Can you tell me one good Biblical reason for Christians to hold hands when they pray collectively? Where did this practice come from? Why do so many people do it?
The only place I see this practice is in paganism, when pagans "complete the ring" in order to summon the spirits.
Has modern Christianity once again added to its thinking one more practice from paganism?
The only rituals God gave born-again believers were baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the head covering for women and no head covering for the men.
Why must believers add rituals to God's Word that He never endorsed- traditions that man brought with them from paganism when they converted to Christianity?
The answer is that man always seems to think they can make up their own practices that they ultimately end up trusting in but have no value in their walk with Christ. And even more frustrating, expecting others to do it under penalty of judgment if they refuse to participate.
The hand-holding ritual is so entrenched now that if you decline to do it, others will judge you as petty and picky; after all, they are convinced it is harmless. If it is harmless, then why judge others who choose not to do it?
If it is harmless, then why are some people not allowed to choose not to do it without pressure from the group?
There were also no collective prayer meetings mentioned in the Bible except the Lord's Supper gathering, when everyone is there to edify one another with the Word of God. Their prayer is led by the Holy Spirit, their singing is led by the Holy Spirit, when they speak it is from the Holy Spirit.
Man-made rituals tend to place undue pressure on people, causing them to think something is wrong with their walk with God if they do not do what man has devised.
Because man judges those of us who do not practice these man-made rituals, we are avoided and judged because our decision to not follow them causes them to feel like we are judging them. Group-think has always placed pressure on those who don't obey the collective.
Mark 7:13 "13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
Notice God said, "And you do so in many such matters." There are many things Christians practice and require of others that God never commanded, endorsed, or even practiced Himself.
Isaiah 29:13 "Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men."
When I pray, I want my prayers to be entirely focused on Christ, not on those around me in the room.
Matthew 6:5-6 The Lord's Prayer
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
Many years ago, I questioned this practice of collective prayer because it distracted me from God. It focused me on what others were saying, with the expectation that I would agree with the words of others. But what if I didn't agree with the words of others? Was I then supposed to interrupt the prayer of another to correct them?
When the disciples asked Jesus Christ how to pray, He never once told them to be sure and be with others in a collective setting. We do pray in the gathering when we edify one another in the word. But this is not a command to make sure we gather with others when we pray. There is also no mention whatever in Christianity of holding hands as though there is some sort of special power in it.
Notice something interesting: when we pray in a group setting, we are allowing others to pray on our behalf rather than speaking to God ourselves. The ritual has become that only the pastor prays for you as a mediator. He knows how to do it, and you must agree with whatever he says.
Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."
Luke 11:1 "One day, in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Matthew 6:9-13
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
I know that down through the centuries, many pagan practices and traditions were adopted by Christians as though they were necessary to be heard by God. The idea that our prayers are seen as more powerful when holding hands than if we obey God in our private closets is a ritual, but worse may actually be pagan in nature, adopted from ungodly practices.
When we place pressure on others to do what God never commanded, we are adding to His Word, frustrating those who see no need or cannot bring themselves to do something concocted by man and his own idea to summon demons.
When we question all things as God commanded, we are going to be pressured and judged as stubborn for not taking on something that does not make sense to us, and perhaps worse, may be emulating what the pagans do.
Modern Christianity is full of unbiblical traditions that people cling to as though anyone not doing them is rebellious and superior acting if they do not go along.
One thing God has done for me in the past 30 years is expose all the rituals in Christianity that God never commanded and that people have made a standard for judging others if they do not practice them.
I was once asked what I was doing for Christmas this year. My reply was, "I don't observe it because I am a Christian." There was shock on the person's face because have been convinced by man's tradition that this holiday was all about Christ, when in fact it is not about Him at all. It's all about the rituals, decorations, and practices man devised to add to Christianity what the pagans do.
Notice something important about the holidays that people say are Christian? The seculars love them too. Wouldn't it bring us to pause and ponder why secular people would love anything that elevated God and Jesus Christ?
Every year I hear the same rhetoric from Christians: "put Christ back in Christmas", but what they don't understand is that the Christ of Christmas is not Jesus Christ of the Bible; it is a different Jesus entirely.
The same is true of Easter, Halloween; all of it was human traditions that promote rituals God never commanded and ideas that the Bible never speaks about, distracting the people from the real Christ. Notice, too, that many people who hold fast to these human traditions never speak of the Lord's supper that He did give and command.
Luke 22:19-20 "19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in My blood."
1 Corinthians 10:16 "Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?"
1 Corinthians 11:24-25 "and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
John 6:53-58 "53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
God's symbolism in the Bible that He commanded us to do is all about Him only! The rituals man does is a mixture of the desires and pleasures of man, ultimately making them almost entirely about man.
I don't tell others what to do when I choose not to follow these rituals; I just want the freedom to follow my heart concerning obedience to God's Word and being careful not to practice things that came out of paganism.
When our focus becomes the ritual to such an extent that it becomes a benchmark for our devotion to God, then perhaps it is the ritual that is the problem, not the one who chooses not to indulge.
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