Clapping During Song

[Molal]

I attend a church of Christ where singing is acapella. Occasionally, someone will start to clap (usually the teens) and some, but not all, of the congregation will follow.

I was wondering what your thoughts were on this. For me , I feel uncomfortable with clapping during worship; however, I am unable to provide any biblical reasoning for this feeling, this does not mean; however, that it doesn't exist.

So, am I right to feel uncomfortable? Do you think that clapping is a slippery slope?

Thank you, in advance, for your thoughts.

 

[holo]

So, am I right to feel uncomfortable? Do you think that clapping is a slippery slope?

If it's a slippery slope, where is it that you're afraid you'll end up?

 

[DerSchweik]

All I can say is, "It's not me." I view clapping as an expression of emotion - and I'm simply not someone comfortable expressing emotion - especially publicly. If the whole congregation begins clapping, my tendency is to put my hands into my pockets.

Is it "wrong?" I doubt it.
Would I prohibit it if given the power to do so? I doubt it.
Does it make me uncomfortable? Yes.
Are my feelings on this an accurate gauge of right and wrong w/r to this? I doubt it.

Doctrine according to DerSchweik:

Clapping, raising hands and arms in prayer, dancing, etc. and yada yada yada, while not explicitly prohibited in Scripture, shall not be expected of me, tho others may frolic in same.
Fuddy Duddy 3:1ff

and,

Clapping is for good performances by actors and musicians - - and of course - for turning lamps off and on.
Old Fart 1:18

 

[crawfish]

In my hometown, there are two decent sized CofC's (>400 members). When the more progressive one adopted a modern worship format, with a worship team (or, as my dad says, "a choir"), about 50-100 moved to the more conservative one - my home church, where my dad is an elder. Clapping NEVER happened in my church - when you weren't singing, you could hear crickets chirping in the audience.

I attended one Sunday a few months after this happened. I was shocked when, after a baptism, about 50-100 people started clapping. Presumably those who'd transferred. I asked my dad about it at lunch - he got this tense look on his face, and said "I don't like it, but there's nothing against it scripturally."

I suppose this is the slippery slope you're talking about - as some churches get more progressive, it pulls the others ones up a notch.

 

[Molal]

If it's a slippery slope, where is it that you're afraid you'll end up?

Hi holo,

I suppose my concern is that it gets into 'doing a little jig' in the pew such as swaying, waving hands and arms around, etc.

I know, it sounds pendantic but it does concern me.

 

[Molal]

All I can say is, "It's not me." I view clapping as an expression of emotion - and I'm simply not someone comfortable expressing emotion - especially publicly. If the whole congregation begins clapping, my tendency is to put my hands into my pockets.

Is it "wrong?" I doubt it.
Would I prohibit it if given the power to do so? I doubt it.
Does it make me uncomfortable? Yes.
Are my feelings on this an accurate gauge of right and wrong w/r to this? I doubt it.

Doctrine according to DerSchweik:

and,

I appreciate your thoughts, I wonder if I am worrying over nothing here

 

[Molal]

In my hometown, there are two decent sized CofC's (>400 members). When the more progressive one adopted a modern worship format, with a worship team (or, as my dad says, "a choir"), about 50-100 moved to the more conservative one - my home church, where my dad is an elder. Clapping NEVER happened in my church - when you weren't singing, you could hear crickets chirping in the audience.

I attended one Sunday a few months after this happened. I was shocked when, after a baptism, about 50-100 people started clapping. Presumably those who'd transferred. I asked my dad about it at lunch - he got this tense look on his face, and said "I don't like it, but there's nothing against it scripturally."

I suppose this is the slippery slope you're talking about - as some churches get more progressive, it pulls the others ones up a notch.

Thanks for your thoughts crawfish.

I like your last sentence - made me laugh!

 

[cremi]

So, am I right to feel uncomfortable?

Yes, as long as you realize it's only about your feeling uncomfortable and has absolutley nothing to do with how others worship. You should not feel like you have to clap, but you also should not expect others to be stoic if they want to clap as part of their worship to God.

Do you think that clapping is a slippery slope?

To what? Losing one's salvation? Instrumental music?

I would say no to both.

 

[crawfish]

Yes, as long as you realize it's only about your feeling uncomfortable and has absolutley nothing to do with how others worship. You should not feel like you have to clap, but you also should not expect others to be stoic if they want to clap as part of their worship to God. To what? Losing one's salvation? Instrumental music?

I would say no to both.

When I first started at my current church, I was VERY uncomfortable. The worship team, the music displayed onscreen (and no mention of song numbers), the "flowing" worship style - but the thing that made me the most uncomfortable was the scattered hand raisers/wavers in the crowd. 15 years later, I still don't raise my hands, but it doesn't bother me anymore.

 

[DerSchweik]

I appreciate your thoughts, I wonder if I am worrying over nothing here

I was perhaps too "tongue in cheek" in my last response so I apologize, Tim.

I guess my feelings on this are as you - clapping (as well as dancing, swaying, waving arms, etc. etc.) makes me very uncomfortable so I won't do it. But I know of no scriptural precedent for NOT doing any of this.

I get very uncomfortable and sometimes even embarrassed for visitors who come to services where there's a lot of overt display of emotions. I think most visitors are very uncomfortable with this - particularly in the US.

I'm probably a lot like Michal who resented David's dancing on his way into Jerusalem and thought it inappropriate. Her resentment was improper, but I am tempted similarly when others take up clapping or other forms of emotional expression in church. I don't let it become resentment, but it's just not me, not my personality.

I don't even like standing during most songs. Some songs I do and think we SHOULD stand for (e.g. Battle Hymn of the Republic, etc.), but usually I prefer sitting.

