I just want to ask what you would think of one who would make an argument and say that, if one allows the lifting of hands in connection with their worship, then why can’t he allow handclapping (and possibly even mechanical instruments of music) in connection with worship (thinking that they all have the same principle of being an addition to the worship, yet thinking that if one is lawful [i.e. the lifting of hands], then so should the others).
It would be a misguided and false argument that lifting hands in worship is an addition to what is authorized in Scripture, and therefore, in the same category of adding instrumental music to worship. While it is true that adding instrumental music to Christian worship is an unauthorized addition, the same is not true regarding lifting hands in Christian worship.
Notice that in 1 Timothy 2:8 the apostle Paul recommended the lifting hands in worship by men in their public prayers. “I desire therefore that the men [males] pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Timothy 2:8 NKJV). Men, not women, were instructed to lift their hands during prayers in public worship. First Timothy 2:8 in its context appears in distinction and contrast to the God-given role of women (1 Timothy 2:9-15).
Why, then, do men today typically not lift their hands while uttering public prayers in worship? The answer lies in one’s understanding of why Christians do not typically practice the “holy kiss” of Romans 16:16. Most people in the Christian world no longer use the kiss as a form of greeting, but instead have exchanged it for a handshake according to present-day culture and customs. Men do not usually lift hands while praying in Christian assemblies because that practice is not part of our current culture and customs.
Those today who lift their hands in a worship assembly most often do so for reasons completely different from biblical times when men would lead public prayers with outstretched arms. Today, often emotional and ecstatic feelings prompt lifting of hands by men and women during worship, which may be a precursor to or a demonstration of charismatic or Pentecostal religious error. Women are not authorized by Scripture to lift their hands in Christian worship, and men would only be authorized to lift their hands in Christian worship during prayer – if it were consistent with present-day culture and custom, which it is not.
Therefore, lifting of hands in Christian worship by either males or females would be distracting at best as well as sinful were it done by women or even done by men as a charismatic display. Adding instrumental music to Christian worship is not authorized (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Women lifting hands in worship was not and is not authorized in Scripture (1 Timothy 2:8-15). Men lifting hands for public prayers was authorized in Scripture, but it is not consistent today with current cultural practices, and it is no more appropriate under the best of circumstances than practicing the “holy kiss,” which also is not consistent today with current cultural practices.
