But I Just Don't Feel It

By the Rev. David A. Kind

When you go to church, do you expect to be emotionally uplifted? Do you expect to be set "on fire" for the Lord, to get yourself "pumped up" for Jesus? As human beings whom God has created with emotions, we all want to feel good about church and to feel that God is doing something for us. We enjoy those mountain top experiences where our emotions for Christ are roused and where we feel so inspired by His presence.

But what about when we don't feel it? What about when we go to church and don't get an emotional charge out of the music? What about when we find the sermon boring and out of touch with our felt needs? Does this mean there is something wrong with our church? Should we be doing something differently? Should we go somewhere else where we feel the presence of God more strongly?

Popular Christianity would answer "yes" to each of those questions. But real Christianity is more hesitant to give an affirmative answer. For real faith is not based on one's emotions. It does not find its certainty in the way one feels about church or even about our Lord Himself. Why not? Because as sinful human beings, our emotions, too, are infected with sinfulness. They are unreliable as gauges of reality; unstable, shifting, and changing all the time. One day we feel happy, the next sad. One day we feel like we are faithful Christians, the next, like the worst of heathen sinners. One day we feel close to God, the next as if God has abandoned us. Our emotions are like shifting sand. They give no foundation for faith, or for understanding what we are experiencing in church when we encounter Christ.

So what should we base our faith upon? We base our faith and our salvation upon that which is most certain and most solid, upon our Lord Himself and upon the Word He has given us. And what has He said about what happens in church? He has said that He will come to us and bless us through the preaching of His Word, through Holy Baptism, through Holy Absolution, and in Holy Communion; and that we are not to forsake these things.

When these gifts are being given, whether we feel it or not, Jesus is there with His blessing. Our emotions cannot keep up with the reality of what God is doing for us. God's work is usually not perceived. It must simply be believed because God has said and done it, and because His Word is utterly true and reliable.

So whether we feel uplifted, or whether we feel nothing at all when in church, the reality is that God is there to bless us; and that we as Christians are there, not just to get an emotional charge, but to receive His blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

The Rev. David A. Kind is an Admission Counselor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.