 

[bling]

Is there a problem with us because we lack emotion during worship? I preached at an all black congregation and they really got into it. We wanted them to move in with the mostly white congregation, because they were small 50 people. It was hard for the much smaller black and the mostly white congregation to merge, but they did and for the sake of the black brethren we had a lot of AMENS, clapping and moving around. That congregation grew rapidly and looked like salt and pepper 50-50 in the audience 700+. The black song leader was fantastic.

 

[jmacvols]

I attend a church of Christ where singing is acapella. Occasionally, someone will start to clap (usually the teens) and some, but not all, of the congregation will follow.

I was wondering what your thoughts were on this. For me , I feel uncomfortable with clapping during worship; however, I am unable to provide any biblical reasoning for this feeling, this does not mean; however, that it doesn't exist.

All God authorized was singing.

So, am I right to feel uncomfortable? Do you think that clapping is a slippery slope?

Yes, it's going out of the boundaries God has set. After going beyond God's boundary one enters an open area, a free-for-all where anything goes, guided by opinion and feelings.

 

[holo]

Hi holo,

I suppose my concern is that it gets into 'doing a little jig' in the pew such as swaying, waving hands and arms around, etc.

I know, it sounds pendantic but it does concern me.

Nah, don't worry about sounding pedantic. But say some got into "a little jig" - would that be a problem? If so, why? Is it just that you personally aren't comfortable with that type of behaviour, or do you think God has something against it?

 

[Molal]

Nah, don't worry about sounding pedantic. But say some got into "a little jig" - would that be a problem? If so, why? Is it just that you personally aren't comfortable with that type of behaviour, or do you think God has something against it?

Personally, I am against that behaviour - but, as a scientist, I always analyze my positions and so when I ask myself, why am I against that behaviour I find that I have no real basis.

Yet, it seems that a tradition, at least in the C0C, is that no-one claps, sways, etc. The argument is that God only authorized singing, as used my jmacvols in post 12.

I'm just looking for thoughts, bible verses, etc.

 

[bling]

Personally, I am against that behaviour - but, as a scientist, I always analyze my positions and so when I ask myself, why am I against that behaviour I find that I have no real basis.

Yet, it seems that a tradition, at least in the C0C, is that no-one claps, sways, etc. The argument is that God only authorized singing, as used my jmacvols in post 12.

I'm just looking for thoughts, bible verses, etc.

I am getting a little upset with this. If clapping hands is a slippery slope then our Black COC brothers have been on that slope for 100 years. They raise there hands sway with the music, shout “Amen Brother”, “Preach on”, “Praise God”, etc. are they all hell bound? Have you ever attended a COC worship service in Europe, some do exchange the “Holy Kiss” and really show a lot of Love?
The Bible says nothing about standing to sing, using a toning fork to get the right pitch, using song books, having a mike or what you do with your hands.
How are you planning to merge with your black brethren down the street?

 

[Molal]

I am getting a little upset with this. If clapping hands is a slippery slope then our Black COC brothers have been on that slope for 100 years. They raise there hands sway with the music, shout “Amen Brother”, “Preach on”, “Praise God”, etc. are they all hell bound? Have you ever attended a COC worship service in Europe, some do exchange the “Holy Kiss” and really show a lot of Love?
The Bible says nothing about standing to sing, using a toning fork to get the right pitch, using song books, having a mike or what you do with your hands.
How are you planning to merge with your black brethren down the street?

Bling,

I'm just asking for some ideas, suggestions, advice, etc. There is absolutely no need to get upset.

 

[crawfish]

Bling,

I'm just asking for some ideas, suggestions, advice, etc. There is absolutely no need to get upset.

He does have an excellent point, though. So much of how we worship is cultural - and since we come from a white, conservative, puritan/protestant background, we are most comfortable with sitting on our hands in service quietly. Not everybody is going to be comfortable - or satisfied - with that environment. I've seen it drive people away from the CofC.

A friend who was a missionary in Africa told me of the congregation he visited - about 300 people, some of whom woke before dawn and walked hours to get there. They would swing,sway, sing, yell and dance as they worshiped the Lord, for hours and hours and hours. Their service lasted the better part of the day, and the early risers would often end up walking home in the dark. Who are we to say that we are doing things the right way and they are not? They seem to have a sincerity and passion for worship that Americans rarely match. If justification is truly found in one's heart, then I feel like a spiritual dwarf compared to such people.

 

[cremi]

I'm not currently attending an acapella coC, but when I did and I had small children I had to hold while singing and standing, I often found myself swaying. It had more to do with shifting the extra weight I was holding on to at the moment than it did with worshipping or offending other brothers/sisters.

I would have been apalled if someone had reproached me for swaying.

While I'm not upset with the current discussion, I confess that I don't understand the mindset. As it has been pointed out, culturally, even here in America, acapella churches of Christ can and do look very different during worship. I think it's fair to ask if you would condemn those same brothers and sisters, even though you share the same beliefs, simply because they move more during worship.

Does that make sense?

 

[jmacvols]

The Bible says nothing about standing to sing, using a toning fork to get the right pitch, using song books, having a mike or what you do with your hands.

These things do not add to what God said when He said sing, they only aid in singing.

 

[jmacvols]

Who are we to say that we are doing things the right way and they are not?

This is the open area "free-for-all" mentality when people cross the borders God has set....no matter what one drags into worship it cannot be condemned.

They seem to have a sincerity and passion for worship that Americans rarely match. If justification is truly found in one's heart, then I feel like a spiritual dwarf compared to such people.

It's all in vain if not done as God directed..will worship, people worship according their own will not God's. Justification before God can only be found in obedience to His will, not our own will.