Do YOU Raise Your Hands in Worship? Thoughts on Why Some Do and Other's Don't!

I grew up in a relatively fundamentalist church. I use the word relative because fundamentalist has the connotation in mainstream society of extreme conservatism. My church was not extreme, but it was fairly conservative. The pastor preached from the New King James Version. You could wear jeans to church (but it was frowned upon). Upbeat music was considered acoustic guitar and vocals.

Lastly, you could raise your hands in worship (but few did). I can remember conversations with people in the church about hand raising. Those that raised their hands during worship in the church were allowed because it wasn't anti-Biblical, BUT (an underlying thought of those who weren't raising there hands was that the hand raisers were making a scene and were trying to garner attention to themselves through their expressions of worship).

As always our past church experience is a contributing factor to our actions and beliefs of today. Once I hit my teenage years I went from listening to Maranatha Praise and Worship to Christian hip-hip, rock, and even screamer music. It was a counteractive pendulum swing from the traditional and conservative worship styles I grew up with. To this day I love loud edgy contemporary music.

While I love contemporary music I could never get over the hurdle of raising my hands in worship. Maybe I don't raise my hands because there are some psychological barriers that were set-up in my brain as a child? Maybe I don't raise my hands because (for me) I find myself thinking more about the gesture and less about the words and heart of worship I am trying to communicate to my Savior? Whatever the reasons, the most I will generally do with my hands is gently beat them over my chest in rhythm with the bass and beat of the music. During worship services this is what best resonates and connects me to God.

Do you think your current worship style and worship expressions on Sunday Mornings has a lot to do with your past experiences?

I do believe that people are given freedom to be expressive in their worship. You are free to raise your hands, kneel, or close your eyes. You are also free not to do those gestures.

Jesus tells the woman at the well that God's people will "worship in Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). In our current church contexts we define styles of worship with this verse. Churches that are Spirit churches tend to be characterized as hand-raising or more charismatic churches. Truth churches tend to be focused on preaching and are more traditional in their worship sets. While one is not more right than the other I believe that a church can be BOTH! People need to be Spirit-led in worship in a truthful expressing manner.

Concerning a worship service, I believe, it is important for churches to focus on truthful preaching while maintaining a spirit of freedom in their services to allow the Spirit to work. Hand raising in a worship service is a symptom of the root issue concerning healthy worship within a church! In other words, in a healthy church, members should be able to express themselves through hand raising and not feel guilty or that someone is watching over their shoulder. Freedom of hand raising or other appropriate worshipful gestures during a worship service should be the norm. Agree?!?