at small group we've been talking about charismatic churches*. rock harbor, the church our life group is associated with, is trying hard to be a middle of the road church, not too charismatic or the other way round.
our leaders asked us what we thought of very demonstrative people. most of them seem to be in agreement that they view more dramatic reactions are show, and are not genuine. more than one person said they were suspicious that these people were doing it for the attention.
as an atheist who doesn't remember ever feeling the stirring of god, any higher power, or anything supernatural, i'm fairly neutral towards the subject. everyone's different: some people never cry, not even at a death, others start bawling and ripping out their hair over split milk. so one person not being physically moved by god makes just as much sense as a person "over-reacting" for god.
personally, i'm less comfortable with charismatic churches. tho i say this having never been to one. but i'm a fairly reserved person anyway, so the fainting or faith healings is a bit too much for me.
*from what i understand, charismatic churches are the churches where the people are more demonstrative when they feel god. this could be anything from raising your hands in the air, to shouting "hallelujah", to speaking in tongues, to rolling on the ground. non-charismatic churches tend to stay away from that. i think they're more structured in general. so less going with what you feel than going to what's on the schedule.
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