Chapter 32: Music

The church has found music to be a means of joyful expression in her worship of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, music has been a means of great division and ungodly attitudes within the church. The old saying, “When Satan fell from heaven he landed in the choir loft,” shows that this is not a new church problem. In fact, in a lecture entitled “Measures to Promote Revival”, from Charles Finney’s Revival Lectures (published in 1835), he describes some of the musical infighting in the churches from his era.

"Afterwards, another innovation was brought in. It was thought best to have a select choir of singers sit by themselves, so as to give an opportunity to improve the music. But this was bitterly opposed. How many congregations were torn and rent in sunder by the desire of ministers and some leading individuals to bring about an improvement in the cultivation of music, by forming choirs! People talked about “innovation,” and “new measures,” and thought great evils were coming to the Churches, because the singers were seated by themselves, and cultivated music, and learned new tunes that the old people could not sing. It used not to be so when they were young, and they would not tolerate such novelties in the Church."

He goes on:

"When the bass viol was first introduced, it made a great commotion. People insisted they might just as well have a fiddle in the house of God…. In a synod in the Presbyterian Church, it was seriously talked of some, as a matter worthy of church discipline in a certain Church, that “they had an organ in the house of God….” They would not be half so much excited on being reminded that sinners are going to hell, as on hearing that “there is going to be an organ in the meeting-house.”

All one has to do is change the instruments or the music styles in Finney’s quotes and they could have been written yesterday rather than over 170 years ago. Whenever I get frustrated with the music wars in my own church I reread Finney to remind myself that this is not a “modern” problem. (Sometimes this makes me feel worse though). L  

It is too bad that, instead of bringing us together, music often divides us according to taste, age and ethnicity. When this happens we allow music to destroy the message of the gospel, which is about reconciliation between God and one another. It is a message about becoming one new family where there is no longer Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free. In other words, we are called to be a people who reflect the image of God as unity in diversity, perfect love modeled in the mystery of the Trinity. It is for these underlying reasons that I am so passionate about this issue, and why I get pretty steamed when professing Christians display such musically selfish anti-gospel behaviour.  

I am not advocating for a style of musical worship. I certainly have my musical preferences, but that doesn’t matter. What I’m pleading for is for churches to use their differences over music as an opportunity to practice love amidst diversity. Harmony in the eyes of God is displayed in loving one another self-sacrificially, mutual submission and giving up one’s rights for the sake of someone else. This is also the greatest commandment. (Mark 12:29-31). Often our attitude toward music in the church (and the attitude of our small group of friends who agree with us) is a denial of the gospel we say we believe. This is why I push back against this. It is not about the music, but about being a church living out the gospel. It is my mandate as a pastor to keep that front and center and fight against any “heresy” that denies the gospel.

The remainder of this chapter is a biblical theology of worship music that I put together. It is something that is not only affirmed by scripture, but by many church leaders and Statements of Faith. My prayer is that those who read it will embrace it as a biblical and gospel oriented approach to assist them in singing together with fellow believers in the kind of harmony that God desires and considers worship.

1.          True worship is ultimately about a life of obedience and love towards God and one another and not about ceremonies, rituals, or styles. (Mark 12:28 – 33 – especially v. 33; Rom. 12:1-2; Matt. 9:13; 12:7; Hos. 6:6-8; 1 Sam. 15:22-23; Isaiah 1:11-15; Jer. 7:21-23; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Mal. 1:6-10; 2:13-15; 3:7-8, 13-15; 3:1-4, 16-17).  

2.          The New Testament says relatively little about music. (Only Eph. 5:19 & Col. 3:16 mention singing songs, hymns and spiritual songs and James 5:13 encourages us by writing, “Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise”). Paul never mentions singing or playing music as a spiritual gift. (Which does not mean it is not a spiritual gift. We know that men like Kenaniah and other Levites were gifted musicians who played such instruments as cymbals, harps, lyres, and trumpets – 1 Chron. 15:22; 1 Chron. 9:13; 2 Chron. 5:12). The New Testament never mentions music leaders in the churches. (This does not mean that it is against it). And, the New Testament never says anything about style, volume and culture regarding music. All this to confirm that the New Testament is virtually silent when it comes to the issue of music and its forms and uses in the church.

3.           As the hymn book of the early church was the Psalms, this would be our best guide as to discover their theology of music as a means to worshiping God. A brief reading of the Psalms shows us a wide diversity of emotions, styles, body movement, implied volume levels and instrumentation that most musically “blended” church services today could be criticized for not being diverse enough. (Psalm 150 mentions wind, string and percussion, which encompasses every category of musical instrumentation there is). We also find many of the Psalms quite repetitive as well as many filled with lots of content, implying that both are legitimate ways to express ourselves before God.

4.          We find the early church beginning to compose new songs (i.e. Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-20). Musical styles are never mentioned although content is important.

5.          Although an argument from silence, it seems astonishing that the local home churches in Jerusalem, Rome, Corinth, as well as the ethnically diverse churches from all over the Roman Empire would sing in the same music styles. Again, the content of their songs would reflect the same faith.

