SERMON: "What Kind of Music Should the Church Sing?" (Various)

What Kind of Music Should the Church Sing?
(Various)

Series:               Questioning the Church #6              Text:                 Various

By:                    Shaun Marksbury                         Date:                February 16, 2025

Venue:              Living Water Baptist Church            Occasion:             AM Service

 

I.              Introduction

Perhaps you’ve heard of the “worship wars.”  If you haven’t, this describes the sometimes strong disagreements Christians have about the worship services.  You might think we’re talking about what we covered last time, how we should worship together.  We saw that biblically, the core of worship is comprised of prayer, the ordinances (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), fellowship (which requires attendance), and Scripture.  Without these elements, we can’t say that we have a worshipping church.  That’s not to say that there must always be a baptism or communion, but they should be the only real additions to the regular worship service (other than music, of course).  There are certainly worship battles over liturgy.

Yet, that may not be what you think of with worship; most Christians only think of music when fighting about worship.  The wars can become so heated that some churches even split over this question.  Some Christians prioritize music over every other point of liturgy, preferring shorter preaching in favor of longer music.  Others view music as a kind of filler to the service, so they arrive late or leave early to skip singing, believing the preaching to be the only important part of the service.  In-between these extremes, some find themselves arguing over the circumstances of the music, whether it should be traditional or contemporary, or whether it should even have instrumentation at all.  Thus, the “worship wars” usually come down to disagreements on music.

Why do Christians get so heated about this?  Well, music is emotional by nature, and many Christians allow personal experiences to lead their preferences.  The debate isn’t new, either, and music different in churches throughout the world.  More than anything else, the things of the Lord are important, so Christians sometimes get worked up about questions the unbelieving world or even new Christians wouldn’t see as important, like our music.

Voddie Bauchaum once talked about this.  He said that Christians who are new to say, biblical exposition or the Doctrines of Grace, might seek out churches like ours to learn more.  They might come for a while, but because they don’t understand why we worship as we do, they begin to think about other churches.  They may say they’ve learned more here than anywhere else, but the worship isn’t scratching their itch.  So, they’re choosing a church with “better” worship (by which they mean, of course, music that feels right to them).  In the minds of so many Christians, it’s the music notes that resonate most with them.

So, what should we as Christians think about our music?  As with every other element of worship, Scripture must direct our philosophy of worship music.  One of the most oft-repeated commands in Scripture is that we must “sing” (ranking just below the commands to “love,” “obey,” and “fear”), so let’s consider what the Bible has to say for us to form a philosophy of worship together.  We see four, simple principles which can guide our music together: music should be congregational, it should be edifying, it should be theological, and it should be artful.

II.           First, Biblical Music Should Be Congregational (Psalm 111:1)

I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the company of the upright and in the assembly

Simply put, music should be crafted so that the whole congregation can sing it.  The singing should be corporate, simple enough for the common person to sing and remember for later.  What does that mean?

Consider one of the major problems with the Medieval church — it moved away from congregational singing.  Music became more professional, meaning that trained choirs performed the numbers for worship.  In fact, churches with wealthy patrons would present complex polyharmonies.  While many of the arrangements were inarguably beautiful, people stopped singing along, and worship music became only a performance to be enjoyed.

Understand, it’s not that choirs and special numbers are sinful.  For instance, we read about a 4,000-member choir of Levites in 1 Chronicles 23.  Some theologians have argued that this is only true of Old Testament worship, and that the church doesn’t need instrumentation, but nothing in Scripture indicates this.  We don’t want to go further than Scripture and say that instrumentation and special music can’t evoke worship.  However, there is a danger in all this we must understand.

The issue is whether there is a congregational element to the worship service.  Historically, many Reformation churches in Europe kept the choir but placed it in the rear of the church.  Acoustically, this worked well for the choir to “lead” (i.e., help) the congregation in singing.  The only person in front of the congregation was a pastor who would introduce and explain the music, but his and the choir’s voices became one of many when the singing started.  This encouraged the whole congregation to sing.

This seems like a strange setup to many of us because we’re used to seeing the singers in front of us, but that makes them performers instead of fellow worshippers.  Rarely, if ever, are churches in the United States today built with a choir loft in the back; almost all instead to design the sanctuary as a multipurpose room with the singers on a large stage area.  In fact, even choirs themselves seem to be a relic of the past, replaced now by a live band.  In some cases, there will even be stage lights, fog and laser machines, dim lighting, and video screens, all reminiscent of a music concert. 

