15-5

What Kind of Music?

"Being emotionally effected by music and actually worshipping God aren't the same thing, and no one should know this better than worship leaders. All by itself, music-even instrumental music-can make us cry, motivate us to cheer for our team, provoke us to protest, or fill us with joy."

Christians have a sad history of arguing about music and musical styles. Martin Luther said some pretty nasty things about people who didn't like the kind of music that he liked, and even 100 years after Isaac Watts died people would get up and walk out of a service if one of his songs were played. This was because back then the only thing that 'was fitting for church' was to sing Psalms set to music. This history continues and we see new chapters opening all the time, for various reasons and by various groups. But the Bible is clear that we should use music to praise God. Psalm 150 tells us to praise Him with music, and with all kinds of instruments! So we should use music to praise Him, "but if we don't understand God's purpose for music in worship, we can misuse it. Even worse, it can rob God of the glory we want to give Him."

Music accomplishes several things in worship.
Music stirs up and expresses God-glorifying emotions. There are two extremes when it comes to emotions in worship. There are those who seem to repress any emotion and think that feeling anything too strongly is a sign of immaturity. Then there are those who are over the top emotional and can miss the point because they are so overcome by their feelings. The latter is called emotionalism. People who embrace emotionalism see emotions as an end in themselves. It's all about that feeling, and sometimes God gets left out. However, music is meant to stir the emotions. Our goal is to combine a knowledge of God with a passion for Him. We want to engage both the mind and the heart.

Music helps us reflect the glory and activity of the triune God. Did you know that God sings? Zephaniah 3:17 says that God rejoices over us with singing. Jesus sang with His disciples before they went to the Mount of Olives. The Holy Spirit is with us now, inspiring the songs we sing. God sings, so how can we not sing?

Music helps us remember truth about God. There is no way around it. You will remember things that you sing far longer than things that you hear. Songs we sing stick with us longer (and more completely) than sermons. Not to say that sermons aren't important. But it is to say that what we sing must be chosen carefully, because that is what we will remember for years to come.

Music helps us express our unity in the gospel. Let's face it, there aren't too many things that a group of 400 people can actually do together. But singing is one of those things. It is a sign of unity. "Churches can potentially undermine this unity by offering different Sunday meetings based on musical preferences and styles. While it may mean numerical growth for the church in the short run, it can also separate families and tends to cultivate a consumer-based mind-set in the long run. There are other options. Diverse music teams can take turns leading on a Sunday morning. Different styles of music can be brought together in one meeting. More importantly, the church can be taught that setting aside their musical preferences for the sake of others is obeying Philippians 2:4 'Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.' Taking this path will probably require patient instruction, but over time the congregation will begin to see that the determining factor in our unity is not our musical styles-it's the gospel."

So what kind of music should we use? We have to use music that says something. It has been said: "Show me a churches songs and I'll show you their theology." "The words to our songs should be as strong and memorable as the tunes we put to them or the arrangements we put behind them." There are three basic types of lyrics to songs. Objective, Subjective, and Reflective. Objective lyrics tell us something about God. Subjective lyrics talk about our response to God. Reflective lyrics describe what we do as we worship God.

How we use instrumentation is also important. Dynamics are key. A reflective song is no longer reflective when there are 20 people playing as loudly as they can. By the same token a joyful song can lose its impact if it is too quiet. As we've said so many times, we are not here to put on a concert on Sunday, so must be sure that the way we play the songs we play engages the congregation in the way we want to engage them.

Musical diversity is a great tool. We serve a God who is infinitely creative, a God who created the sun and the ant. Take one look around and you can see His creative diversity. "How can anyone think that a single kind of music could adequately express the fulness of God's glory?" "Hymns are especially suited for innovated treatments that help us hear the words from a new perspective. Moving beyond traditional tunes and arrangements shouldn't bother us too much since most hymns were written without music, and a favorite tune only emerged over time. In the same way, sometimes old is new, sometimes old is better."

"Musical variety communicates God's heart for all generations, cultures, and races. We don't use different music because we want to keep everyone happy or because we're aiming for a 'blended' service. It's the gospel that blends us together, not music."

Ultimately, music should edify the church. No two churches will do the exact same things, because no two churches have the exact same people in them! A mix of traditions and innovation will always be needed within the church to bring people of all ages and cultures together in worship of God. "Artists will always be searching for new and fresh ways to express their gifts, but congregations must be able to hear the message without being distracted by the medium." We must always remember that we are here to glorify the Creator, not creativity.

Enjoy the Journey