My son called me earlier this week. He is a counselor at a Christian youth camp. He needed my counsel. The adult song leader stopped the children from doing what came from their hearts while singing certain praise songs to the Lord: clapping. My son observed that the kids were confused. For years they had clapped in praise songs at camp. Earlier their singing was joyful; afterward they had lost heart, for their joy was robbed. They don’t clap on every song; just the joyful songs that beckon clapping. However, the song leader explained there was no support or authority for clapping during singing in the New Testament. So, he requested they respect his view and stop clapping because it offended his conscience. Whose conscience was really offended? I think the children. It is common knowledge that the children clap during certain songs; and they clap believing their joyful expression pleases God. Now, their minds were jarred by the thought that their clapping was a sin.
This past Sunday as I was preaching the word of the Lord, I clapped my hands together to make a strong point. I did not plan this. It came from my heart and supported my words and emotion. My preaching is an act of worship, and I had no New Testament authority to clap. If I accepted this kind of reasoning, I would be in a quandary. I don’t however.
Suppose during worship before the prayer, the prayer leader announced that a certain member is very sick and near death; so that several worshipers are touched and weep before and during the prayer. No New Testament verse specifically authorizes weeping during worship; but Romans 12:15 (ESV) does admonish: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Suppose a week later during worship, the prayer leader announces that God has healed this same member who had been deathly ill; so that several worshipers are moved in their heart to clap and thank the Lord. All they did was give heartfelt expression to rejoicing, just as they had given heartfelt expression to weeping.
Understand that promulgating regulations nullifies the blessing of freedom under the New Covenant (Galatians 4:8-20 and 5:1). The way of the New Covenant is different from the old way of the written code (Romans 7:6). The New Testament amply warns against religious leaders making rules where God has not spoken and that are inconsistent with what he has spoken (1 Timothy 1:1-4, Matthew 15:1-20, Colossians 3:16-23, and Galatians). It is a grave mishandling of God’s word to teach the New Covenant as a written code, rather than the new way of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Not even the Law of Moses regulated clapping. Yet Psalms 47 demonstrates that worshipers exhorted clapping in praise to God. Moreover the Old Testament scriptures looked forward to the time when the Gentiles would join in extolling and praising the Lord for his mercy in the Messiah; for example, Romans 15:11 quoting Psalms 117:1. In Isaiah 55, God encourages his people by affirming that he will bless them by keeping his word to David. God would return them from captivity and dispersion to the promise land; and they would be welcomed and supported in their joy by singing mountains and clapping trees (Isaiah 55:12). The singing mountains and clapping trees is a metaphor for the expressions of joy and praise that God’s people would share when they return to the land and were blessed by God in the land. Under the New Covenant God has given to his people the fullness of this prophesied blessing. Should not his people be free to sing and clap with joy in praise to God for being faithful to his covenant?
I’m not defending a reckless freedom of unbridled emotional religion. We honor God through worship with the fruit of our lips and the mutual edification of one another (Hebrews 13:15, Colossians 3:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 14). While words are a key means of Christian praise in worship; words are not the exclusive means for expressing all that praise is and should be. Indeed the words are empty without a life of goodness lived in consistent praise to God. Yet in worship, the non-verbal language of our spirit and our body should be in accord with the meaning of the words, and authentically support the expression of praise. That kind of expression has always been proper for worshipers of God; and God has never stopped it or discouraged it. Even the reactions of Jesus to heartfelt or hearty expressions of praise demonstrated his mind in contrast to the regulators and judgmental of Judaism (Matthew 21:1-17 and 26:6-13, Luke 7:36-50 and 19:28-40, and John 12:1-8). According to Jesus’ own teaching and example, following the mind and heart of God is the critical issue for all correct interpretation and application of scripture (Matthew 12:1-14). Indeed, if God did put a stop to clapping, then preachers should restrain their emotions and expressions in preaching, for much of that has not been authorized by the New Testament.
