The Physicality of Faithful Worship: Why We Bend Knees and Lift Hands

I can imagine several possible responses to an article with a title like this one.

  • “Oh great. Another extrovert clueless to the fact that God made people different.”

  • “Yes! A word of admonishment to the frozen chosen.”

  • “Come on. Just let people worship God undisturbed.”

  • “Why do we keep talking about this, anyway?”

It’s that last question I feel aware of most as I write another article on what we do with our bodies in congregational worship. Haven’t we talked about this enough? Aren’t people just going to do what they’ve always done? Isn’t it more important to focus on what’s happening in our hearts than what we do with our bodies?

Good questions. But the Bible doesn’t give us the option of minimizing or ignoring what we do physically when we gather as his people in his presence. It matters.

But why? Whether you lift your hands high on Sunday mornings or keep them below your waistline, God gives us at least three reasons why it’s important to display the worth of Christ with our bodies.

This article written by Bob Kauflin, Director of Sovereign Grace Music, was originally published on Desiring God, September 21, 2023.

Bob Kauflin