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This is a somewhat perplexing article. Dr. Piper is asked about a particular behavior and answers accurately and thoroughly, but he accepts the question's premise without examination. The presumption is that raising hands in worship is somehow controversial and ought to be examined.
There are church traditions where the musical worship is staid and unexpressive, and in fact any physical demonstration at all by the congregants is frowned upon as irreverent. It very nearly rises to the status of inviolable doctrine, which means if a person dared raise his hands in worship it would be scandalous, maybe even heretical.
This is a somewhat perplexing article. Dr. Piper is asked about a particular behavior and answers accurately and thoroughly, but he accepts the question's premise without examination. The presumption is that raising hands in worship is somehow controversial and ought to be examined.
There are church traditions where the musical worship is staid and unexpressive, and in fact any physical demonstration at all by the congregants is frowned upon as irreverent. It very nearly rises to the status of inviolable doctrine, which means if a person dared raise his hands in worship it would be scandalous, maybe even heretical.
But the basis of Dr. Piper's answer is public vs. private righteousness, and whether or not the worshiper is seeking the praise of men. He doesn't address that people might be offended, or the Matthew 18 process of how such offense is dealt with, or even any biblical exposition regarding the raising of hands. In fact, he quotes zero verses about raising hands.
Ezr. 9:5-6 Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God 6 and prayed...
Ps. 28:2 Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands towards your Most Holy Place.
Ps. 63:4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
Ps. 119:48 I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.
Ps. 141:2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Ultimately, the raising of hands is a thoroughly biblical practice that has been stigmatized by church tradition.
Audio Transcript
If you lift your hands in church during musical worship, are you just showing off, acting extra spiritual for others to notice, and doing the exact thing Jesus told us not to do? (Or maybe you're being obedient to the biblical command.)
Maybe. Maybe not.
*This week, we read Matthew 6, (Incredibly, Dr. Piper will never quote the passage, just verse 1. Astonishing.)
and I know it’s a chapter that stands out to you, Pastor John, as we discern the heart motives of why we do religious things. (Religious things like judge the motives of someone's behavior, perhaps?)
So, this is a relevant and timely question today from Ryan:
“Dear Pastor John, thank you for this podcast. I’m writing because in Matthew 6:1 Jesus warns us not to practice our righteousness to be seen by others. He then applies this to prayer and to giving, saying that when we do these things publicly for human praise, we have already received our reward in full. I understand the danger of hypocrisy and seeking man’s approval in our spiritual practices. But I wonder how far this principle extends into other areas of the Christian life.”
“For example, how does this teaching apply to gathered worship? Should Christians ever be concerned that lifting hands, closing eyes, or expressing emotion in worship might cross the line into practicing our righteousness before others? Or does worship fall into a different category? What about praying before meals in restaurants, wearing crosses, sharing our testimony online, or even posting Scripture on social media? When does public faithfulness become public performance?”
The Reality of God
I love this section of Scripture, Matthew 6:1–18. There aren’t many other passages that have driven me more deeply into a sense of God’s personal reality in my life and a sense of the preciousness of his fatherhood and the realness of his rewards. I think that’s the main thing Jesus is concerned with here. These three tests, almsgiving and praying and fasting, are really ways for each one of us to have a serious reckoning with the authenticity of our own heart and the reality of God in our lives. Is God a real person to us? I think that’s Jesus’s question. Is he a real Father to us? Is he a real, precious treasure to us when he promises to reward us?
Every one of these tests is basically saying, “Do you want God more than you want anything? Is he real to you?” You know how good it feels when other people praise you. Now, here’s the test: Does it feel that good to you to know that, in your giving and praying and fasting, your heavenly Father is pleased? Does the approval of God, his saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21), feel as good to you as the praise of man feels? That’s what these verses are urging and testing.
Jesus wants us to know his Father as our Father and to be deeply, deeply happy and satisfied with the Father’s eyes upon us and his approval of our behaviors and the rewards of his promises and his presence. That’s what Jesus wants: Know your Father; enjoy the fellowship of your Father; walk in the smile of your Father; be amazed and happy that he is your Rewarder.
I love this section of Scripture, Matthew 6:1–18. There aren’t many other passages that have driven me more deeply into a sense of God’s personal reality in my life and a sense of the preciousness of his fatherhood and the realness of his rewards. I think that’s the main thing Jesus is concerned with here. These three tests, almsgiving and praying and fasting, are really ways for each one of us to have a serious reckoning with the authenticity of our own heart and the reality of God in our lives. Is God a real person to us? I think that’s Jesus’s question. Is he a real Father to us? Is he a real, precious treasure to us when he promises to reward us?
Every one of these tests is basically saying, “Do you want God more than you want anything? Is he real to you?” You know how good it feels when other people praise you. Now, here’s the test: Does it feel that good to you to know that, in your giving and praying and fasting, your heavenly Father is pleased? Does the approval of God, his saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21), feel as good to you as the praise of man feels? That’s what these verses are urging and testing.
