The Irresponsible Motion of Emotion

Ever been to summer camp? How about a Christian camp? Both are filled with many emotions but in the case of most summer camps or retreats the goal is to use emotion to evoke change.

Have you ever been in sports? Have you ever been in a what I call a “rally church”. Both are filled with many emotions but in the case of most rally churches the focus is to use emotion in place of practice.

The great camp is filled with laughter, a bit of insecurity, flirting, love, happiness, homesickness, elation, exhilaration, being bummed at defeat and so is the experience. The great Christian camp is filled with much of the same but the focus is not sports and what is done but the great message of Jesus Christ’s unconditional love. Unfortunately, many youth ministers (and adult ministers later) get it backwards. The emotion comes from the actual real experience. The emotion is not the goal but a wonderful or sometimes challenging result. Many youth ministers, while teaching truth that should result in challenge, change and appropriate emotions, instead use the emotion of the moment to evoke change in the life. Such never lasts unless accompanied by a learning and acceptance of real truths.

Case in point: it is the last night of camp and the youth are gathered to sing around the campfire or go to the beach. There is sharing, singing and a veritable emotional windup that is peaked by an invitation to “give your life to Jesus.” However, followed years later only a small percentage have lives that look like Christ and many are in a worse spot because they believe that they are “saved” but can’t figure out why “it” isn’t working. How irresponsible to take emotional creatures and whip them into a decision frenzy! How much more responsible to let the decision simply happen with truth, time and simple non-emotional invitations. It is truth that changes lives not moments.

I rock climb (mostly at an indoor gym these days – www.escalade.com ) and one of the owners – Chris – is always telling my older body, “Rock climbing is a head game.” The golf guys tell me the same thing about golf. Team sports are no different. There is the pep-rally, running through the banner, huddles with chants, coaches giving pep-talks and a general “we can do it!” Rallying your head into the game to do the achievable because of practice, experience and risking the next level of effort is logical and good. However, rally churches that whip the participants into a “belief frenzy” that “all things are possible with God” is irresponsible. Especially when the participants have not done 5-a-days like athletes and consistently practiced for years.

Churches should learn from the world that is forced to produce lasting, measurable results. Those world leaders have discovered that success must last. One night wonders are not considered successful. It is the teams and coaching staffs that build great programs that are successful. It is the company with sustained growth, profitability and long term benefit that is seen as successful. Practice, experience and challenge – not just challenge – usher us into success and sometimes failure. But the emotions are the result of reality and real truths and real possibilities. Churches need to learn to provide the “real, enduring and concrete experience” and let the emotions follow as God intended.

It is irresponsible to use emotions to get results for if you can not sustain the emotion the result will disappear. If you win them on a “moving” show, you will only keep them around with the same “emotional” show. Sure, a small percentage will learn but the others will remain as shallow as your approach. Why not choose fact and truth instead of emotion as the impetus for change?