Questions, Answers, and Comments

You asked:

“What does the Bible say about raising your hands during worship?”

The groups that use this practice, if pressed, will hang their hats on a single new testament scripture.  (some will
attempt to use some Old Testament scriptures as well, but it is important to remember that the way we worship in the
New Testament church  must be dictated by New Testament scripture)  The scripture used by the “holy hands”
crowd, as you may already expect, is this one:

1 Timothy 2:8  I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and
doubting; There are several problems for using this as an authoritative verse for the use of raising our hands in worship.  
First, lets look at the problems that common sense and context present.  Lets look at the verses immediately
following 1 Timothy 2:8

8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; 9 in like
manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with
braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with
good works. 11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or
to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was
not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in
childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

Now, you may already be noticing some inconsistencies.   In these verses, there is a distinct line drawn between
men and women.  Paul says, “here is what I want you men to do,”  and ‘in like manner’, “here are some instructions
for you ladies”.  So, do those who practice raising hands in worship restrict this practice to the men only?  Taking
this further, if they take Paul’s instructions on ‘lifting holy hands’ literally, do they interpret verse 11 with the same
boldness and restrict the role of teaching publicly to the men only, as Paul clearly dictates?   What about modesty,
which Paul speaks of in verses 9 and 10?  I see little modesty in the assemblies where ‘lifting hands’ is encouraged.  
In fact many times you can see an uncanny resemblance between the “holy gyrations” of these worshipers and the
debaucherous dancing of a nightclub crowd.Now, that in and of itself does not prove that lifting holy hands in worship is wrong, but it does show some glaring
inconsistencies among this movement and proves that we ought to take care in accepting their interpretations of the
scriptures.

Going further, I do not believe for a moment that 1 Timothy 2:8 is even referring to the literal act of one raising up
their hands, but simply that they should have hands that they are not ashamed to hold up before the world.  Again, if
this verse is to be taken literally, then we would see those of the charismatic movement praying on street corners, in
restaurants, at the mall, etc., with their hands raised to the heavens, since Paul says to do this ‘everywhere’…  I for
one have never witnessed this.

The Jewish people had a lot of ideas about cleanliness and often this was tied directly to a persons hands.  For this
reason, Paul uses this figure simply to denote that men should not be afraid to show their holiness in any place
without any doubting and with no malice in their hearts, just as women may show their holiness everywhere by the
modesty of their dress and the humbleness of their attitudes.  Let me include here a couple of verses that show the
importance placed on the idea of ‘clean hands’ among the Jews.

Mark 7:1-6 shows the ideas that the Pharisees held about the cleanliness of one’s hands:

Mark 7:1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2
Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found
fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding
the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And
there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper
vessels, and couches. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk
according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” 6 He answered and said to
them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But
their heart is far from Me.

Now the pharisees were focusing the importance on the physical cleanliness of things, but Jesus brings it back into
the proper sphere.  The heart must be clean or else the physical cleanness of a person means nothing.  I believe
this is the spirit that Paul had in mind, as we realize he is a follower of Jesus and not of the pharisees.  We can also
see the use of mentioning the hands to refer to a persons spiritual condition in the book of James:James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify
your hearts, you double-minded.

Now James uses the figure of cleansing the hands but what he actually means is that their hearts need to be
cleansed and purified.  This is what Paul was saying to Timothy.  Men ought to go about freely with pure hearts in
everyplace that they may go without a doubt in their heart.What does it prove if I raise up my hands in an assembly of worshippers?  The simple fact is that God is not into
theatrics.  He is interested in the condition of my heart and I can wave my hands in the air till they turn blue and fall
off, but if I have a hard and unbelieving heart, it amounts to absolutely nothing.

God reveals to us how He wants to be worshipped under the new covenant and no where is the literal raising of
hands mentioned.  Those who wish to worship God in spirit and in truth, will do just that without adding to or taking
away from God’s simple New Testament plan.

Finally, I leave you with this passage that shows the folly of trying to use our own feeble hands in worship to the
great I AM.  

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are
very religious;  ”for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an
altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing,
Him I proclaim to you: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in temples made with hands.  ”Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He
needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.   ACTS 17:22-25 (emphasis mine)

Chris, I appreciate your desire to study and learn more about this issue and hope that the things I have presented
have been helpful to you.  I would love for you to continue studying about the simple acts of worship that God has
set forth for His church to observe in these New Testament times.  Please check out these links at your convenience
and please continue to communicate with me as you study God’s word!Here is an article titled, ” A look at our worship“And here is another called “

The Worship of the Church“:There are other articles on the site that focus in on specific areas of worship as well and we hope you find them
helpful!  Thanks you again for contacting us, and may God bless you as you study His word.

This response was prepared by Justin Murdock of the Garrett’s Creek Church of Christ for thegospelfortoday.com

UPDATE:We appreciate Chris taking the time to reply to this answer and thought we’d post the reply here.

“Thank you for the information. I feel the same as you do after researching the Bible. Sadly there are some
who want the Church to “bend over backwards” to accommodate and make people feel good. They
however seem to forget what the Bible teaches.Thanks again

~ Chris”