BEING TOUCHY ABOUT BEING TOUCHY

It, I know, is probably because I'm not the touchy-touchy kind of person. I understand that by temperament some people can't even talk to another without constantly throughout the conversation reaching out and touching that one's arm, hand, etc. Yet, for whatever reason, I'm still uncomfortable with it. It seems to be an in vogue church buzz phrase. Recently, I have heard a pastor leading worship, a preacher in his sermon, and a singer before he sang each say it. What? "Reach over and touch your neighbor and say..." Reach over and touch your neighbor? I really don't want to sound nit-pickingly critical (so just take this as a personal quirk), but for some reason that puts the brakes on my worship or listening to the Word. There is just something about it that makes me wonder about its origins and purpose. It just seems awfully horizontal in worship. The encouragement to touch someone is accompanied by the instruction to say something to them. It is usually a repeat of a phrase or line (or paragraph) of the sermon such as "Reach over and touch your neighbor and say, 'I ain't going take no lip off the devil.'" During worship one might be coached, "Reach over and touch your neighbor and say, 'God's been so good to me, I'm going to shout and dance and praise His name'." As a pastor, I must admit, I have been tempted to say, "Reach over and poke your neighbor in the ribs to wake him up." but not, "Touch your neighbor." "Touch your neighbor" just seems so different from "shake hands with one another." I'm sure it confuses children once they get old enough to leave children's church and Sunday School and come to worship in the sanctuary. In Sunday School they hear, "Let's keep our hands to ourselves. Stop touching (hitting, poking, grabbing from, etc.) those around you." Then they come to worship and hear, "Reach over and touch your neighbor." When I was growing up in church, one of the favorite worship and revival songs was "Reach out and touch the Lord as He goes by." It recalled to our minds the example of the hemorrhaging woman who reached through the milling crowd and touched the hem of Jesus' garment and was healed. I just wonder: In our worship have we gone from "Reach out and touch the Lord," to "Reach over and touch your neighbor?" I can just hear it now. "Pastor, quit being so touchy."