Let me state upfront that my own journey has shaped the way I think about the issue of expressive worship. I was introduced to Reformed theology in 2008, while studying at Bible college. Reading John MacArthur’s Charismatic Chaos as well as his Gospel According to Jesus challenged many of my previous theological assumptions and introduced me to theological convictions that eventually led me into Reformed Christianity.
I began to assume that theological maturity required physical restraint.
Having grown up in a South African township environment strongly influenced by Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity, I was familiar with expressive worship—clapping, movement and singing with visible enthusiasm. Only when I entered Reformed circles, I discovered a worship tradition that emphasised rich theological hymns, biblical content and doctrinal depth. Though I greatly appreciated this shift, I noticed that physical expression during worship was very limited if not entirely lacking. Stillness seemed to communicate reverence. Visible movement, on the other hand, could be viewed with suspicion. Over time, I began to assume that theological maturity required physical restraint.
Yet as I continued studying scripture I began to distinguish between Reformed theology and particular cultural forms of Reformed worship. Reformed theology is grounded in convictions concerning the Bible, salvation, the Church, God’s sovereignty and the gospel. So I arrived at the conviction that Reformed theology doesn’t prescribe a single cultural style of worship for all Christian communities. This distinction is particularly important among African Christians. For while we should readily receive Reformed theology we must simultaneously ask whether certain inherited worship practices are biblical necessities or simply cultural expressions.
Worship Involves the Whole Person
Scripture doesn’t present human beings as emotionless creatures. Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30). Loving God, therefore, therefore involves the whole person. Yes Christianity engages our minds. But our faith also engages the affections, wills, bodies and actions. Importantly, this doesn’t mean that every emotional response is appropriate. Nor is any expression permissible. However it does mean that emotions themselves aren’t the enemy of sound theology. Joy, gratitude, reverence, sorrow, love, and thanksgiving are all legitimate Christian affections. If God’s truth produces joy in the heart, there’s no biblical injunction that this joy should remain invisible.
We must worship God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). So worship must be both genuine and governed by God’s revelation. Biblical truth must shape our worship, but worshipping in truth doesn’t mean suppressing every physical or emotional response.
Physical expression isn’t inherently incompatible with the worship of God.
The Psalms provide striking examples of praise and worship expressed physically. There’s dancing (Psalm 149:3) and tambourines (Psalm 150:4). These texts must be interpreted within their Old Testament context, and as such don’t establish dancing as a requirement for New Testament corporate worship. Nevertheless they demonstrate an important principle: physical expression isn’t inherently incompatible with the worship of God. Our bodies belong to God in their entirety (Romans 12:1), just as our worship isn’t exclusively something we think or say, but involves the whole person.
For many Africans, music and movement are naturally connected. Clapping, swaying, raising hands or moving rhythmically communicate joy, thanksgiving, celebration, and participation. We shouldn’t label expressive worship as mere emotionalism. The important question to ask, then, isn’t: “are people moving?”; but “what is motivating their movement, and is it consistent with biblical worship?”
A Caution Against Emotionalism
Crucially, the answer to overly restrained worship is not unbridled emotionalism. For while emotions are a gift from God they must be governed by his truth. Some contexts place such a great emphasis on visible emotional experiences that these experiences become the measure of spiritual vitality. Crying, shouting, dancing, or prolonged emotional responses become central to the gathering. Yet visible emotion is not necessarily evidence of spiritual maturity.
Visible emotions are not necessarily evidence of spiritual maturity.
Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 is particularly important to this matter. In the context of corporate worship, he insists that “all things should be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40). Worship, therefore, regardless of your Christian tradition, ought to be both orderly and edifying. This means we can never allow physical or emotional expressions to be disruptive, distracting the congregation from God and his word. The local church gathers to hear, proclaim, sing, pray and respond to God’s revealed truth. Emotionalism is no substitute for the reading and preaching of scripture. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
We must also be on guard against artificial emotionalism. Worship should never be performative. God’s people shouldn’t feel any pressure to demonstrate their spirituality through exaggerated physical or emotional behaviour. The person who dances isn’t necessarily more spiritual than someone who stands quietly. Likewise, someone who stands quietly isn’t necessarily more mature than someone who moves with joy. Neither stillness nor movement proves the sincerity of worship.
A similar caution applies to worshipping according to cultural forms. African Christians shouldn’t blindly import every Pentecostal or Charismatic worship practice in the name of being African. Instead we must examine our culture and its expressions of faith in the light of scripture. An African identity doesn’t condone every cultural practice. The goal is neither Western restraint nor African emotionalism; it is biblical worship.
The Place for Expressive Worship
Reformed Christians are not robots. We’re human beings, created in God’s image. This means we have both minds to think with, hearts that feel and bodies for our response. Importantly, however, our emotions and expressions must be directed by God’s truth before cultural identity. As we’ve seen, the real issue isn’t whether we stand still or move. The deeper question is whether our worship is biblically grounded, sincere, orderly, Christ-centred and directed toward the glory of God. Our physical expressions must be exercised with wisdom. Our freedom must be accompanied by love.
We don’t need to choose between sound theology and genuine emotion.
We don’t need to choose between sound theology and genuine emotion. Because we can have both. At the same time, we must resist emotionalism that substitutes feelings for truth, performance for sincerity and experience for the word of God. We can be deeply Reformed in our theology while remaining genuinely African in our cultural expression. We can sing with our minds, rejoice with our hearts, and respond with our bodies—all under the authority of God’s word.
