“Men take readily to ‘a sensuous, histrionic [theatrical, melodramatic] religion.’ ‘It is the religion that the natural heart likes, but it is not the religion of God.’
There is a natural proneness and tendency in us all to give God a sensual, carnal worship, and not that which is commanded in His Word. We are ever ready, by reason of our sloth and unbelief, to devise visible helps and stepping-stones in our approaches to Him … Any worship whatsoever is more pleasing to the natural heart, than worshipping God in the way which our Lord Jesus Christ describes, ‘in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:23).”
(Iain Murray, J.C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone, 226)