As I was enjoying the awesome musical genius that is Israel Houghton, a post idea came to mind.
Toward the end of the concert, Israel held up both his hands in the air. He pointed out that two hands raised in the air is the “international symbol of surrender“. He asked if everyone could raise both their hands in the air, no matter what their tradition or denomination, as a symbol of worship and surrender to God.
It was a beautiful thing to see such a unified display of worship in a sanctuary filled with worship team leaders, musicians, and audio/visual technicians.
But, it got me thinking about how these kinds of physical displays of worship are not universally embraced by the Christian community and in some respects are downright controversial.
Some people instinctively raise their hands, closing their eyes, perhaps even shedding tears.
Others frown upon even hand clapping in church, yet alone hand raising.
What’s your take? To raise hands or not raise hands? What do you think the Bible says about this one?
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Great topic. I tend to be from the more conservative group of people who don’t raise hands and such. I don’t have a problem with it, but I wasn’t raised in churches that had much of that. I’m not a big fan of being told what I should do since I find it distracting and I find myself thinking about how awkward I feel, rather than the worship that is going on. If it’s natural and from the heart, go for it. I think it is important that those who are more “charismatic” realize that just because some people don’t raise their hands doesn’t mean those people are less involved in the worship.
Wes, you bring up a GREAT point. I too really don’t like being told what to do, in worship or anywhere else for that matter. It’s funny how there can be “peer pressure” in worship! Also, you make another excellent point in saying that “just because some people don’t raise their hands doesn’t mean those people are less involved in worship”. Amen! I totally agree with that. It also makes me think about another topic: is our expression of worship an outgrowth of our personality, our nurturing, or just our modeling? Where does that come from? I wonder if anyone’s ever done a study on that.
People can worship however they want. My only comment to this is that some are more distracting than others, which can be… distracting, but more often than not, it’s my issue and not there’s. I just close my eyes which makes me press in more anyway. Ya know?
Kelly, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree. Sometimes it CAN be distracting, and I have to close my eyes and just picture it as if it’s just me and God in the room. And, sometimes I have to close my eyes just to focus. Sometimes I have to NOT sing, so I can just hear the words.
I used to be afraid to raise my hands. What would people say?, etc. etc but God one day said to do it ( I also really wanted to) and to fight against the fear man…It was 100% for Him but also I felt He put on my heart to do it so that others could feel they could do the same. It reminded me of King David who danced before the Lord while other’s mocked him for looking foolish…he did not fear other’s opinions but was willing to lose his “cool card” for God. It is about the heart and if you are raising your hands to “look” the part that is as bad as not raising your hands out of fear. (I admit I do it sometimes when I don’t feel like it because I am making a statement of faith…”I don’t feel like worshiping, Lord, but You area my all anyway and I submit.”
Ruth! Thanks so much for sharing your heart. Yes, King David was “undignified”, and sometimes maybe God is calling us to do the same. My friend Trevor brought a good point to my attention yesterday: our worship in public should be no different than our worship in private. Meaning, if I would raise my hands in worship when I’m alone with Him, then I should also have no fear to raise my hands when in a corporate setting. It’s ironic how even in times of worship, we can let our pride and fear get in the way-the very things we are trying to throw off as we pursue Him.
This topic comes up many times when my family and I leave church. If the choir director tries to incorporate instruments other than the organ or try to get the congregation clapping, my girls will ask me if he knows we are Catholic. I think though that worship should be in a setting comfortable to you. I would not be comfortable in a very dynamic setting as I was raised in a very conservative worship setting. I am comfortable with ritual and traditional songs during the service. We have started to extend our arms when praying over the parents at Baptism, holding hands during the Our Father, raising our arms in prayer during the Peace where you can see that the older folks don’t participate or look very uncomfortable. I don’t know what the Bible says about it, would love to find out, but I know in my heart that God would not want me to worship where I am uncomfortable because then I could not concentrate on the message.
Bobbie, that is so funny-the girls checking to see that the choir director knows you’re Catholic! LOL
Yes, I think worship should be unique to the individual, but I hesitate to use the word “comfortable”. I think God calls us to do a lot of things that ARE NOT comfortable because then we have to make a step of faith. But, I think what you say about it being distracting is in the same sense of what my friend Wes said about distractions. And, if something is distracting us from seeing God, then that’s not a good thing. I’m grateful that He is a personal God, and He will meet me wherever I am, no matter what my worship “looks” like.
When I wrote this I had a few things in mind about the Biblical application, but I’ll share that later. My friend Ruth mentioned David below, and I think that’s a great example. The Bible tells us he went all out and was “undignified”.
Yes, when I said comfortable it was more in a distracting sense. I have not heard any voices about lifting of hands, but I will tell you that I do belt out the songs even though I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. I know I can’t sing well, but I also feel that singing is praise and I can let go of my concern about what others think of my singing voice. For me I thing that this is where I become undignified, ask the people who sit in front of me.
Bobbie, you make me laugh! You know, even if someone doesn’t sing great, it’s the heart that matters. I like it when people sing loud in church-it tells me they’re totally into it.
Honestly I’m a hands up kind of person…. In church my hands are up….and at home when I am doing my day to day roo-teen praizin Him, I’m raising my hands up and squeezing my hands up to Him!!! He is what makes a bad day better!