Inasmuch as singing is an act of worship, and since our heavenly
Father regulates our worship, we should be careful to render homage
to him in the way he has prescribed. Singing is no less important than
the prayers, preaching, giving, and the Lord's Supper. Therefore, we
should give the same attention to it as we do the other acts of worship.
I would like to kindly suggest a few things designed to assist us in
making melody to the Lord in an acceptable way.
First, let us remember that our singing is not only directed
to "one another," but we sing to the Lord. The songs we sing should
be about God, his greatness , and what he has done. "Psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs" are songs that praise deity, not humanity. Some
songs in hymnals have great melodies and catchy lyrics but they are
too general and are not suitable for worship even under the broadest
umbrella. Paul and Silas were singing hymns to God. (Acts 16:25)
Paul quotes a text in his writing that says, "Therefore I will praise you
among the Gentiles, and sing to your name." (Rom. 15:9) The same
writer told the brothers and sisters at Colossae to sing "with
thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Col. 3:16) Songs that are
about secular, social, and political experiences have no place in the
worship of God.
Second, I am amazed at the number of elders within congregations
who will not allow a preacher to get away with teaching doctrinal error,
but they will allow a congregation to sing error, and the elders even
participate! Do we not realize that we are "teaching and admonishing"
one another as we sing? (Col. 3:16) What gives us the right to sing
error? Is it okay to teach, preach, and tell a lie as long as you put a
tune to it? Some congregations sing about Jesus returning to the earth.
It will never happen. (1 Thess. 4:16-17) Some congregations sing
that Jesus is coming soon. How do they know he is coming soon,
when God's word tells us that Jesus doesn't even know when he will
return? (Mk. 13:32) Other congregations sing songs that promote
the concept of a direct operation of the Holy Spirit and other
tenets of Calvinism.
I am aware that songwriting involves some degree of poetic
license. But, poetic license applies to language that is figurative,
not to language that is intended to be taken literally. Let's not use
poetic license as an excuse to sing doctrinal error. The song, Jesus
is Coming Soon, was written by a premillennialist, to promote
premillenialism, and is based on a misinterpretation of Mat. 24 and
related texts. We should study songs like we study other documents
to be certain that we understand what we are singing.
Third, have you ever noticed how many people will criticize a
preacher or Bible class teacher for being unprepared or disorganized,
yet song leaders are allowed to sing songs that are known by only
a few within the congregation, or the song leader himself does not
know the songs, or they sing them slower than a snail crawling on oil?
The hymns that our fellow-believers sang in the days of the apostles
were simple, profound in the sentiments expressed, and they were
full of emotional verve. We have some hymns that are recorded in
the New Testament. (Cf. Col.1:15-20;1 Tim. 3:16)
May God help us to realize that acceptable singing involves more
than catchy lyrics, great melody, and artistic performance. May we
evaluate the songs we sing and may we realize that many of them
were written by denominational people whose writing is based on
the numerous errors they were taught. "Singing and making melody
to the Lord" not only involves the "ear," but we should sing with our
mind also. (1 Cor. 14:15)
RD
Copyright 2011
Father regulates our worship, we should be careful to render homage
to him in the way he has prescribed. Singing is no less important than
the prayers, preaching, giving, and the Lord's Supper. Therefore, we
should give the same attention to it as we do the other acts of worship.
I would like to kindly suggest a few things designed to assist us in
making melody to the Lord in an acceptable way.
First, let us remember that our singing is not only directed
to "one another," but we sing to the Lord. The songs we sing should
be about God, his greatness , and what he has done. "Psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs" are songs that praise deity, not humanity. Some
songs in hymnals have great melodies and catchy lyrics but they are
too general and are not suitable for worship even under the broadest
umbrella. Paul and Silas were singing hymns to God. (Acts 16:25)
Paul quotes a text in his writing that says, "Therefore I will praise you
among the Gentiles, and sing to your name." (Rom. 15:9) The same
writer told the brothers and sisters at Colossae to sing "with
thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Col. 3:16) Songs that are
about secular, social, and political experiences have no place in the
worship of God.
Second, I am amazed at the number of elders within congregations
who will not allow a preacher to get away with teaching doctrinal error,
but they will allow a congregation to sing error, and the elders even
participate! Do we not realize that we are "teaching and admonishing"
one another as we sing? (Col. 3:16) What gives us the right to sing
error? Is it okay to teach, preach, and tell a lie as long as you put a
tune to it? Some congregations sing about Jesus returning to the earth.
It will never happen. (1 Thess. 4:16-17) Some congregations sing
that Jesus is coming soon. How do they know he is coming soon,
when God's word tells us that Jesus doesn't even know when he will
return? (Mk. 13:32) Other congregations sing songs that promote
the concept of a direct operation of the Holy Spirit and other
tenets of Calvinism.
I am aware that songwriting involves some degree of poetic
license. But, poetic license applies to language that is figurative,
not to language that is intended to be taken literally. Let's not use
poetic license as an excuse to sing doctrinal error. The song, Jesus
is Coming Soon, was written by a premillennialist, to promote
premillenialism, and is based on a misinterpretation of Mat. 24 and
related texts. We should study songs like we study other documents
to be certain that we understand what we are singing.
Third, have you ever noticed how many people will criticize a
preacher or Bible class teacher for being unprepared or disorganized,
yet song leaders are allowed to sing songs that are known by only
a few within the congregation, or the song leader himself does not
know the songs, or they sing them slower than a snail crawling on oil?
The hymns that our fellow-believers sang in the days of the apostles
were simple, profound in the sentiments expressed, and they were
full of emotional verve. We have some hymns that are recorded in
the New Testament. (Cf. Col.1:15-20;1 Tim. 3:16)
May God help us to realize that acceptable singing involves more
than catchy lyrics, great melody, and artistic performance. May we
evaluate the songs we sing and may we realize that many of them
were written by denominational people whose writing is based on
the numerous errors they were taught. "Singing and making melody
to the Lord" not only involves the "ear," but we should sing with our
mind also. (1 Cor. 14:15)
RD
Copyright 2011
Amen brother!
ReplyDelete