I can think of no Christian who denies God's right to be worshiped as He prescribes in His Word. What most Christians disagree about is related to a failure at some level to consider that God might actually regulate His worship by His people in scripture, or to varying amounts of spiritual illumination related to the meaning and application of passages with respect to worship. For example: I have heard it said by men who occupy positions in churches labeled "worship pastor" that dancing is entirely appropriate when worshiping God, citing the passage that records David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant, Second Samuel 6.16. However, David was leading a procession while leaping and dancing, and was not then actually engaged in prescribed worship. Thus, it is mistaken to suggest that because David danced before the Ark of the Covenant in a procession there is a place for dancing in Christian worship in the assembly.
When we are worshiping God, what are some of the guidelines for decorum and propriety? We have already seen guidance provided in scripture for the proper use of the word "amen" by God's people during worship, as a means whereby the saints can participate in the preaching without interrupting but having the effect of reinforcing and agreeing with what is declared. However, there is an increasing tendency in congregations to exhibit a response that seems to have had its origin outside Christianity, in the theater and as a means of expressing approval for a performance. I refer of course to clapping. We see it after a singer completes a song. We see it following a dramatic performance. It has even found its way into Christian assemblies as a means of expressing approval and agreement. However, is clapping appropriate in worship?
Pastors will sometimes apologize for their people when clapping interrupts a sermon (saying "Amen" never interrupts a sermon) by suggesting, "That's just our way of doing it." However, is that explanation appropriate in light of God's Word? I suggest that we consider every verse in God's Word in which reference is made to clapping to find the answer to that question.
Job 27:23 "Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place."
caphaq - Also found in First Kings 20.10 and Isaiah 2.6, this is a gesture of mocking.[1] Therefore, this could not be an example in God's Word to justify clapping during worship.
Psalm 47:1 "<
taqa` - Found more than sixty times in the Hebrew scriptures, the word refers to thrusting (such as a weapon), driving (such as a tent peg), or clapping (such as one's hands in victory).[2] Though the psalm exhorts the people to clap (and also to shout), it is presumptuous to think such was to be done during worship. I am in agreement with Mr. Spurgeon that the occasion of the psalm was the carrying of the Ark of the Covenant from the house of Obededom to Mount Zion or some other notable victory.[3]
Psalm 98:8 "Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together"
macha' - This word is found in only two other verses, Isaiah 55.12 and Ezekiel 25.6. That this is poetry of such a type as to have no bearing on worship is obvious.
Isaiah 55:12 "For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
The same word used in the same way as in Psalm 98.8, this verse has no bearing on worship as it is used in this verse about trees of the field clapping their hands.
Lamentations 2:15 "All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?"
This is the same Hebrew word that we looked at in Job 27.23, found in a total of ten Old Testament verses. Here we see predicted the Gentiles passing by the defeated Jewish people, clapping their hands at them, hissing and wagging their heads at them, and making snide comments about Jerusalem. This is not clapping during worship.
Nahum 3:19 "There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?"
Using the same word found in Psalm 47.1 to describe the victory celebration of the Jewish people, the word is found here to describe the celebration by Nineveh's enemies as they celebrate the destruction of the city in fulfillment of Nahum's prediction.
"Because worship is an inherent, inborn characteristic of man, God prescribes the way we should worship. . . God not only prescribes whom we should worship (himself) but also how we should worship."[4] "E. C. Dargan observed that the English word 'worship' is simply a contraction for 'worthship' and denotes the giving of suitable honor to whom it is due."[5]
Is it unreasonable for Christians committed to honoring God in worship to engage in a style of worship that is informed by God's Word? Hardly. Therefore, the propriety of clapping in worship, while not expressly forbidden in God's Word, is never encouraged as a practice during worship. The reasons are obvious: First, clapping is not worshipful. It is celebratory and exaltational. It is also a response that is not provoked by knowledge but by ignorance, not by spirituality but by worldliness, and it follows the example not of God's Word and God's people but of the entertainment industry and their followers. Understand that I am not suggesting a powerful political speech or wonderful dramatic performance not be met with a great round of applause at the end. However, I speak to the matter of worship and not performance. Second, clapping is defined as "to show pleasure at or approval of by clapping the hands."[6] However, is this not what saying amen is supposed to accomplish, at least in part? Therefore, why would someone substitute clapping for saying amen when saying amen is the God-ordained expression of approval, pleasure, or agreement? Finally, clapping interrupts in a way that saying amen does not. Speakers cannot continue to speak when an audience or a congregation is clapping, thereby interrupting the flow of thought. However, when a preacher is exercising spiritual leadership is it appropriate for the congregation (which is supposed to be following his leadership) to dictate when he is to stop speaking? No. Yet this is done when clapping in a way that saying amen never does.
What should a pastor do whose people already clap to show approval or agreement? I would suggest great caution and slowness to change. This is because individual believers usually have more immediate and pressing concerns than whether or not to clap while worshiping. However, Christian worship is profoundly important and is rightly ordered by God's Word. Therefore, I would suggest the pastor stop clapping if he was once in the habit of clapping. Then, and very gradually over time, I would suggest the pastor begin to encroach on those few seconds of pause that allow for clapping, slowly crowding out clapping each time it occurs within the congregation. If this is done while teaching and encouraging the people to participate in worship in a scriptural manner, by saying amen when appropriate, the congregation can then be oh so gradually weaned from inappropriate and brought to appropriate expressions of agreement, approval, and celebration in corporate worship.
________________
[1] See footnote for Job 27.23 from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), page 724.
[2] Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew And English Lexicon, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), page 1075.
[3] Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury Of David, Volume I, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers), page 352.
[4] Ernest C. Reisinger & D. Matthew Allen, Worship: The Regulative Principle and the Biblical Practice of Accommodation, (Cape Coral, Florida: Founders Press, 2001), page 15.
[5] Cited in Reisinger & Allen, page 16.
[6] Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 333.