Church leaders taught me in my youth to embrace my freedom by their example of leadership. In Vacation Bible School the leader led us in a variety of enthusiastic songs with a Christian verbal and a fitting, decent non-verbal expression. I think of the song with these words: “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery; I may never fly o’er the enemy, for I’m in the Lord’s army. Yes sir!” I can picture the stomping of feet, the jouncing of riding, a clap to fire their weapon, arms spread like wings, and saluting as the children shout, “Yes sir!” I can also see their joy and realize they are learning an important spiritual truth in an appropriate way. I would be confused about my freedom if as a preteen or teenager the leaders of a youth camp then stressed that expressing my joy non-verbally during a joyful song was not only inappropriate, but sinful because God did not specifically authorize that particular expression of joy. Understandably certain expressions, both verbal and non-verbal, appeal to certain age groups; but the beauty of clapping is that it is fitting and meaningful for all age groups who are able to clap.
The one who claps embraces his freedom; and the one who forbids clapping takes refuge in his conscience. As an act of love, the free may refrain from clapping in the presence of the one with the weak conscience; but the one with the weak conscience may not regulate the religion in order to make the freedom sinful and a barrier of fellowship. These critical issues of Christian freedom were dealt with by the Apostle Paul in Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8 and 10:23-33, and Galatians. Christians are free to worship and serve by the Spirit of God and not by a religion of regulations and rituals (Philippians 3:1-9). Christians must be free to worship God and edify one another with both their minds and their spirits (1 Corinthians 14:15). We sing with our mind in edifying words that others can understand; and we sing with our spirit with expressions that accord with our spirit, as God’s Spirit helps us. When such expressions aid a reception and understanding of the words, then all worshipers are edified.
I am thankful to God there are Christian spiritual songs and hymns that are beneficial for the stirring of deep and joyful feelings in our hearts about our faith and our hope in Christ. If we admonish worshipers to sing with their minds and their spirits, the Holy Spirit would stir their spirits to renewed motivation and obedience. At times the Spirit would stir them to weep and at times to shout praise or clap; and at times the Spirit would lead them to sing a new song and at times to sing the old hymns with a contemporary melody or beat. At no time however will the Spirit lead God’s people to stop these expressions for this is the joy the Spirit himself prophesied through Isaiah as he gave a glimpse into the great happiness of God’s people in anticipation of the times of refreshing and the restoration of all things (Acts 3).
[Buttram, D. Bryan. Clap Your Hands. WordPress.com. 2007/07/24].
Thought to Thought 
I am so sorry that your son and most of all the teenagers had to witness this kind of legelism. I want to thank you for being bold as Paul and preaching the truth. May God be pleased and glorified for your message. We need more preacher we will stand up and make a point of just how stupid people are when it comes down to human preferences. I love the song, “Listen to our Hearts”. I am a preacher at a small country church in south Texas. We are loving and now going through some good changes. On last wed. We eat and sing songs together. Alot of the songs we sing are new praise sogns. And one of their favorites is “Listen To Our Hearts.” I believe that God wants are hearts. And so many Christians on Sunday don’t understand that point. My prayer is that Churches all across the country will be more open minded, open spirited, open hearted to what God’s will is and what he wants from us in corporate worship, leadership, and every aspect of our lives. I appreciate you sharing this story with us all. I also would like to invite you anytime to visit my blog and add to any discussion anytime.
I want you to know I am going to look forward to more of your posts in the future. God bless your ministry as you serve Him.
