Is Worship Supposed To Be Happy?

Many Christians are under the mistaken impression that worship is to be a happy time. Many churches seem to be preoccupied with the concern to keep things "positive and upbeat." Where does the Scripture ever tell us that this is to be the norm? One simply has to look at the Psalms to see that worship is not meant to be a time where we just slap a smiley face on everything. The Psalms teach us that in worship there will be times of remorse as we confess our sins. There will be times of overwhelming joy as we hear of the mercy and forgiveness we have in Christ. Every range of human emotion is there. The reality of the Christian life in the struggles of the believer against temptation, suffering, and persecution need to be taken into account in our worship. This is one reason why our church (along with the majority of God's people through history) makes use of the Psalms; and not just in reading, but in singing as well. The Psalms were written to be sung in worship and they capture the full range of human response to being in the presence of God. Mystery and awe, fear and trembling, confusion and questioning, exuberance and joy, stillness and contentment, remorse and sorrow, gratitude and dependence are just some of the human responses and emotions expressed by the inspired writers of the Psalms. And as the Psalms are inspired Scripture, we are called to make the experiences of the Psalmists our own. We are to do this corporately in song, prayer, and confession; not individualistically wrapping ourselves in an emotional cocoon.

The drive to keep everything upbeat is not only unbiblical, it also does real damage to God's people. Worship becomes artificial, contrived, and impoverished. In all honesty, no one will really take it seriously. It encourages the Christians present to think there is something wrong with them if they aren't happy and smiling all the time. Thoughtful unbelievers who are present will reject it as infantile; and many times, they are right.

After leading a worship service several years ago, one of the parishioners came up to me and complained that one of the hymns we sang sounded like a funeral dirge; "mournful and depressing" he called it. I admitted to him that the hymn did sound a bit like a dirge, it was mournful (although, it was not depressing). But, as I explained to him, there was a good reason for it -- we were singing about the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ! The type of music and the mournful tone of the worship at that time was appropriate for us who are united to Christ in His sufferings! The bitter and innocent suffering of Christ in enduring the cross for those He loves was expressed in a moving way by the very appropriate music and lyrics of the hymn we were using. When the church can no longer incorporate these elements into its worship, we have become shallow; we have forgotten the true human condition and the grace of the incarnation of Christ as He shares in the suffering of sinful humanity.

by Pastor Eric Sauder

Christ the King Church, Springfield, Missouri

Here is an example of what Pastor Sauder is talking about...beautifully done!

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded from Art Dunham on Vimeo.