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The Issues and Elements of Worshipping God Part 8 – The Music of Worship – Our Singing and Playing
The theme this month is about a very important aspect of our worship. But the basic lesson of my article may surprise you: in our service of worship to God, the music is not for us. Every individual Christian has a preference or opinion about this aspect of worshipping God but if we forget this one simple point, no matter where we wind up on the issue (and it can become an issue) we are wrong. The music we sing or play, hear or perform, do collectively or as solos, is all for God. That is the reason we are there.
Here are two biblical principles we must remember about this topic. We sing at His command. Worship is coming into the presence of God - as His people, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We stand before Him, we pray to Him, we hear His word proclaimed to us vitally and authoritatively, and we sing to Him. Is this singing “performance”? Absolutely! He receives our worship. “Special” musical offerings, therefore, should be done with care, practice, grace and with a striving to give God our best – whether it be from a group of 3 year-olds, a church choir, or a professional operatic vocalist. And when we sing as a congregation these same principles apply. We sing together as a chorus and we are performing for our God. Whenever we sing together we should all sing out, sing well (that is, as best as we are physically able and intellectually trained), and sing with our heartfelt understanding and appreciation. And, yes, our physical posture is important. We should stand straight and tall (just as if you would were you singing for the governor, cf. Malachi 1:7-8) and not as if we are merely waiting in line somewhere. A casual posture gives no honor and we are there to honor our God. I once said something very radical about posture in a sermon: “It is more Presbyterian to sing with hands upraised to God then with hands stuffed in pockets!” It is absolutely true. And because singing is a performance to God, it must not be regarded as a mere “interlude” or “intermission” in the service. Worshippers of our generation have gotten into the habit of entering or leaving the worship of God during the singing – even of chatting with others toward the back of the room. Any other time, such as in a concert hall or school performance, this would be considered rude. If you are late or must leave early, the best time to enter or exit is immediately after the singing.
We must sing the truth. It’s bad enough to hold selfish, twisted or ignorant misconceptions about God. How much worse it is to sing those right to His face! What we sing must please God and to please God it must reflect His self-revelation given to us in the Bible. The Psalms are the place where we start for in them is the doctrine of God fully revealed to us. But Scripture is full of God’s self-revelation and taking our cue from the totality of God’s word is worthy. Therefore, it is expedient of the Pastor and the Music Director to carefully govern the language of our singing so that it is not only biblically sound and doctrinally correct but relevant to the theme and flow of the service and appropriate and helpful in its application. And know this: no human collection should be accepted and used thoughtlessly in this regard – not the Maranatha songbook, not even the Trinity Hymnal. Care and discernment to choose wisely is always our own responsibility. And when we are true to giving God our best we too are encouraged and are to be strengthened by what we hear. This is an aspect of worship which benefits us also – we hear one another singing the truth! “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col. 3:16, my emphasis)
Beyond these biblical points there is this concluding observation: the actual music we use is our own contribution. It is my sneaking suspicion that, in the history of the Church of the last one hundred years, music in the service of worship has divided Christians more than doctrine. But the plain truth of the matter is that it is not an issue of concern in the Word of God. While the words of our singing are critical and guided by God’s revelation, the tunes, melodies and instruments themselves are not. This is where our human nature is allowed to make its own contribution – in the way we express the truth of God back to Him in worship. But why is it so divisive? It is because music is emotional and personal and important. It has been employed to lift and inspire the soul to selfless glory and also to elicit the most sensual of selfish lusts. Music is never neutral. It has a life, effect and a message of its own and that must always be taken into consideration. It has the power to stir the soul even if the words sung are polluted and corrupt. Conversely, many hymns with absolutely powerful and beautiful words turn worshippers off because they are carried by impossible or inappropriate tunes. Music is as varied as is mankind itself and God has seen fit not to regulate the music as He has the words of our worship. Because of this, someone merely human must make the choice of the music to be performed in worship. And with that realization, all the corruption of the human soul tends to rise up – prejudice, preference, manipulation, mistrust, control, politics, selfishness – and that’s just in me, the Pastor! Heaven only knows what is going on in your heart and mind. It is vital, therefore, that we strive to understand one another concerning the issue of music in worship. This we are often not very good at doing. For instance, one side looks at chorus songs and criticizes them as “dumbing down” the service. But the truth, at many times, is more personal – some people just feel dumb (awkward), even childish, singing simple, repetitive tunes – even if they do quote Scripture verbatim. The other side regards traditional hymns and criticizes them as archaic and old-fashioned. But often it is just that they are intimidated by such music – the melody lines are more difficult to master which makes it harder to pay attention to the words, and the words are always changing with the different verses which makes it hard to sing the tune. Neither side is “wrong”. And the solution is not always “Let’s work to make the other side just like us.” Neither “side” has a Scriptural mandate. The Bible says nothing about the benefit of a 4-part harmony; and neither does it say K.I.S.S. (“Keep it simple, Silly!”) And then there is the whole issue of musical instruments. Even John Calvin “were agin” the organ when it made its debut into the worship of God. Was he wrong? Modern instrumentalists point to the Psalms where they mention “strings”, “cymbals” and “tambourines” (although they don’t seem as interested in furthering the discussion when we start looking for other words like “amplifiers”, “decibels”, “praise bands” and “trap sets”). But are they right? And “new” is not bad, by definition, just as “old” is not good, so defined. Every generation contributes to the wealth of the music store for worship. We should consider it an obligation to make our own contribution. The music we contribute should reflect our own experience, culture, tradition, the liveliness of our faith and the distinctiveness of our testimony. Also, it should reflect our own ability and understanding to contribute to the service of worship. And it will display much about ourselves – our view of God, of ourselves, of the quality we desire in what we offer and in what we ourselves are satisfied. But yet, the Bible does have an important message about this whole issue: repent. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself (Phil. 2:3). And, no, that isn’t speaking to just the other guy. The Bible says follow the lead of those in spiritual leadership who must (not just “may” or even “like to”) make the decision, make the music our worshipful performance to God, keep it truthful, and do it together. As we are growing spiritually, we should be growing expressively. Young Christians – whether little children or brand-new converts off the streets - need to be encouraged that they can sing to God immediately and easily. Maturing Christians need to be challenged to stretch so that their growing gifts and talents in music contribute to their worship. Christians older still need to be reminding us all that we stand on a heritage of generations who have also contributed to the worship of God and that they and the excellence of their offerings are not to be forgotten.
When the Morning Stars Together
When the morning stars together their Creator’s glory sang,
When in synagogue and temple voices raised the psalmist’s songs,
Voice and instrument in unison through the ages spoke your praise,
Lord, we bring our gift of music; touch our lips and fire our hearts.
Albert F. Bayly, 1969
Rustington David G. Barker, 2003 |
| David G. Barker david.barker@ncpres.org |