his audience the usual emotional re-actions and outbursts expected in this type of meeting. If such things are present, these folk enjoy themselves immensely, whether they learn anything really worth while or not. Getting a Right Balance This is not to discount or to criticise the natural emotional expression resulting spontaneously from a genuine spiritual experience, or the true spiritual language springing naturally from an honest heart. Far from it.
Some people are naturally emotional.
Some are not. We shall see from the Scriptures that emotion and spiritual phrases of themselves are not the essence of spirituality. And the sad part is that those who deal in counterfeit always insist they have the genuine. It is important that we get a right balance. Other Snares and Pitfalls 2.