6.          Worship is a matter of the heart and external forms alone do not change the heart.

7.          Music style, volume and culture are external forms with no clear biblical guidelines of governance and, therefore, the law of love and freedom should apply. (Romans 14).

8.          Therefore, John Calvin correctly wrote: (Institutes 4,10,30):

“But as in external discipline and ceremonies, God has not been pleased to prescribe every particular that we ought to observe, (he foresaw that this depended on the nature of the times, and that one form would not suit all ages,) in them we must have recourse to the general rules which he has given, employing them to test whatever the necessity of the Church may require to be enjoined for order and decency. Lastly, as he has not delivered any express command, because things of this nature are not necessary to salvation, and, for the edification of the Church, should be accommodated to the varying circumstances of each age and nation, it will be proper, as the interest of the Church may require, to change and abrogate the old, as well as to introduce new forms. I confess, indeed, that we are not to innovate rashly or incessantly, or for trivial causes. Charity is the best judge of what tends to hurt or to edify: if we allow her to be guide, all things will be safe.”

9.          Therefore, we should apply the wisdom of the following Statements of Faith to the externals of music diversity:

Augsburg Confession: Article VII: Of the Church.  
2] And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and 3] the administration of the Sacraments.   Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. 4] As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5, 6.      
              
Form of Concord:Art. X. OF CHURCH USAGES AND CEREMONIES, CALLED ADIAPHORA. – The observance of ceremonies and usages neither commanded nor forbidden in the Word of God, should be left to Christian freedom, but should be firmly resisted when they are forced upon us as a part of divine service (Gal. ii.4,5; v. 1; Acts xvi. 3; Rom. xiv.6; 1 Cor. vii. 18; Col. ii. 16). 

The Second Helvetic Confession (Unity of Church Does not Consist in External Rites)
This Catholic faith is not taught us by the ordinance or laws of men, but by the holy Scriptures, a compendious and short sum whereof is the Apostles’ Creed. And, therefore, we read in the ancient writers that there were manifold diversities of ceremonies, but that those were always free; neither did any man think the unity of the Church was thereby broken or dissolved.   

Many other Statements of Faith could be sited, but they all say basically the same thing.

10.          In conclusion, I leave you with an excellent excerpt from Reformed theologian John Frame’s book Contemporary Worship Music: A Biblical Defense.  
             

The unity of the church is a unity in diversity. Church unity is all the more remarkable, all the more difficult to achieve, because it is a unity joining a wide variety of people, differing in ethnic background, language, gender, gifts and ages (Gal. 3:28; Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:1-16).    
        Biblical worship takes both the unity and the variety of the church into account. It displays our unity by bringing us all together. In worship we praise God with one voice, we confess the same truth, we hear the same Word, and we receive the same sacraments. We recognize one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
Worship also exhibits the variety of the church. In the Psalms there are simple songs (23, 100, 131, 133) and very complicated ones (68, 119). Some scripture texts tell stories that children can follow easily. Others raise deep concepts like Trinity and predestination that humble the greatest minds.
                         
In New Testament worship, many voices are heard (1 Cor. 14:26), many suggestions made. The complexity of worship under these conditions challenge the church’s leaders to maintain order. It is also difficult, amid such diversity, to maintain love within the body. In a congregation of rich and poor, the rich are always tempted to neglect the poor and push them aside in worship (1 Cor. 11:21-22; James 2:1-7). Those temptations must be resisted. Love goes against our sinful grain.                                                            
We should conclude that in music as in every other area we must seek to love one another, honouring the diversity of the body to protect its unity. As we have seen, diversity presents problems of musical communication. But we can now see that problem as at least in part a problem of love. When sophisticated members of the church insist that worship employ only the most sophisticated music of their own culture, what has happened to their love for those who are poorly educated or of a different cultural stream? Or, from the opposite side of our musical wars: when advocates of contemporaneity want to set the traditions of the church completely aside and replace them with something largely meaningless to the older generation, are they acting in love? Are they honouring their spiritual fathers and mothers?
       
In the church, the great musical generation gap should also be addressed with loving mutual deference. The younger should submit to the older (1 Pet. 5:5), but, like wise parents, the older should not provoke the younger to anger. The elders of the church are not to lord it over God’s people, but, like Christ, to be their servants. (Matt. 20:20-26; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). All are to seek not only their own interests but those of others (Phil. 2:3, note context).
 
How do we love one another and defer to one another in the selection of church music? First, we must constantly search our hearts for evidence of selfishness. Are we seeking to have it our own way or to serve our brothers and sisters? Forsaking selfishness means seeking to honour the preferences of others as much as we can. Yes, we must also consider questions of quality and appropriateness. But we should be aware of our tendency to confuse those questions with questions of taste. And we should resolve that if anyone in the church is to be offended over a matter of taste, it should be us rather than someone else.
Therefore, unless it can be shown to be inappropriate for worship, everyone’s music should be heard: old people’s and young people’s music; European, African American, and other ethnic music; complex music and simple music. This is how we defer to one another – serve one another – in the body of Jesus Christ.

Discuss: What is your favourite worship song and why?