Thank you, preacherman, for your encouragement. I will visit your blog. I do not want anyone to get the wrong idea about the song leader who stopped the clapping. He is a good and respectful Christian brother. I do hope we can reach an understanding when the camp board meets. Just recently a Christian friend and brother from VA told me of a similar problem in a youth camp in his area. The camp nearly folded. Please pray for us. The Lord willing, I do intend to write more on the problem that we most often label as “legalism”. That is a pejorative term; but I am having difficulty finding a respectful way of describing the problem. Essentially legalism consists of human interpretations and applications of the law causing the weighter matters of the law — such as love, justice and mercy — to be neglected. Certainly conclusions about the law bind the conscience; but the destructive expressions of legalism make lesser matters of the law essential for eternal life and fellowship. I think that modern legalism manifests itself by turning the law of Christ into a way of righteousness by a written code (i.e. the distinctive, systematic doctrines of the sect). The law of Christ was meant to be observed from the foundation of the righteousness of faith. (See how Paul describes the first century Jewish problem in Romans 9:30-10:13). Moreover, we must come to a better understanding of how to live by the new law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 7 and 8, and 2 Corinthians 3), rather than turning the New Covenant into a superior written code. Finally, legalism results in pride and hypocrisy; because the emphasis is on a way to measure covenant faithfulness by adherence to select rules and rituals. Paul addressed this problem in his letter to the Galatians. The glory of the Christian should not be forcing others to conform to our scruples; but rather Christ should be conformed within us, for the rule of Christ is the new creation (Galatians 4:15-20 and 6:11-18).
I appreciate your spirit! I really appreciate your response and will use it as a template to help me craft a response to some legalists I have to deal with.
Thank you, didaskalos! I rejoice in Christ that you believer this blog to be helpful. I visited Metropolitan’s web site and found it refreshing. I appreciate your approach to ministry and your statement of faith. May our Lord continue to bless your work and your light.
Bryan, I found your blog after an internet search. I was disturbed when our preacher, with direction from our elders, banned clapping in the assembly solely based on the principles of Romans 14. A brother or sister left the assembly recently crying after a song leader introduced a newer song that the youth and some others clapped. I have gone to talk to him. The point I tried to make was that worship acts should be studied based on worship scriptures. Since their are none banning clapping, freedom rules. I also tried to point out to him that the use of Romans 14 for this topic was at best a secondary interpretation and if he wanted to use Paul’s teaching, there were other scriptures more applicable such as the ones regarding religious holidays in Colossians. I read your blog entry above and was encouraged that Sunday afternoon. Thanks.What would have been your reply to his teaching?
Capncaveman, thank you for your response and question. I identify with the problem. Forbear with me and I will try to provide a thoughtful answer after Thanksgiving. Briefly however, I do believe that Romans 14 was intended as a limited, provisional accommodation to the weak in conscience; not a permanent or long term solution. If issues, like clapping, impact the whole gathering, then leadership should act with wisdom and vision beyond the impact on a particular individual or few who find it objectionable. The gospel, mission, spiritual health and growth, and future of the congregation are great concerns that must guide the leadership. The leaders may have missed a great opportunity to encourage their young and educate all on the freedom and joy of God’s people. Leadership should also guard against congregational rule on the basis of the self-will of the offended few. It is poor stewardship to always ban a freedom in favor of an offense; when Romans 14 equally admonishes that the weak in conscience not judge their brother for his freedom. Finally, I have learned that in situations where the offended person draws a line in the sand, that as a leader you have a choice to clearly state your position on who should stay and who should leave. If you side with or accommodate the offended person with no commitment to a plan to move the congregation forward to a peace that respects freedom, then some who realize their freedom will probably leave. If you support those with freedom in the practice of their freedom, then the offended will probably leave. I am not guessing at this, for I have seen it happen a few times. The issues change but the pattern of placating self-will and spiritual immaturity produces the same rotten fruit of lost vision, lost enthusiasm, lost commitment and lost members. I suggest a study in Galatians, for legalism is exposed as the reason Christians fall from grace; and freedom is embraced as a goal of the gospel that enables us to accomplish the purpose of the gospel. Be of good courage!
Update. It is after Thanksgiving and I am still working on an answer to the question: How would I answer those who use Romans 14 to justify banning clapping in worship when one person was so offended that he walked out on the worship service? When I have the answer it will appear as a new blog, but I will notify and provide a link from this comment on this blog. I also add another question: When does an issue that is not a matter of the kingdom of God become a critical concern because teaching on that issue threatens to undermine our understanding of the truth of the gospel and our freedom in Christ? Why does the Apostle Paul treat issues in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 differently from similar issues in Galatians and Colossians? Does acting in love always mean we try not to offend? Did Jesus never offend anyone? When God has providentially placed an issue before our generation, why do we delay the resolution and shift the burden to our children’s generation? Is this what spiritually mature, wise and courageous Christians do? These are some of the questions that I am working on answering. Finally, the Apostle Paul prayed for Christians in Philippi that their love might abound more and more in knowledge and all discernment so that they may prove what is excellent (Philippians 1:9-11). Is this not the great need for the church and its leadership today?