Jesus wants us to know his Father as our Father and to be deeply, deeply happy and satisfied with the Father’s eyes upon us and his approval of our behaviors and the rewards of his promises and his presence. That’s what Jesus wants: Know your Father; enjoy the fellowship of your Father; walk in the smile of your Father; be amazed and happy that he is your Rewarder.
Heart Motive over Action
Now, the way Jesus helps us get real with God is by asking us three times what our motives are in giving and praying and fasting: Do you give to the poor that you may be praised by others (Matthew 6:2)? Do you pray in public that you may be seen by others (Matthew 6:5)? And do you let your fasting be known that you may be seen by others (Matthew 6:16)? And in verse 1, he sums up the whole unit: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.”
Four times in this text, the question is our motive, not first our action. The point is not that nobody should ever know you’re a generous person. That’s not the point. It’s not that nobody should ever know that you pray, or that nobody should ever know that you fast from time to time. That’s just not the point. In fact, that’s not workable, and it’s just totally contrary to Scripture. You can’t live the Christian life and not be known for being a godly person. You can’t.
Paul says we are supposed to adorn the gospel with visible goodness (Titus 2:10). Our life is adornment; it’s not invisible. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see” — see what? — “your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Sometimes there are good deeds that people ought to see, and sometimes our good deeds should be so quiet that our left hand doesn’t know what our right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3–4). And the issue is your heart. Do we crave the approval and praise of other people? Is that the satisfying food for our souls? Or does that pleasure of other people’s approval pale in comparison with the approving smile of our heavenly Father (Matthew 5:16)?
No Safe Spaces
I would answer Ryan’s question like this: Yes, the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6:1–18 applies to all of life, not just giving, praying, and fasting. Yes, whether it’s lifting of hands in worship, closing the eyes, expressions of emotion, preaching, Bible reading, church attendance, mercy ministries in the neighborhood, praying before meals or anywhere, wearing crosses or tattoos, all kinds of online expressions of compassion or indignation or piety (including tweeting Scriptures like I do), helping a person change his flat tire on a cold winter night, tithing or charitable giving, every expression of kindness in your family or in the neighborhood or at work — all of it, without exception, can be done in order to be praised by people.
There are no safe spaces. There are no safe behaviors in this world — none. Our human hearts are infected with indwelling sin (This is false. We received a heart of flesh for our heart of stone [Ez. 11:19]. We are new creations [2Co. 5:17]. Sin is not a heart matter any more, it is part of our old dead man which has been crucified with Christ [Ga. 2:20].)
I would answer Ryan’s question like this: Yes, the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6:1–18 applies to all of life, not just giving, praying, and fasting. Yes, whether it’s lifting of hands in worship, closing the eyes, expressions of emotion, preaching, Bible reading, church attendance, mercy ministries in the neighborhood, praying before meals or anywhere, wearing crosses or tattoos, all kinds of online expressions of compassion or indignation or piety (including tweeting Scriptures like I do), helping a person change his flat tire on a cold winter night, tithing or charitable giving, every expression of kindness in your family or in the neighborhood or at work — all of it, without exception, can be done in order to be praised by people.
There are no safe spaces. There are no safe behaviors in this world — none. Our human hearts are infected with indwelling sin (This is false. We received a heart of flesh for our heart of stone [Ez. 11:19]. We are new creations [2Co. 5:17]. Sin is not a heart matter any more, it is part of our old dead man which has been crucified with Christ [Ga. 2:20].)
and are capable of being proud of the most humble, kind, and generous behaviors. You can be as boastful about keeping your hands down in worship as lifting them up. You can be as boastful about keeping your voice silent in a prayer meeting as you can about praying out loud. The solution is not in the behavior; the solution is in the heart.
Faithfulness or Performance?
Ryan asks, “When does public faithfulness become public performance?” And what person who has done anything in the presence of two other people has not asked that question? If they care about their own heart and what condition it’s in, I think it comes down to three things.
First, public faithfulness becomes public performance when it is motivated by a craving for the praise of man more than the approval of God. We must seek to know our hearts.
Second, public faithfulness becomes public performance when it fails the test of loving other people and seeking their good, not just our freedom. For example, suppose you find yourself worshiping with one thousand people. I’ve been in these situations. Suppose you find yourself worshiping with one thousand people, none of whom is raising his hands, not one. The question you face — as someone like me, who very naturally and freely and regularly raises his hands in worship — is this: Does this people need to be jostled out of their limitations, or does this people need to be humbly respected and not offended? And that’s why Paul prayed that our “love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment” (Philippians 1:9).
Finally, public faithfulness becomes public performance when we fail to hope that God will be glorified more than we will be glorified. We just fail to want that; we don’t want it. That’s a failure. Which brings us back to where we started: Is God real for us? Is he a precious Father to us? Is the promise of his reward far more desirable to us than the rewards of human admiration?
John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of Desiring God and chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy. Read more about John.
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