Special Music in New Testament Worship

Michael E. Grooms

Introduction:

     A. The church of our Lord is at a crossroads

     B. Those things that were once “most surely believed among us” are now being challenged

     C. Innovations are being introduced to N.T. worship that violate God’s mandates concerning worship

     D. Among these innovations are the introduction of instrumental music and special music into singing

     E. By “special music’ we mean solos, quartets, choirs, and similar musical arrangements

  I. First Things First

     A. Before we delve into the specific issue of special music, some basic principles need to be understood

     B. The need for authority

         1. 1 Peter 4:11 “ If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God”

         2. Col. 3:17 “And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving

                           thanks to God and the Father by Him.” ( in the same passage that deals with music)

         3. Lev. 10:1-3 (The Law of Exclusion)

            a. What was the sin of Nadab and Abihu?

            b. They offered a sacrifice with unauthorized fire

            c. Lev. 16:12 …”burning coals from off the alter” ; cross reference Lev. 6:12, 13

            c. By doing so they did not sanctify nor glorify God (v. 3)

     C. The Imperative of Obedience

         1.  I Sam. 15

              a. God had ordered Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites

              b. He listened to the people instead of God

              c. He saved the king, the best of the spoils, sheep, and oxen (to sacrifice to God)

              d. V. 22 “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams”

         2. Gen. 6:14

              a. God told Moses, “Make thee an ark of gopher wood”

              b. v. 22 “Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”

         3. 1 Cor. 7:19 “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the 

              commandments of God”

 II. The Witness of History

     A. The plea of the restoration movement:

         “Speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent.

         Do Bible things in Bible ways, and call Bible things by Bible names.

         In matters of faith, unity; In matters of opinion, liberty; in all matters, charity.”

     B. “ From the apostolic age singing was always a part of divine service, in which the whole body of the Church

         joined together; and it was the decay of this practice that first brought the order of singers into the Church.”

          (McClintock and Strong; Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature)

     C. Around 110 A.D. Ignatius of Antioch wrote:

         “Now all of you together become a choir so that being harmoniously in concord and receiving the key note

          from God in unison you may sing with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father.”

     D. Donald P. Hustad, formerly Director of the Sacred Music department at the moody Bible Institute:

         “The early worship of the Christian church was completely congregational, so far as we can tell. However,

          following the spread of Christianity throughout the western world, the increasing power and sophistication of

         the church was accompanied by the development of trained choirs and music leaders. Church history records

         that about the fifth century congregational singing was largely eliminated n Christian worship, and the music

          was given to choirs…” (Hustad endorses solos, choirs, instruments, etc.)

     E. Tolbert Fanning (Restoration Movement):

         “It is scarcely necessary for us to say to our readers, that we regard the organ and violin worship, and

         even the fashionable choir singing of our country as mockery of all that is sacred.”

     F. Ben Franklin (1800’s):

         “The choir in a church is composed of artistic performers, who sing for the church; sing difficult

          pieces that the masses cannot sing, for music and musical display, to attract, entertain, and gratify

          the people – to charm them with music. These are professional singers, chosen without any regard

          to their moral character. They sing to show how they can sing, amuse, and entertain.”

     G. These are given to illustrate a point, that “special music’ is an innovation in the church

III. What Does God Desire?

     A. It is helpful to know what has been said and done in the past

     B. Our authority cannot be from tradition, custom, or history, but solely from scripture

     C. The question is not: “What do the masses want?”, nor “What did the great preachers of the past say?”

     D. The question is not even, “What did the early church do?” (According to history)

     E. The question is, “What does God command?”

     F. Eph. 5:18-21/ Col. 3:15, 16 (Read Both)

         1. Eph. 5:18 “be filled with the spirit”; compare to Col. 3:15 “let the peace of God rule in your hearts”

              a. The phrase “to the which also ye are called in one body” (Col. 315) identifies the collective body

              b. These passages are directed to the church and apply to the congregational singing of the church

         2. Eph. 5: 19 “ speaking to yourselves”; compare to Col. 3:16 “ teaching and admonishing one another”

              a. Both are done in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

              b. We are not only told what to do but how to do it

              c. “One another” requires that each person teaches and admonishes the other by singing

              d. “Speaking to yourselves” implies that the singing is done in unison as the whole congregation “speaks”

              e. The fulfillment of this command requires the whole assembly to sing to each other

              f. This specific command excludes solos, quartets, choirs, and such like

              g. When this is done, we obey “let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16)

         3. Eph. 5:19 “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”

              a. Compare with Col. 3:16 “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”

              b. Singing- “ado” to sing (using the voice)

              c. Melody- “psallo” “to twitch or twang, make melody, to sing” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)

              d. Could be translated “make melody by playing the chords of your heart to the Lord”

              e. The instruments to be played are specified – the voice and the heart

         4. Eph. 5:20 “Giving thanks always to God the Father in the name or our Lord Jesus Christ”

              a. Compare to Col. 3:17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

                                                 giving thanks to God and the Father by Him”                        

              b. All things must be done by the Lord’s authority

         5. Eph. 5: 21 “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God”

              a.  “Special music” violates the principle of submitting to each other in singing

              b. This is a result of a lack of the fear of God          

IV. Answer to 1 Cor. 14:26 as “proof text”

         1. This is given to say that solo singing is authorized

         2. “Every one of you has a psalm” (other translation say “each one of you”)

         3. No where is it stated that God approves one singing while others are quiet

         4. This passage speaks specifically to those with spiritual gifts

         5. An ambiguous allusion to individual Corinthians having a psalm does not authorize what would

            violate the principles of Col. 3:16 and Eph. 5:19

Conclusion:

     A. We must ask – What is the purpose of our worship?

         a. If it is to please ourselves, then we may do what we please in worship

         b. If it is to please God, we must do what He desires and commands

     B. True worship will always seek to magnify God

     C. Jesus said, “ God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24)