About a year past, a young woman was called down in front of a class by the minister for clapping. He explained, “we don’t do that here.” With shame she did not return and in fact now worships at another local congregation. My wife was there and I wonder; If I would have been there, would I have called down the minister. The woman is my oldest daughters age and we have known her for years. When my youngest daughter was saved and baptised into Christ this past July I wanted to clapp and rejoice but restrained sadly. I knew that I would once again be labled a trouble maker and my family would have been shunned. My 9 and 10 year old have not yet experencied the cold hard stares that I have experencied many times in the past. Bloated with pride and thinking they are elite, worship over the years has been reduced to little more than by the number painting.
BrotherBob, thank you for sharing your experience. Did the preacher provide any reasoning other than “we don’t do that here”? Perhaps you heard tell that the church has an identity crisis. I believe that statement is one solution to the identity crisis. Setting sarcasm aside, I truly feel sadness too for the young Christian sister’s bad experience. Where is that scripture that forbids or regulates our expression of joy in the Lord and the salvation of the lost? They will not find support from David who rebuked his wife for shaming his joy before the Lord. They will not find support from Jesus who told the story about the father who received his lost son back and then threw a feast for his son where all rejoiced with music and dancing. When the religious elite of Jerusalem rebuked the crowds for their lavish praise for Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus did not stop the crowds. Instead, he rebuked the leadership and asserted that we do that here! That is what we are on earth to do! The prophetic destiny of Jew and Gentile as one people accepted in the Lord is to joyfully praise and laud the Lord in song (Romans 15:11, the KJV and Young’s Literal Translation using the word “laud”). In fact if we don’t start doing that here then the stones will make a ruckus. Will they get support for not doing that here from Peter who exclaimed that the eternal hope of our salvation has filled us with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8)?
Once while teaching teens, I read through Luke 15, and ask them to express their joy each time I read a word or thought that indicated that joy was being expressed in the story. (I got the idea from how Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim by a reading of Esther with demonstrative congregational participation. I’ve read that they cheer for the hero and boo and hiss the villain). Each time I read the words “joy”, “rejoice”, and words expressing celebration, the teens showed me what joy looked and sounded like, by smiling, laughing, leaping around, clapping, speaking and singing words that expressed how happy and joyful they were. They never became incoherent or reckless; but simply enjoyed themselves. I know some reading this, even if they see nothing wrong with clapping, will think that this unregulated joy will get out of control and result in incoherent ecstatic utterances. This reasoning is flawed, because Christians can learn how to express joy without losing control; and because extinguishing enthusiastic expression of joy has created a far more serious spiritual problem: painting by the numbers worship. I love that metaphor for what we appear to have become in our assemblies: formal, rote, and inauthentic. How many people actually finish the paint by number canvases? It’s laborious to finish because you lose interest so quickly. I am speaking about worship that does not appeal to the heart and does not allow the genuine expressions of our heart. Indeed, if you had felt support from others in the congregation to clap after your daughter’s baptism, it would have been the authentic and pure expression of your joy in the Lord for your daughter. We do clap after baptisms in our congregation and it is a wonderful way to be welcomed into the family of God.
I also have had my fill of the cold stares and grunts and sounds of displeasure from those who quench the joyful spirit of authentic children of God. I identify with Jesus who with righteous anger stood firm against the pride, self-righteousness, and spiritual emptiness of the Pharisees – who consistently emoted contempt, but never rejoicing. I want to change things so my children do not suffer contempt over these kinds of issues. Paul in painful dismay asked the Galatian Christians: Who robbed you of your joy or the blessing you felt. If we as a Christian people do not feel the blessing of the gospel enough to be able to freely and authentically express it, then we have lost our identity in Christ. This time I am not being sarcastic.
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