Dear Baptists,
I love you my baptist brothers and sisters. In fact, I am still one of you (although I do consider myself Presbyterian and have for awhile...I am currently becoming a member). I appreciate my Baptist upbringing. I do, however, have a question for you. Why all the clapping? I mean it is a little over excessive isn't it? Last week I was at a conference and you all clapped a lot. And at unnecessary places. Are you really that excited about 2+2=4 and about that break in between songs? The enthusiasm is appreciated, it is and I could feel your excitement rising as you were unable to hold you hands at your sides. But I just don't understand. It was too much, really it was. You were unable to go without applause for five minutes and it was distracting-at least to me. So my question is why. What are your standards for this clapping? What prompts your applause? Any insight will be helpful. And until then, do you think you could hold it down a bit so I could hear the words of the song or the sermon? Thanks.
Sincerely,
A non-clapper
4 comments:
Oh my word. SO true. And so funny.
Although I am a born and bred traditional Southern Baptist kind of girl, I feel that I have at least some decent outside (aka BALANCED) perspective on the clapping issue. Here is what I've gathered from my observations.
There are 4 primary insights as to why Baptists clap Too Much:
(a) Baptist pastors seem to have some oh-so-obvious insecurities. Thus, they master the art of the dramatic pause in every preaching course at seminary. They gain affirmation if someone begins clapping during their dramatic pause, so they offer these opportune moments often.
(b) Church members want reciprocal affirmation from their pastor (it's a form of assurance of salvation for most of them), so they make special effort to applaud at every single dramatic pause. They affirm the preacher, who then affirms that they are an excellent church member...which means that they absolutely must be saved.
(c) Peer pressure. Everyone else is doing it.
(d)Baptists don't generally do quite as much theological and intellectual training as our Presbyterian friends. Thus, when we hear words with more than two syllables (ex: salvation, redemption, atonement, revival, sanctification), we get really worked up. We get especially worked up if these words are stated assertively (aka louder-than-necessary) because it must mean that we are right about something. Nothing stated from the pulpit with volume is ever wrong...so we should probably make sure to clap at all such incidences.
Does that help?
I'm kidding. Sort of. Not really. It's pretty much all true. Ha. Love it.
And, I may be Baptist, but I make a special effort to deliberately disobey all socially appropriate Baptist behavior. I refuse to applaud with everyone else. I refuse to participate in leader-led hand-raising. I don't need to be told how to hold my arms in worship. And, at ALL COSTS, I refuse to "bow my head and close your eyes" during every freaking invitation. Nope, I'm going to see what other people are doing.
brilliant, J-lo, brilliant.
That response is why I want to be just like you when I grow up.
Two things:
1.) I also refuse to clap/lift my hands/close my eyes when told to do so
2.) Last week at the conference I thought about you telling me the difference between Baptist hands and Pentecostal hands when all of the sudden my palms stated to turn downward. Big deal.
I like this....a lot. Funny, creative, all of the above! I'm going to steal the letter format for my next blog perhaps!
Hahahaha...Have fun with those Pentecostal hands. Just try to hold them still. It's always distracting when outward hands turn into waving arms which turn into elbows in my face. NOT okay. Almost as disruptive as Baptist clapping.
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