During most of the last century and before, applause by the congregation during a church worship service was unheard of. It may have happened during other church assemblies, such as cantata performances or congregational dinners, but never during corporate worship. However, in recent decades, this practice seems to have gained acceptance in Christian churches as a familiar manner of positive recognition of people during the worship service. This recent shift to the practice of applause in church worship services calls for a theological reflection.
It’s important to remember that this recognition is not directed towards God but towards individuals for their contributions to the service, such as singing, playing a musical instrument, reading Scripture, preaching, or sharing a message that resonates with the congregation. Recognition of another person by applause or in any manner during a church worship service is inappropriate. This is true because the focus should only be on worshiping God and because those individuals singing, playing instruments, or performing any function during church worship service do what God commands all believers to do (1 Pet. 4:10, 11). They are not entertaining the congregation; they are serving God.
Applause or clapping is an example of syncretism, which brings secular practices into the church. Syncretism is the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.[1] For further information on syncretism, the author recommends reading the article “Syncretism in the Christian Church” on christianinquiry.com.
Applause, or hand clapping to demonstrate approval, appreciation, or acclamation during worship services, is not found in the Bible. The word ‘clapping’ in the sense of applause is absent in the New Testament. Since clapping was known in the first century, its absence in New Testament worship is significant.
The word ‘clap’ appears six times in the Old Testament (Job 27:23; Ps. 47:1, 98:8; Is. 55:12; Lam. 2:15; and Nah. 3:19), ‘clapped’ twice (2 Kgs .11:12; Eze. 25:6), and ‘clappeth’ once (Job 34:37). In none of these instances is ‘clapping’ associated with a worship service, and often it is related to the wrath of God.
For example, the Ammonites were punished by God after they clapped their hands and stamped their feet and rejoiced with all the malice within their souls against the land of Israel (Eze. 25:6). The personified east wind claps its hands at and hisses at the wicked man (Job 27:23). We find clapping as an accompaniment with singing to glorify God as king (Ps. 47:1). Nature (i.e., the rivers) is personified as ‘clapping’ praising the Lord, the creator of both the animate and the inanimate world (Ps. 98:8), and the creation is personified again with “all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Is. 55:12) rejoicing for God’s acts of redemption. In the book of Lamentations, the scoffers speak of the beautiful Jerusalem mockingly in the period after the Babylonian sacking of the city (Lam. 2:15), saying, “All who pass along the way clap their hands at you.” And, of course, the prophet Nahum prophesied the destruction of Nineveh and spoke of the suffering and distress of the evil Nineveh, which got no pity when “All who hear the news about you clap their hands over you (Nah. 3:15). Finally, we find the clapping of hands as a way to recognize a new king (2 Kgs. 11:12).
Only one of the nine times that some form of the word ‘clap’ is used in the Old Testament is related to the worship of God, but not in temple or synagogue worship. Then, the clapping was an accompaniment to singing, much like musical accompaniment is used today.
That is the Old Testament. But we must remember that applause or clapping to recognize a person or thing for something they’ve done during the church worship service is entirely unknown to the New Testament church. No express statement or command in the New Testament gives authority to applause or hand clapping for any reason during the worship of God in the Christian church.
Christians must remember that worship, according to one reference, is an active response to the character, words, and actions of God, initiated by His revelation and enabled by His redemption, whereby the mind is transformed (e.g., belief, repentance), the heart is renewed (e.g., love, trust), and actions are surrendered (e.g., obedience, service), all by His will and to declare His infinite worthiness.[2]
Applauding anyone in church for any reason, including their singing, playing musical instruments, reading Scripture, preaching, or for any other reason, is entirely unbiblical and inappropriate in a church worship service.
A congregation member commented regarding this article, asking, “I guess this means we shouldn’t have ‘fun’ in church?” We answer by stating that if any believer attends a Christian worship service to have ‘fun,’ they sadly do not understand what worship to almighty God is. The word “fun” does not appear in the Bible (KJV). This word is secular and originated in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. We define ‘fun’ as indulgence in entertainment, boisterous banter, and jest for self-gratification. ‘Fun’ means seeking pleasure from the ‘tickling’ of one’s feelings, emotions, and worldly senses. So, ‘fun’ is far removed from the spiritual joy believers should seek and experience when worshiping almighty God.
Believers do not worship God for ‘fun.’ Worshipful activities in Scripture are often described using the words ‘praise’ (of God) and ‘joy,’ not ‘fun.’ Worshipers of God direct their activities toward God in a verbal language that all present understand. We communicate verbally in worship; consequently, instrumental music alone, clapping, or dancing is not worshiping under the New Covenant of Christ.
All “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” (John 4:23). And the result of worship is spiritual joy, a deep, heartfelt sense of comfort and satisfaction in fellowship with God.
Most Presbyterians believe that the worship of God in a church service should include only elements instituted, commanded, or appointed by command or example in the Bible. Most other Christian denominations also allow for reasonable inferences from Scripture.
The Westminster Confession of Faith states:
But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture (Deut. 4:13-20, 12:32; Ex. 20:4-6; Matt. 15:9, 4:9-10; John 4:23-24; Acts 17:23-25; Col. 2:18-23).[3]
A church worship service is a sacred time, a moment of adoration, awe, glorification, thanksgiving, praise, supplication, and reverence toward the almighty God. It is a time to worship only God and to be solemn and respectful in His presence. Recognizing or praising a human being or any entity other than the triune godhead of Christianity during a church worship service is inappropriate and an offense to God.
Applause is but one example of the secular world being inappropriately brought into Christian worship. There are others, including instrumental music, for which there is no New Testament authority for its inclusion in church worship services. Worship requires verbal communication with God either orally, spiritually, or in written form, which instrumental music and clapping do not contain. However, the issue regarding instrumental music is one to be addressed in another article.
[1] Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (Deluxe Edition 2001), 1928.
[2] Theopedia.com, https://www.theopedia.com/worship.
[3] The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms: Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day, 21:1
Previously published by Christianinquiry.com. Used by permission of the author.
Copyright 2024 Gaylan D. McLin. All rights reserved.