Understand that this is a return to worship as entertainment, just with arguably worse music!  Some bands perform music typically played on contemporary Christian radio, requiring a vocal range unattainable by an average congregant.  Many of these churches will also crank up the sound of the instrumentation to concert decibel levels.  Thus, while some in the congregation will attempt to sing along in an act of worship, their voices will never travel far.  This has helped create the industry of worship entertainment we have today. 

There are even some cases of churches performing secular music.  Perry Noble’s Newspring Church infamously played AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” during a service.  Andy Stanely’s North Point Community Church played Boston’s “More than a Feeling” (and the singer struggled on some of those high notes!).  Though this wasn’t in a church, I had a booth once at a Christian men’s conference, and when the doors opened, I heard the band belting out a cover of Phil Collins, “In the Air Tonight” (I asked, is it because the song says, “Oh, Lord”?).  These are not the most egregious examples I’ve seen.

We do not want to depart from the principle of congregational worship.  Now, that doesn’t mean we must have a particular church design to achieve this, nor does it mean we must use a particular kind of instrumentation.  We don’t want to apply unbiblical restrictions; the important point is that the music is singable by the general congregation and honoring to the Lord.  That’s because, if it isn’t congregational, we need to consider the history that we’re repeating.  We also need to consider why we’re singing it, bringing us to the next point:

III.        Second, Biblical Music Should Be Edifying (1 Cor. 14:26)

What is the outcome then, brethren?  When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.  Let all things be done for edification.

Remember that the Corinthian believers had a problem of confusion in their worship services.  In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul illustrates that worship should be clear and intelligible (vv. 7–10, 19).  He states that the goal should be that “all things be done for edification” (v. 26).  We shouldn’t focus on ourselves in worship — how well we can or can’t sing, what kind of music we want, etc.

Instead, our music should reflect a Christian attitude toward each another.  For instance, Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”  As such, musical content in the church should reflect whatever is honorable, right, pure, and lovely.  It should be of good repute, which eliminates some worldly styles widely recognized in our culture (for better or worse) as associated with rebellion and criminal activities.  As we noted, it must be what the majority can sing, so your favorite Christian metal song isn’t the best choice for corporate worship!

Some Christians don’t understand that.  A young music leader I knew wanted to bring in drums and more upbeat styles into his congregation, and he said, “They’ll learn to like it!”  That’s an unbiblical attitude; we’re called to show “tolerance for one another in love” (Eph. 4:2).  Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”  God directs the Christian conscience, and worship leaders must consider God’s people when choosing music.

This means something else we’ve already considered.  If our services should build up Christians, then we shouldn’t engage in the pragmatic approach of changing our musical style to attract unbelievers.  While Christians can provide their unique voices on the radio or at conferences in all manner of musical genre, we must keep local church music for God’s people.

When our music is about edification, this means we can consider it liturgically.  People can be distracted by life coming into the sanctuary, so the first song is typically a rousing call to worship.  Then, we might want a song that speaks of our condition or need for Christ.  Following that, we might want a song that reminds us of the gospel truths of Scripture and prepares them for the preaching of the Word, a song of confession and praise directly to God.  After the sermon, there’s typically a hymn of invitation for the congregation to apply the message of God to their hearts.  

Of course, edifying music will be biblical, bringing us to the next point.

IV.        Third, Biblical Music Should Be Theological (Psalm 119:172)

Let my tongue sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness.

Singing should reflect God’s revealed truth, as it is found in Scripture.  I remember asking a pastor once if music should be theologically accurate.  He replied, “No.  Theology has no place in worship music.”  He had that idea that worship does not involve teaching.  Yet, Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  Church music should be biblical and turn our hearts to the Lord

Consider that the Book of Psalms is the inspired hymnbook for God’s people.  This already tells us that music should have some theological content, and the Holy Spirit provided it!  Some have thought this means we should only sing psalms, but as Colossians 3:16 indicates, we can also sing hymns and spiritual songs which are based in the teaching of Christ.

The church often had psalters and hymnals.  We can sing the psalms, and we have.  Sometimes, we sing songs which are psalm-based — Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” is based on Psalm 46, and “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” is from the Genevan Psalter, based on Psalm 100.  While American hymnals used to contain both metrical versions of the Psalms as well as theologically adept hymns and spiritual songs, the rise of camp and revival music unfortunately began replacing psalm singing.  Yet, there are a few good modern hymnals which carry both.

