What About Hand Clapping?

Before worship, During worship, After Baptisms

Hand clapping

• Appreciation (to honor someone, or when a good point is made during a sermon, or when someone is baptized).

• Rhythmic (during the singing of hymns).

Hand clapping in the Bible

• Psalms 47:1-2 O clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with the voice of joy. 2 For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth.

Hand clapping in the Bible

• Psalms 98:7-9 Let the sea roar & all it contains, the world & those who dwell in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy 9 Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness & the peoples with equity.

Hand clapping in the Bible

• Isaiah 55:12 For you will go out with joy & be led forth with peace; the mountains & the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, & all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (symbolic: see Rev 14:1-3)

Applause to show Appreciation

• Honor (Rom 13:7; 1 Cor 12:23-24)

• Fellowship (Heb 10:24-25)

– God’s praise (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16)

Applause to show Approval

• Dave Miller, Piloting the Straits (pg 238). “When Christianity became fashionable the customs of the theater were transferred to the churches. Paul of Samosata encouraged the congregation to applaud his preaching by waving linen cloths. Applause of the rhetoric of popular preachers became an established custom destined to disappear under the influence of a more reverent spirit.” (EB)

Applause to show Approval

• “Amen” – firm; so it is, so be it. (Thayer)

• Psalms 106:48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. & let all the people say, "Amen." Praise the Lord!

Applause to show Approval

• 1 Corinthians 14:15-16 What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit & I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit & I will sing with the mind also. 16 Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the "Amen" at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?

Applause to show Approval

• Baptisms: A Soul is Saved!

• How long before applause moves over into the worship service.

• Why not an enthusiastic songs of praise to the Lord?

Hand clapping for Rhythm

• Argument: Hand clapping does not produce a melody; it is not music, it only emphasizes the rhythm & tempo of the music.

– Same could be said for drums.

Hand clapping for Rhythm

• Argument: God wants us to praise Him with our whole body.

– Romans 12:1; Mark 12:30

– Serving God with inner being & physical strength.

Hand clapping for Rhythm

• Physical instrument: Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

• Spiritual instrument: Ephesians 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms & hymns & spiritual songs, singing & making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Hand clapping for Rhythm

• Argument: If God is praised while standing, sitting, kneeling, or raising the hands; why not while clapping our hands?

– This argument confuses the position we take in worship (not prescribed) with the instrument used to offer praise to God.

Hand clapping for Rhythm

• Argument: If some Christians pat their feet or tap their fingers to the rhythm of the hymns, why can’t we clap our hands too?

– Patting & tapping is incidental, isolated & unobtrusive (mostly unnoticeable), while hand clapping is loud & encourages collective action.

The real issue

1. What kind of worship did God specify? The fruit of the lips or handclapping.

2. Where is the NT or apostolic example of handclapping in an assembly?

3. Is handclapping in worship from Heaven or from men?

More Enthusiasm Needed not

More Types of Worship