A Jot from John
After a recent baptism during our gospel meeting, a member from another congregation begins clapping when the baptism was over. What surprised me, and disappointed me, was that some of our members follow suit.
When a person is baptized properly, it is approved of God and by all subjects of God. When a person prays appropriately, takes the Lord’s Supper or sings properly, the same thing is true. Should we applaud at any or all of those times?
Note a couple of other significant things. If a professional singer performs and the audience applauds, they are normally applauding the performance of the musician. Is there anything in God’s word that leads one to assume that when a person leads a song, leads a prayer, or preaches in worship, his performance is to be applauded? Is he, or his performance the center of attention? Or should our attention be on the message and the Christ whom the message should exalt?
If fact, if one applauded when a person got through leading a prayer at the Lord’s supper and removed the top of the containers of the fruit of the vine, would anyone know whether you were applauding the beautiful way he led the prayer, the superb flourish with which he removed the lid without banging it against the table, or the fact that Jesus died for us? Is either of them fit subject for applause?
There are other principles involved. The performance of a singer or pianist on the stage is supposed to be a performance which calls attention to the skill or ability of the artist who is performing. Thus, it is appropriate to applaud or withhold applause in terms of how you valued the skill or ability of the performer. That is not true with reference to the act of baptism, preaching, prayer, singing in worship, or waiting on the Lord’s Table. If one applauded at a baptism he might be applauding the skill with which the baptizer put the person under the water without getting himself wet. My point here is that applause always calls attention to the performers of the act, whatever the act may be. At a baptism, we should be calling attention to the grace and love of the Savior who authorized the act. When a person is baptized, I approve of his action, if it is in obedience to the command of the Lord, who said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). If applauding by clapping of the hands was nothing more than a way of saying, “I’m glad he did that , for it glorifies God,” I would have no objection to it. But since God’s word gives no indication that He wants to be glorified in that way, and since that kind of applause is always used to call attention to the performers of the act rather than to God, or the God ordained purpose of the act, I personally object to it!
Onward Rejoicing, John B. Daniels, Associate Minister