Proper and Improper Celebration

I watched a celebration this week. It happened to be a victory parade for the champion Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association. It could have been for any reason. Celebration is celebration, right? Maybe. Maybe not. In the Old Testament, David announced, “I will celebrate before the Lord” (2 Samuel 6:21, NAS). Some translations read, “I will play music before the Lord.” Being a non-musician, I like the idea of “celebrate” better. A few verses earlier it says, “David danced before the Lord” (2 Samuel 7:14). I don’t think we were allowed to read that verse in my very conservative Southern Baptist upbringing. Worshipping in a Nigerian church in Benin, West Africa, I watched the people dance down the aisles to give their offering to God. To the other extreme, I was once a member of a church where the Pastor forbade clapping in the new worship center. Shouting “Amen” to his sermons was OK, just no clapping. I’ve been in so-called contemporary worship services where clapping was accompanied with whistling and shouting. The question is, how do we “properly celebrate before the Lord?” You say, as long as the celebration is sincere, it is proper. Is it then OK if one’s sincere celebration, offends another? Are you expecting me to give a final answer? Sorry to disappoint you, but I asked you first. Responses?

Join me this week in praying for the following global concerns:
• Pray for Johnny and Nita who need a new Visa for the country where they serve?
• Pray for the International World Changers team that will be in Romania this week.
• Pray for Yoni as she prepares to serve in Northern India.
• Pray for the many mission teams that will travel and serve this week.
• The East Asian worker for whom we have prayed in recent days is now with the Lord. Continue to pray for his wife.