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Friday, February 24, 2006
An annoying question
I have a question. I probably shouldnt be asking it here in this format, but I am going to. Let me give you a warning: the following discussion my cause frustration...if you are concerned abou this then do not continue reading. There, I have warned you. My purpose here is to start a discussion. I want to hear your answers to this question that has recently started bothering me. The question is simply what does it mean when we raise our hands in worship? I do want to set a few parameters for this discussion. I dont really want to hear what you it means to you. I dont really care what it means to you (no offense); I want to know what it means...I want truth not subjectivity. If you can use Scripture that would be great, or if you have heard explanations that made sense feel free to share. I do want to say that I dont have a problem with raising hands, but a little while ago I ran into a bit of a problem. I realized that I didnt understand what I was doing. I didnt know why I was doing it. I found myself asking that if I was never to have seen anyone ever do that, would I have been able to come to that activity on my own with just the Scriptures...and if I never came to that conclusion would I be missing out on some part of deeper and more significant worship because of missing it. The reason that question bothered me is because I realized that I could have found yet another thing that I do in my life that is just parroting what I have seen others do, and never really questioned its purpose or meaning. 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 says, "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind." Notice that the last phrase that we sing with our spirit and our mind. The point is simply that once again I found myself participating in mindless worship (by mindless I mean without understanding or a personal knowledge of). That isnt acceptable. I also want to say that I hope that this thought doesnt hinder you from expressing yourself in worship to God. But I am tired of asking stupind and boring questions. Let's hit the issue head on. So enjoy, and I hope that you do take time to evaluate this and dig in the Word.
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9 comments:
Thanks for challenging me to dig deeper in the Word. I am not finished giving study but I did find the first mentioned scripture that people raised hands in praise. Ezra was reading the scripture to all (male and female able bodied people. "Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, "Amen! Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground." -Neh 8
I thought it interesting that they raised hands as a collective group.
It is interesting that they did it as a group, but my question is not whether it happened or not; but what does it mean when they do it. The fact that they all had the same response tells me that they all understood what this meant.
I guess that a better statement of the question I have is more than what does it mean as much as do we really know and understand what it means or are we parroting activity we have seen others do without really owning the truth for ourselves.
Here’s the truth I own for myself concerning raising my hands in worship: God is glorified when I take delight in Him, and during worship, my delight is to surrender, sacrifice, praise and plea. All four of these words are the different Scriptural truths that I have applied in worship. Honestly (and as a girl, I certainly cannot say this about everything in my life), lifting my hands is not an emotional decision during worship, although the heart is involved. It is a symbol of the attitude of my heart and mind as they come together (as they are often NOT joined together) to worship. Ps. 119:48 (“I lift up my hands to Your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees”) is the active surrender of my will to His. Ps. 141:2 (“May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.”) is the sacrifice of all that I would wrongly count gain which is only loss in comparison to worshiping Him. Ps. 63:4 (“I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands.”) is the praise of joy I cannot withhold from my lips for His person and His works. And Ps. 28:2 (“Hear my cry for mercy as I call to You for help, as I lift up my hands toward Your Most Holy Place”) is the plea I bring before Him on behalf of others (and unfortunately more commonly) for myself. If these sound vague, it is only because I do not have the time to tell you how many countless specific items I must surrender and sacrifice every time I open my mouth to pray or sing in order to be able to focus solely on Him. I do not think that I have ever parroted this action mindlessly, because there has always been purpose in my worship to close my eyes (focus) or lift my hands (surrender, sacrifice, praise, plea), etc. Even as culture influences our method of worship (the beat of the music, the repetitive choruses, the mass choir or the individual song leader), we are still physical beings and we are created to respond to God. I honestly believe that even if I had never seen someone lift their hands I would feel an intense longing to raise them as I do in my private prayers, but if you disagree on that, it really doesn’t matter because there’s no way to know for sure either way, since the influence is irreversible. I’m grateful to be challenged to consider any action that may be considered mindless, because more often than not, I have yet to question my actions. I think it IS something you should talk about in SS or anywhere, Fayez, regardless of your conclusion, because as much as we know that we are role models in active worship for the students, they should still be challenged to consider the truth of our actions as well as theirs based upon the Word. Anyhow, I’m not sure if that’s at all the point of your question since I know you weren’t looking for the “what it means to me” answer, but that’s all I’ve got. Glad to take the time to find the Scriptures to explain what truths I wanted to address, though, it was a good time.
