Music in Worship: Ephesians and Colossians

Opinions are not lacking when it comes to music in our Christian worship. After hearing some of the arguments however, I'm convinced that many Christians ask the wrong questions.

The question is not, "should we sing?" The Psalms exhort us again again to sing a new song to the Lord. That we should use God's gift of song for His glory is undeniable.

The question is not, "should we sing hymns?" This is altogether obvious for anyone who believes that both faith and practice are to be rooted in the Word of God (e.g. Ephesians 5:18 - 20; Colossians 3:16).

The question is not, "which style of music is on God's list of approved music styles?" If God wanted us to have such a list, He would have given it. Instead, He led us to develop instruments of a variety of types. As with the building of the tabernacle and the temple, God is glorified when we play and sing skillfully unto Him. The question is not so much one of style but one of a desire to always be improving . . . not to glorify ourselves but to bring glory to our Creator.

So what should we be asking?

Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:18 - 20 begin to give us some important questions to ask. They do not give all the questions to be sure, but they give us some very good ones.

First, "is our singing Spirit-led and Gospel-grounded?" The songs we sing are directly connected to the Spirit who fills us. And, the Spirit who fills us uses the Word of Christ (i.e. the great message of about Jesus, the Gospel) to fill us with the knowledge of God and His presence in our lives.

To make this first question a bit more practical, we could ask something like this, "what does this song have to do with the Gospel, with Who Christ is, with what He has done, with what He is doing, and with what He will do, and with how this impacts our lives as believers?"

Second, "does our singing serve the purpose of edification?" We have no trouble thinking of our music as directed at God. The difficulty comes when we realize that our music is to be directed at one another! With our music, we should "speak" to one another for the purposes of teaching (doctrine) and admonishing(practice).

Music has always been a great way to teach. How do we learn the alphabet? We sing it. How do we teach the great truths of the Gospel to one another? We don't just hear them preached, we sing them?

Music has always been a great way to admonish. The word for admonish here (Colossians 3:16) presupposes an opposition. In the immediate context, it is the heretics who are undermining the Person and work of Christ and substituting man-centered traditions and systems of self righteousness. In our context, we face the same Satan and flesh which lead us to diminish Christ and exalt ourselves and our preferences over the simple Gospel.

Paul expects the Colossians to use their music to fight a battle against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Today, most churches spend more time fighting about their music than using their music to fight.

Third, "if we are not locked into one particular style of music, what music is acceptable?" Paul exhorts the congregation to sing "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." By mentioning these three categories, Paul is not giving us a check list for every worship service because it is difficult to draw any significant line of demarcation between these types. However, he is telling the church that its music should reflect a healthy variety in style. It was John Calvin, commenting on Colossians who said that, Paul is suggesting that Christian worship includes "all kinds of songs." (Calvin, Colossians, 353).

The need for variety in our worship should be clear. When we stick to the same songs we are neglecting the numerous Biblical exhortations to sing a new song and we are also hampering our own edification! Anyone who has sung a song over and over again knows that it can lose its impact after a while. By having a healthy variety in its style, the church ensures that she actually has to think about what she's singing. It becomes more difficult to become locked in a worship of pretense and formality when we sing a variety of songs.

Paul also says that our music should be "spiritual." Paul is not saying that some instruments are spiritual and some are not or that some types of music are spiritual and that some are not. He is, however, saying that the songs must be about God who is spirit and our relation to Him which is rooted in the Word of Christ. To be spiritual then, the song must not only have words which are doctrinally sound, it must also have words which can be understood when sung. All of Christian life is rooted in the Word. Songs are not spiritual if the words cannot be heard/understood by the body which is gathered together.

Fourth, we should ask, "am I singing with an awareness of the grace of Christ that has been extended to me?" We are to sing literally "in the grace." Songs of worship are for those who are the grateful recipients of God's matchless grace through the gift of His Son Jesus.

Fifth, "is the song resonating in my heart?" The "worship wars" have harmed the church more than she realizes. People are sitting in the pews just waiting to hear a song they do not like and to get mad about it. Instead, we should be letting the melody that we are singing with our mouths also be the melody which is stirring in our hearts.

Finally, "is the music I am singing directed to God?" Your music can both glorify God and edify the body. The question is, is our music in total accomplishing both. Further, when I sing, am I singing to God when I praise Him, when I confess sin, when I acknowledge His Lordship, when I vow to serve Him. Are the words I sing really directed to God or am I simply singing to myself . . . or not at all (a particular problem for men!)

So, the next time you sing, remember that God has given music for His glory, and He has given us solid guidance on how we should sing in the midst of a world which seeks to undermine the church and the proclamation of the Gospel.