Crawford Loritts warns against emotionalism at Passion 2025: ‘Moments are not meant to be worshiped’
Crawford Loritts encouraged thousands of 18- to 25-year-olds gathered for Passion 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia, to cultivate a strong and vibrant relationship with Jesus, stressing that genuine, sustainable faith cannot rely solely on emotional experiences.
“God does not do His deepest work in the shallowest dimension of our lives, which is our emotions,” Loritts, the 75-year-old senior pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, Georgia, told those gathered at State Farm Arena on Jan. 7 for day two of the Passion Conference. “I didn't say that they're insignificant, but God does His deepest work through our will and our yieldedness and our rightness in the moment.”
The speaker and bestselling author acknowledged the beauty and importance of spiritual moments when God’s presence feels tangible — such as the Passion Conference — but he cautioned against mistaking them for the foundation of faith.
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“Those moments are not meant to be worshiped. They are meant to be spiritual accelerators,” he said. “We don’t seek those moments, but we bless God for those moments. We are people of one person. We seek Jesus. It’s all about His renown and favor.”
The heart of Loritts’ message was a call to sustainability in faith, a challenge to maintain a vibrant relationship with God long after the emotional intensity of the event fades.
“What will your Christianity, your walk with God, look like 15 years from now? What would it look like 20 years from now?” he asked, encouraging attendees to reflect on their spiritual longevity.
He warned of seasons when God’s presence might feel distant, describing them as opportunities for growth in faith and trust.
“There’ll be times when you don’t sense the affirmation of God’s presence,” Loritts said. “And the reason why He does that is because He wants us to learn how to walk by faith, to step into things and trust Him, and to be strong and resilient.”
Loritts, who also serves as CEO of Beyond Our Generation, went on to address the challenges posed by spiritual warfare and the need for vigilance in the Christian life.
“We do have an enemy. He’s a conquered foe, but he’s still out trying to intimidate and scare us,” he said. “All of us have targets on us, and he wants to tap us out of the game.”
He shared sobering stories from his own experience, recounting how small, unresolved sins had led to the downfall of some of his peers.
“The things that will destroy you are the explosives that have been planted in your soul over time,” he warned. “Little areas of sin in their lives that they never got rid of — they just managed it. And over time, the cracks in the foundation became too much.”
Loritts urged attendees to take their struggles seriously, seek accountability and address sin before it takes root. “You have to walk with Christ moment by moment,” he said. “There’s no big secret to finishing well. It’s about the decisions you make in the moment.”
To help attendees build a faith that lasts, Loritts outlined seven key disciplines:
The Word of God: Loritts called Scripture the “foundation” of faith and urged attendees to make it a daily priority. “This is not a collection of inspirational fodder. This is the voice of God,” he said. Sharing from personal experience, he revealed that daily Bible reading had been his practice since his teenage years. “If I’m not in this book, I’m dead,” he said.
Worship: He described worship as an act of surrender, a daily declaration of God’s worth. “Worship is not about you,” he said. “It’s about declaring every day, ‘You are my God, and I am yours.’”
Repentance: Loritts called repentance both a point and a process. “Sin thrives in darkness,” he said. “But when you confess it and walk toward the light, you allow God’s truth to disinfect your life.”
Obedience: He emphasized the importance of acting on God’s guidance without hesitation. “What is God telling you to do? Do it,” Loritts urged. “Don’t overthink it.”
Discipleship: True discipleship, Loritts said, is about ordering one’s life around the mission of Christ. “Jesus is not a hobby. Jesus is my life,” he declared.
Community: Loritts reminded the audience that Christianity is not a solo endeavor. “There’s no such thing as an independent Christian,” he said. He encouraged attendees to find mentors, accountability partners, and peers who could walk alongside them in their faith.
Service: Finally, Loritts underscored the importance of being the “salt and light” in the world, embracing the call to fulfill the Great Commission. “To be a follower of Christ means that you carry the light of Christ wherever you go,” he said.
Concluding his message, Loritts reflected on the challenge of finishing well, particularly in a world fraught with distractions and pitfalls.
“All you have is the moment that you’re living in right now,” he said. “It’s the decisions you make during that moment that determine where you will end up and what you will become.”
He shared a prayer for the next generation, asking God to strengthen them for the journey ahead. “Lord, give them a sense of divine purpose and joy. Strengthen them to do hard, difficult things so they can demonstrate that, during their moment in history, they have been with the King of kings.”
A growing number of theologians, pastors and Christian thinkers have raised concerns about the potential dangers of emotionalism in worship, warning that relying too heavily on feelings risks creating a shallow and unsustainable faith.
In a previous interview with The Christian Post, the “In Christ Alone” author and modern hymn writer Keith Getty warned that many modern worship songs focus on emotionalism rather than sound doctrine and Scriptural truths.
This, he said, leads to a generation ill-equipped to understand or defend the Christian faith.
“An authentic generation doesn’t begin with catharsis; it has to begin with an authentic picture of the God of the Bible,” he explained. “Over 75 percent of what are called the great hymns of the faith talk about eternity, Heaven, Hell, and the fact that we have peace with God. Yet, less than 5 percent of modern worship songs talk about eternity.”
Many worship songs are focused on this Earth,” Getty said. “I believe that the modern worship movement is a movement for cultural relevance. It’s a de-Christianizing of God’s people. It’s utterly dangerous. I have no quibbles saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ This can’t happen to build an authentic generation.”
The theme of this year's Passion Conference is "For His Renown" and featured founder Louie Giglio, Sadie Robertson Huff, Jackie Hill Perry, Jonathan Pokluda and others, with music from Brooke Ligertwood, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, KB and Passion Music.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