Thanks Fayez for our b-ball chat. I struggle with things like this! Something that seems so simple and so common...yet so empty (to me) and this is only one of the many. I enjoy your questions that challenge every inch of my Christianity.
Fayez, I am not sure that "...they all understood what this meant"
Maybe they understood that they were a part of something larger than themselves or moving them to do this, but I am not sure that if you were there that day, and you asked the crowd "why did you all raise your hands?" I don't think that you would get one common response. The truth is our response to God's Glory is mysterious. It is humiliating and something about it shows us purpose and raises us up to places we would never rise to.
Love is almost always demostrative. Think of a toddler that wants to be picked up, no one has to show them how to reach their arms up to you. naturally, without much thought they reach their hands to the sky. Much later in our lives we learn how to be more careful with our love, more reserved, more analytical... so that there is no risk of looking foolish.
I think there are so many other things that we do cooperately that are creative and mysterious. Worship, our response to the Creator, can be really unexplainable. And sometimes it looks silly and sometimes it looks really kept.
here are some verses to take a look at:
1 Kings 8:54
Job 11:13
psalm 28:2, 63:4, 88:9, 119:48, 134:2, 141:2, 143:6
Lamentations 1:17, 2:19
I Timothy 2:8
Most of these were concerning raising you hands in prayer. But the concept of raising your hands toward heaven is Biblical. But I'm not sure that's really the point.
It really raises another question:
If we are just parroting our faith from other faithful believers can it still be true. I suppose it depends on what you are or are not memicking. Sometimes we memmick because it would be crazy not to. We see a piece of art or an expression that capsulates what is inside us and we say "yes... exactly...me too"
And that expression can give us freedom to express what we are experienceing.
there is a scene in elizabethtown that you must see. I don't want to ruin it for you but...
There is a lady tapdancing and her love and expression is so ridiculous and moving. I loved it. For some reason, I think the mystery and love of the uncomfortable moment somehow fits in this conversation about if raising your hands is biblical or not.
Sorry fayez, I guess I didn't expand like I had planned to. My point was that it was in "response". The fact that raised their hands and responded,which Catherine and Nathan later covered in great detail. I'm not sure if they were overwhelmed or in awe or unable to demonstrate in any other way. I just know my opinion and why I respond that way which isn't what you wanted. Sorry I wasn't more clear. :o)
I think that the reason we lift our hands in worship is that raised hands universally signifies surrender. To fully worship we must surrender everything to God.
I must beg to differ on some points that have been stated here so far. That is what I like about discussions...we dont all have to agree. I think that one of the things that is hindering us as churches in the States is the fact that we go along with so many things that we dont understand. I think that as a culture in the States we seem to have given ourselves permission to question so many of the things that have been passed down to us from the older generation and be ready to dismiss what we call empty tradition; but when it comes to the new things that are really starting to become prevalent it doesnt seem okay to question so much of it. Why is it that we are not concerned that so many people are taking postures in worship or experiencing these things but there is no understanding of what it going on or what it symbolizes? Why are we content to sit back and allow personal experience to define what is done? I understand that there is much about God that is mysterious and unexplainable, but there are also answers to many things that we consider mystery (it just takes effort and study to get to some of these answers). I guess what I am saying is that everyone isnt right...everything isnt acceptable. I must take the Scriptures as the lens through which I view my experience and not the other way around. I dont accept that the Israelites didnt understand what they were doing when they raised there hands. The middle eastern culture (and especially the Jews) did an unbelievable job of passing everything down orally. God gave them so many things as visual illustrations from sacrifices to monuments which they were to use to explain to their children so they would know God and what was going on. I guess what I am saying is that there is an answer to this question. While it might not be in a neat little package, it is still there. I dont think that parroting things in our walk with Christ without understanding what we are doing is a good thing. Parroting what we see and hear is part of the reason that all of are prayers are so similar. For example we all pray the same things around meals or before church, and we can even hear children and teens echo these prayers word for word. I think that imitation with understanding is one thing, but parroting with misunderstanding or just doing it mindlessy could be harmful. I understand that our posture in prayer and worship is not a thing of extreme importance, but it does signify something. I think that if it is possible to understand what it means (not what it means to me...but what it really means)then we should strive to understand that thing so that when we do respond to God we can respond appropriatly. None of you may care about any of this, and that is OK...that is why it is on my BLOG and not yours!!! I do want to close this one comment. I am still studying this, and I think that I am getting closer to a better understanding of the hands raised issue. I might put the answer here when I finish, then again it might be to long when I finish. Who knows?
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