At church or in chapel, there are often people who are accustomed to worshiping in different ways.
When worshiping, some people may feel most comfortable sitting and praying during worship. Others are used to standing with their hands in the air. Still others will kneel and publicly pray. These are forms of public display of worship.
Public display of worship can be seen negatively in that too much of it can make others uncomfortable. That doesn't, however, make it wrong.
“The question is not of the actions themselves, but the heart posture behind it,” sophomore Dalton Rodgers, a biology health sciences major, said. “I think that certain people have different struggles and some people struggle to seek attention in their worship, particularly corporate worship when we’re all together to be doing things for show, for the gaze of others, and not for a true desire to express themselves.”
This can create an uncomfortable situation for an observer.
Matthew 6:6 (NIV) reflects this: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
At the same time, each person is entitled to worship the Lord in their own way. It is not our place as humans to determine the correct way to worship God.
“The challenge is, sometimes we try to overestimate the heart of the person ministering,” Rev. Greg Dyson, vice president for spiritual and intercultural leadership at Taylor University, said. “In certain denominations and certain backgrounds, there are different styles.”
With this in mind, there is a fine line between being showy and worshiping expressively. Since everyone is from different backgrounds, that line can blur more.
“I keep my eyes closed most of the time,” Gabi Mitchell, a sophomore chapel singer, said. “That’s just my natural way of worshipping. I usually like to keep my eyes closed. But I do think about, ‘How am I moving across stage? How am I interacting with my band?’ Because at the end of the day, I don’t think it really matters all that much. Like it’s really where your heart’s at.”
The heart is the most important part of the equation. If one’s heart is in the right place, the need to be seen washes away.
However, one also needs to be careful when judging whether or not something is showy.
“I would say this, though, that when you sense somebody being too showy, a beautiful biblical and a right approach is to meet that person and ask them: ‘What were you thinking?’” Dyson said. “I think a very common thing that we slip into is we try to judge what we see before trying to worship God. So we see this thing and say, ‘Because it’s not my style, I don’t like it. It must be showy.’ And then we never actually confront the person lovingly and say, ‘Hey, tell me about what you were thinking when you were doing that.’”
Instead of focusing on what is or isn’t a public display of worship, it would be best to simply focus on God, avoid attention-seeking, and instead worship in a way that would please God.
Matthew 7:3 (NIV) says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
Public displays of worship may be uncomfortable for some, but it is important to remember that each person comes from a different culture they are comfortable in.
If one feels inclined to confront someone who is being performative, it is important to do so with love, but even more important to step back and focus on one’s own relationship with God.
