Comments on: Shouting in Church?

By: Why Should We Worship? « Steadfast Love

Why Should We Worship? « Steadfast Love — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:32:01 +0000

[...] An even better blog post on worship: Shouting in Church? [...]

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:31:56 +0000

Stephen, I am a bit different from some of the others who have commented here. I’ve been a member of my church’s worship band for about 22 years now, and began raising my hands in church in my college days. The church I attended in college had many students who worshiped exuberantly, so I had a good atmosphere to begin stretching my worship wings, if you will.
Now that I am up front facing the congregation, I feel it’s part of my “job” as a worship leader to model praise and worship in all its forms, as I feel led according to the song and the atmosphere. If I raise my hands, then perhaps folks in the congregation will feel more free to do so, too. “Dancing” and shouting are not part of every service, but have their places, too, as well as kneeling or laying face down before the glory of the living God.
To be honest, my thoughts often include asking myself if I am being demonstrative for the wrong reasons. I, too, must remember that I have an audience of only one that matters.
May the Body of Christ learn to worship in spirit and in truth!

By: Stephen Altrogge

Stephen Altrogge — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:15:07 +0000

Yeller – It’s funny how we get self-conscious during worship when in reality we should be forgetting ourselves. But I can totally relate. My desire is to grow in self-forgetfulness and God-centeredness. And in using more hyphenated-words.

By: Stephen Altrogge

Stephen Altrogge — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:13:41 +0000

js – Thanks for honestly sharing your struggles. I’ll admit, being expressive in worship can be intimidating even for me. It’s something I believe the Lord wants to give us grace to grow in. Do you think there’s a small step you could take in the right direction?

By: Stephen Altrogge

Stephen Altrogge — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:12:34 +0000

James – You’re right, there is an appropriate place for expressions of enthusiasm. Sometimes it may be more important just to stand in reverence. It seems like the context would determine that.

By: James

James — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:44:12 +0000

At the same time, some expressions of enthusiasm aren’t appropriate all the time. Picture a romantic date in a fine restaurant – how impressive would a shout-out to your sweetheart be in the middle of dessert?

But I really appreciate your point about being involved with worship. It’s too easy to stand and sing in a normal voice without motion (or emotion) while life-changing gospel truths are pouring from my lips! Truth about our God and his sovereign love for us deserves a response of passion. Sometimes humble reflection and intimate prayer, sometimes raised voice and triumphant exultation, sometimes an ear-to-ear smile!

By: js

js — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:40:58 +0000

sound* – I meant song

By: js

js — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:39:41 +0000

Yes, i definitely do. I never raised my hands in church growing up, and still havent since coming to sovereign grace (even though it was the hand-raising, passionate worship that first drew me – the authenticity)

I am convicted by it all the time. At covenant life, the worship leader will sometimes ask us to pray and worship out loud, making our own sound. While this sounds (and is) uncomfortable, the real question is “Why?” Isn’t he worthy of that? What are we afraid of?

I never like the answers to those questions. The truth is that I am more concerned with looking good than about worshipping with all my heart. May God help us to care less about we look, and care more of praising him for his grace!

By: YellerDaisies

YellerDaisies — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:22:59 +0000

Yes and No. Growing up, expressive worship was practiced and encouraged in my family. I grew up watching my parents worship on Sunday mornings. They taught me pretty much everything you said above, Mark. I love to worship expressively, especially at conferences. I feel like one of hundreds (and at Next, thousands). No one is noticing me. But, on Sunday mornings, standing on that front row, temptation rears it’s ugly head. Fear of man assails my soul and I want to stand there and just quietly sing. Several years ago, I heard someone say that when we worship, we are worshiping an audience of One. As long as I’m not drawing undue attention to myself, it doesn’t matter what other people think. I am worshiping my AWESOME God and Savior. I have been snatched from Hell. That thought alone should produce some serious, expressive worship.