Shake, Jump, and Shout Religion
by Kerry Duke
I recently bought a used book entitled Celebration or Abomination by John Osborne. It was written in 1990. This book denounces entertainment-filled, Pentecostal-type worship. The book begins with a letter from a couple who went to a church with this type of atmosphere. Below are a few excerpts from this letter:
The moment we stepped in we felt it. . . a highly charged, strangely bewitching, almost electric excitement. . . There was not one iota of reverence.
. . . here and there arms were being raised; some people, encouraged to do so by one of the group singers (an older man) stood up and with arms outstretched, sang and swayed from side to side. The immense sanctuary (dare I call it that?) seemed to rock with the clapping in time to the music, and here and there someone shouted out something.
We saw those in charge of the music; the sound and tape recordings; the hosts and hostesses, and the large drama group. One of the group has a degree in Theology and a degree in Theater. Yes, you read it right. Drama is featured every Sabbath, and we were about to witness the drama for that day.
I should say that not everyone held their arms up, or clapped, or swayed. Near us were two or three couples, seniors like ourselves, with about the same expressions on their faces, I suspect, they saw on ours.
For four house we had seen, heard, and felt Satan and his demons in all their ugliness at work under the guise of worship and praise. No one need try to tell us anything good can come from these pentecostal-type Celebration churches, and this form or "worship" is spreading like a plague amongst us. (pp. iii – xii)
The writer then lists "external signs of Pentecostal spiritualism: hand clapping, swaying, raising of hands, head back with eyes closed, shouting, jumping, running, dancing" (p.5). He says that the mentality is one of "no standards. That’s right friend; no standards. Dress as you please, go where you please, eat and drink what you please, anything goes, because we’re in ‘celebration’!" (p.13). Throughout the book, he cites names of leaders in this new movement and even includes copies of their advertisements and statements.
What may surprise you is that John Osborne is a Seventh Day Adventist. He is criticizing his Seventh Day Adventist brothers for turning their worship into a spectacle.
Only four days after I purchased this book, I received an e-mail message from a brother in another state. The church of Christ he attends has "invented a new order of worship, i.e., hand clapping. . . women standing up, clapping and waving hands, shouting. . . " The brother openly spoke up against this atmosphere and was told to sit down by the preacher.
Consider the following report from Full Access, a former singing group from the Otter Creek church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee:
The Creek was overflowing with praise Wednesday night June 4, 1997. This was an evening of firsts for Full Access as the performed King in its entirety with a full band. . . The rambunctious VBS Medley followed, whipping the crowd into a frenzy as the whole auditorium came to their feet, clapping, stomping, marching with the infantry, and shooting the artillery together as Full Access tore through a slew of Vacation Bible School favorites. (from Full Access Website, 1997)
Similar stories are common. I listened to a young man who had been to Winteriest in Pigeon Forge several years ago. He praise the event for its exciting atmosphere and said that the crowd "went crazy" when the Acappella Vocal Band performed. I also recently watched some footage of the 2001 Tulsa Soul Winning Workshop. Except for the absence of musical instruments, one could hardly tell the sessions at Tulsa from what is shown on the Trinity Broadcasting Network: stage performances, frequent applause, and people reaching with outstretched arms toward the performers as young audiences do at rock concerts.
At the Can Ridge Revivals of the 1800's, some participants went into shaking convulsions and others barked like dogs. They claimed to do so by the moving of the Holy Spirit Those these "manifestations" of the Holy Spirit are not claimed today, the idea persists that the more one shows such outward signs, the more spiritual he is.
What strikes anyone who carefully reads the New Testament is the total absence of any such activity in worship. Jesus and the disciples did not need to spice up their prayers and songs with jumping, shouting, and clapping. They sang and prayed reverently. When sermons were preached, people were called to repentance – hardly an atmosphere for applause.
Our young people today speak of "going crazy" as they worship God "in a frenzy." How ignorant of true worship they are. How utterly void they are of sense of distinction between the holy and the profane. How deceived they are in thinking that such behavior is spiritual, much less authorized by the Spirit of God.
Paul rebuked the Corinthians for the chaotic atmosphere of their worship assemblies (I Cor. 14:23-40). If Paul were present at some of the gatherings of members of the church today, he would rebuke scores of people for their silly and irreverent attitude toward worship.
Worship is not a time to be entertained, and the church is not a carnival. "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence of all them that are about him (Psa. 89:7). Worshipers are to be participants, not spectators. It is sad that some Seventh Day Adventist believe these truths when some members of the Lord’s church do not. And it is a sad day in Israel when we must argue with members of the church about what being respectful in worship means.