Sometimes I agree with the skeptics; what is it with these charismatics?
They gather in stadiums and around television sets. They yell, jump up and down and wave their hands around. It’s all these people talk about. They spend money on all sorts of paraphernalia; bumper stickers, t-shirts, pins, hats, etc., etc. It really is amazing how much money they will spend, and it all makes their leaders rich.
All of this frantic activity and much more all because a guy hit a ball with a stick, kicked a ball with his foot or threw a ball into a hoop. That’s right; I have been describing the behaviors of the sports fanatics.
Isn’t it amazing that it is perfectly acceptable to get so worked up about watching grown people play a game but Christians are thought of as over the top extremists when we do the same? Many people know more about how many times an athlete has hit a ball with a stick than they do about the destination of their eternal soul. If they can get so excited about playing a game can we not get just as excited, or more so, about worshipping God?
Yes, we can shout, jump up and down and wave our hands. Admittedly there are some abuses in this area; in some churches people crawl around on all fours and bark like dogs, or lay on the ground seemingly comatose or else in a seizure like fit. Some yell incoherently or have the whole church speak in tongues at the same time like sounding brass or a clanging cymbal (1st Corinthians 13:1). We cannot forget that one of the fruits of the Spirits is self-control (Galatians 5:23). So let us make a joyful noise unto the Lord (Psalms 66:1, 81:1, 95:1, 98:4, 100:1) let us celebrate in various ways yet, let it be done decently and in order (1st Corinthians 14:40).