Unfortunately, there’s been an increasing desire for emotionalism in music, going hand-in-hand with the entertainment aspect of worship.  This becomes the inevitable vehicle for false theology.  We can see this in contemporary Christian music; nearly all of the big, recognizable Christian bands of the 80s and 90s, for instance, has undergone some controversy.  Amy Grant drew criticism for going through a public divorce, and she’s since become an advocate for LGBTQ issues.  Kevin Max of DC Talk publicly “deconstructed” his faith, no longer identifying as a Christian but as an ex-vangelical (instead of an Evangelical).  We could continue on note specifically the shallowness of theology a lot of Christian music, and its little surprise that the leading artists express vapid opinions concerning the church and Scripture.

This is no less true in music written specifically for praise and worship.  One popular band is Jesus Culture, originating in Bethel Church in Redding, California — it promotes faith-healing, and the band leaders have shared personal visions of Jesus that border on the heretical.  We could go on to consider Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church and its Elevation Music, similarly promoting Word-Faith heresy.  Hillsong, another popular church and worship industry, has many of the same theological problems.  You won’t hear us singing any of their music here.

Outside of theological problems, since such music has only a surface-level theological nature, there is much repetition in their lyrics.  The joke about modern praise and worship is that they are 7-11 songs; seven words repeated eleven times.  Repetition alone isn’t wrong; Psalm 136 repeats “His lovingkindness is everlasting.”  The problem is ignoring sound teaching. 

All music should be theologically accurate and commensurate with the work of the pulpit ministry.  You may recall the famous quote by Martin Luther, that music is “the handmaiden of theology and second only to theology.”  As Psalm 119:54 says, “Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.”  There should be sound theology in music.

Nothing written today will be perfect, because no lyrical content produced by man will be perfect.  We keep the good ones and throw out the bad.  But we also have an oft-ignored resource; Scripture gives us a whole book of theologically-accurate material to sing.  Let’s select the very best to sing, which will consider it’s congregational sing-ability, its edifying nature, its theology, and one other consideration.

V.           Fourth, Biblical Music Should Be Artful (Psalm 33:3)

Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.

The Reformers considered the question of style, too.  Because of the big productions of Roman Catholic music, some wanted simple.  The Puritans even removed the organs from their churches, not because they hated them (they kept them in their homes), but because they wanted to avoid any ostentatious displays.  Again, some pushed for a cappella music alone, while others believed it was acceptable to have some subdued instrumentation (which is why the organ and later, pianos, ultimately became a mainstay in Protestant churches). 

We’ve already noted that Scripture justifies instrumentation.  Psalms were often sung with instruments (cf. Psalm 150).  Again, in Solomon’s temple, “4,000 were praising the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise” (1 Chr. 23:3–5); and after the ark of the covenant arrived, praise was followed by the glory of the Lord filling His house (2 Chr. 5:12–14).  Zerubbabel’s temple also employed musicians from among the Levities for the task of leading worship (Neh. 12:46–47).  That these were Levites dedicated for this task communicates both a theological and an artful commitment in their instrumented music.

In Psalm 33:3, we read that we should “play skillfully with a shout of joy.”  While music should be congregational and simple, that doesn’t mean we give no thought to arrangements and tonality.  As we see in creation and in Christ, everything the Lord does is good (Gen. 1:31; Psa. 8:1; Mark 7:37), so excellence in music reflects His attributes.

Art can be subjective, but there are clear guidelines that mark quality art.  The Christian Reformed Psalter Hymnal explains, “The music of the church should be beautiful.  Its religious thought or spirit should be embodied appropriately in the poetry as poetry, in the music as music, and in the blending of these in song.  It should satisfy the aesthetic laws of balance, unity, variety, harmony, design, rhythm, restraint, and fitness, which are the conditions of all art.”  In other words, godly music is done well.

Instrumentation must support the lyrical content, so we cannot justify allowing strings and percussion to overpower the senses.  We must beware drawing the mind of the average individual to events or concerts outside the worship service.  In fact, sometimes, a cappella is better, especially if the instrumentation is more of a distraction than a support.  Any music we sing should be artful and in line with the rest of Scripture.

VI.        Conclusion

Where is your heart in worship?  Who is the focus?  These biblical principles are fine, but recognize the theme running through it all: Church music is for the Lord.  God isn’t just the subject of our music; He’s the object of our corporate worship (cf. Psa. 100).  Indeed, we need His Spirit for fruitful works (John 4:24, 6:63; 1 Cor. 2:13), so everything about our music must be ultimately about Him.

However, remember that singing alone doesn’t equal worship.  When your heart is far from the Lord, and you refuse to obey Him in your daily life, it doesn’t matter how biblical our worship is.  In Amos 5:21–23, God chides, “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. … Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.”  True worship at that point starts with repentance, otherwise it doesn’t matter how emotional you are with the music.

May all our worship, personal and corporate, remain be decent and in order, always pointing our eyes to Christ.