My wife, Ana, and I were married 24 years ago yesterday, and for our honeymoon, we traveled to Big Bear, Ca. and stayed at my folk’s cabin for a few days. We had a wonderful time together and decided to attend worship at one of the local churches. Being a new Christian at that time, I was not savvy regarding denominations/affiliations and we ended up attending a Four-Square (Pentecostal) church. There were about 30 people at the service and things were going well until after some singing, the worship leader said “If you love, Jesus, raise your right hand.” Then he said something to the effect “If you want to worship, then raise your left hand.”. Well, I don’t remember if I raised my right hand, but I definitely didn’t raise my left and neither did my wife! I think we were the only ones with hands at our sides with defiant expressions on our faces. We were determined not to be manipulated in worshipping the Lord with raised hands!
My point with this historical (or hysterical) story, is that next to the issue of contemporary vs. traditional music, expressionism in worship is a hotly debated subject in reformed circles. What I mean by “expressionism” is the use of physical expression in worship such as lifting of hands, clapping, kneeling, etc., primarily during singing (prayer and preaching may also be opportunities). I confess that this is an area that I have personally been challenged in, especially in light of what the Bible has to say about our corporate worship.
At the Worship God 09 Conference, I purposed to attend one of the seminars by Bob Kauflin, entitled, “Let the People be Glad: Corporate Worship and Expressiveness”. I very much appreciated Bob’s humble approach to such a divisive subject and I believe he did a good job approaching the subject from a biblical point of view. His main point is captured in this part of his message where he quotes from John Calvin:
“The inward attitude certainly holds first place in prayer, but outward signs, kneeling, uncovered head, lifting up the hands, have a twofold use. The first is that we may employ all our members for the glory and worship of God; secondly, that we are, so to speak, jolted out of our laziness by this help. There is also a third use in solemn and public prayer, because the sons of God profess their piety, and they inflame each other with reverence of God. But just as the lifting up of the hands is a symbol of confidence and longing, so in order to show our humility, we fall down on our knees.” (John Calvin, commentary on Acts 20:36)
If your interested in listening to the message, here is the link. Just scroll down about 2/3 of the way. The link also has the outline and notes.
I look forward to your comments!
Mark
Randy Broberg makes a good point that during the first centuries the standard way of praying was with arms raised and eyes looking up to the sky (called the Orant).
The idea of bowing your head and closing your eyes actually comes from the later practice of bowing before a magistrate or king.
Seems the orant may even be mentioned in Scripture. “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands” 1 Tim 2:8a.
I’m not saying I think we should all practice the orant during worship but it’s food for thought. Sometimes I will lift my eyes during corporate prayer instead of closing my eyes.
So much of this is culture and convention, as we know that our Lord looks at the inward parts. In other words, even the outward things that we do have inward motivations. It’s not if we should or should not perform physical acts during worship, but if our physical acts, or lack thereof, are *in worship* to the King. There is freedom for both just as there is freedom to drink or not drink, to eat or not eat.
For me personally, the difficulty I have is just getting over my own (fleshly) inhibitions. There have been times, especially recently, where I have wanted to raise my hands in exaltation, but have stopped myself because I have felt strange and have not wanted to be “distracting” or ____.
The hard part in any culture, or church’s culture, is what I just described. How can folks feel free to break out of their own patterns without feeling distracting and in doing so solely because their heart urges them to do so? Tricky…
Thanks for posting this, Mark!
Hi James. I agree with your comments and think that there are at least three important steps for church leaders to take:
1. Teach that physical expressiveness is appropriate in biblical worship. Be balanced and deal with why some people may struggle in this area.
2. Model the worship that God desires; heart, soul, mind and strength…..in other words, church leaders set the example. If they are reserved and non-expressive, the congregation will will be generally be reserved and non-expressive. If the leaders are expressive and engaged, the congregation will be also.
3. Most importantly, make sure that the worship is God-centered not man-centered. If worship is focused on how great and glorious and awesome is our God, then our worship will more likely be fully expressed.
Amen, brother. I agree. I think our current church is somewhere in the middle between what we observed at GBC and some very “expressive” churches. It does encourage me to be more free in my expression, but I don’t think I’m over the “hump” yet.
I hope the Lord will give me courage to just focus on worship and not be self-aware (to some extent!).
Love you, brother!
James
Amen! I agree with you Mark about being expressive and teaching that to the congregation. I think it’s biblical. As a communications teacher (Drama) I am aware of the statistic that states that 90% of what people ‘hear’ is what they ‘see’ with their eyes. Anyone who helps lead in worship is sharing a message with the congregation, much like the preacher. Ideally, good preachers facial expressions and body language match their verbal message. So it should be with anyone assisting in worship. Joyful songs should be sung in such a way that joy is communicated with face, body, words and voice/instrument. Somber songs should be sung soberly. Reflective songs should be reflective, etc. Worship leaders sing FOR the Lord but they also LEAD the congregation. It’s a two fold job that requires both worship from the heart and clear communication to other worshippers.