I just thought of this while I was driving to work less than an hour ago (by the time this post goes up, it will be more than an hour).
Why, in church worship services, does everyone lift their hands when the music gets the loudest? It usually happens during the chorus or bridge of the song. I guess I don’t understand because the whole song is worshipping Jesus, so why do most people raise their hands as if on cue when the music gets loud or someone starts shredding on the guitar? Or when the notes get higher?
It happens in EVERY church I go to, and I wonder if it isn’t just one of those Pentecostalisms. I feel bad for the verses, because hardly anyone raises their hands during them — they just kinda sing them and get all pumped for the chorus. I mean, it’s not as if the verses are any less anointed, or merely serve as filler to get you all excited for the loud portions of the song.
Shoot, why do we even raise our hands in the first place? Maybe that’s the accepted thing for everyone to do, it’s probably the only symbol of worship we all know.
Eccchhhh, I’m just rambling here.
Twitter Updates
Chris, I’ve never been in a pentecostal worship service, having always attended Baptist churches, and in youth groups we usually made fun of our own stiff worship traditions with sayings like “You can only lift one hand at a time…” or “You can dance, but you can’t bend your knees…”. There weren’t official rules, but emotional worship was something that made people uncomfortable. People were emotional at times anyway, but outward emotional expressions weren’t a part of most services. We sang louder when inspired :P
Worship style is one of the strangest reasons to divide the body of Christ, but it is also one of the most powerful ones. I’m not really sure how to overcome differences in worship, but I do know that you cannot define worship by what appears on the outside, it’s all about loving God, and I suppose many denominations fear that outward expressions become more about being seen than falling in love with God. On the flip side, many people use the strictness and appearance of holiness as a substitute for the real deal.
Now that I think about it, we’re probably the ones with the biggest concerns of appearances. I guess I’ve always imagined that the outward expressions such as raising hands, crying, etc were inherently pressuring others to think that their worship wasn’t as significant because they weren’t so emotionally stirred.
No thoughts on a resolution though. Do these issues of appearance ever come up for you, or others that you’ve worshiped with? Worship is inherently so personal, but I suppose since we’re discussing corporate worship it’s a little more broad :)
Well for myself, I direct my worship to God. I don’t pay too much attention to what someone is else is doing because I am not focusing on them. However that being said, I do enjoy watching people express their adoration to God in any form of worship. The scripture is replete with different forms of worship, even to how our hearts and minds should be during it. Over and over in the Old Testament, God would tell the people to shout, dance, and clap their hands. The Word tells us to rend our hearts, sing a new song unto the Lord, to lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting. To sing aloud, and to bow down. I actually do listen to the words I am singing to God, and yes, I lift up my hands during the verses. The reasons are many; prayer, surrender, brokenness, humility and for me it is another way of expressing my love for my Saviour. These and so many more thoughts and emotions come as I worship and focus on God. The main thing is that you are worshipping the Lord. Music is stirring, so the louder it gets perhaps brings more emphasis on what we are actually saying.
David was a man after God’s own heart, and he wrote so many songs of praise to the Lord. And he worshipped in many different ways, but one thing is for sure, he was abandoned to flat out adoring God whether it fit it to someone’s mold of what worship should be or not.
I remember awhile back when you posted a blog about an encounter with God in your room while worshiping? What made you raise your hands???