Earlier this month I set foot into Christ City Church in South Vancouver where, for the first time in a long time, I had the opportunity to worship God through music alongside a congregation. Praise God for that, it was amazing to hear voices singing praises to God after many months of singing at a computer screen on Sundays. The people of God have always been a people that sing together, since the days of Moses in the desert until now. Prior to having congregational worship taken away from us, it’s possible that we had been taking it for granted.
The whole experience made me think more about the biblical purposes of musical worship and how we, as a campus fellowship and as individuals, might approach it in the months going forward as things move back in person.
Specifically, I had been thinking of musical worship as a form of teaching. Consider the following quote from Matt Merker, the director for creative resources for Getty Music:
“Songs teach. Corporate worship is directed to God, but is also directed, in a sense, at the whole body. It is a form of discipling. It is the word of Christ that dwells in us when we sing, so we are singing to God, but insofar as the songs flow from Scripture, they summarize the Gospel, the Word of Christ, that also means that God is addressing us. Our mouths our open, but our ears are open as well.”
Hearing this quote wasn’t the first time I was exposed to the idea of musical worship as a form of teaching, but the way Merker expresses it is quite succinct and understandable. Throughout the pandemic, we have not been with the body, therefore we have been unable to direct our song to the body. The aspect of teaching one another, building one another up through song, has been more or less absent. However, given the opportunity now, we as God’s people ought to consider all the more how we might contribute to the edification of one another in our music.
But what does this mean? What does it look like? How might we accomplish this? Here are two main ideas:
Being Critical of The Lyrics We Sing
If we’re considering musical worship as a form of teaching, we have to be mindful of the words being sung, full stop. Think about how we learned our ABC’s — it was through song. When German reformer and theologian Martin Luther began reforming the church, he began with writing hymns; one of which is the classic “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, based on Psalm 46. He knew that Biblical truth and wisdom could be transferred to the minds of his congregants through the lyrics they sung every time they gathered for corporate worship. It’s so easy for song lyrics to get stuck in our heads. So why not fill our heads (and our hearts) with rich theological truth rather than trite and superficial lyrics? Most of those songs are not explicitly “wrong” (though some are, and we should definitely steer clear of those songs), it’s just that these songs are not explicitly “clear”, or focused on the self rather than on God.
This is why it’s of utmost importance that the songs we sing are Biblical, God-centered and descriptive — how can we worship God without knowing the God we worship? And how can we know Him if all we’re singing about Him is vague and emotional, rather than descriptive and accurate? We must be reminded of the Gospel, of the attributes of God, of what Christ has done for us every time we sing praises to Him. In doing this, we please God and we build up one another.
Disclaimer: In saying this, I’m not implying we should only sing hymns from now on. There are plenty of contemporary songs that are theologically rich and good for congregational singing. However, it can be noted that the hymns that are still being sung today are being sung for a reason — they have good lyrics that have stood the test of time. Check out this video and this one for more thoughts from people that know more than I.
The Role of Emotion in Worship
First and foremost, congregational worship is not a concert. Knowing this, we should understand it as a sacred time, as a means of grace. A couple years ago, John Maggs, the Director of Creative Ministries at Trinity Bible Chapel wrote this in an article for this very blog:
Christian singing is a means of grace. When we gather to sing, the Holy Spirit ministers directly to the people of God in a unique way.
Considering this, we must take a more serious and Christ-focused approach to our worship. We’re not singing together merely to trigger our dopamine levels by repeating the same bridge n times as the music swells (like what one might do at a concert), we’re singing together to ascribe the God the worth which He deserves. We’re singing together to remind ourselves and each other of Biblical truth and God’s promises to His people, to impress it upon our hearts (see previous section). We’re singing together to proclaim the Gospel, to recognize that we are sinners in need of saving. We’re singing together to draw near to God and re-affix our eyes upon Him. We’re singing together to teach and serve one another. We’re singing together as a response to His majesty, His grace, His mercy.
This is not to say that having emotion during musical worship is wrong or bad. God gave us emotions for a reason, and God gave us music for a reason. The two are inextricably linked. However, we must be careful and understand that when we worship, we are called to do it in spirit and truth (John 4:23). John Piper puts it this way:
Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full . . . of artificial admirers. . . . On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the disciple of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship.
As a result of knowing and singing what is true, our hearts will naturally well up with emotion, which stems from the great joy and gratitude in knowing God for what the Bible says He is. This is what it means to worship in spirit and truth. When we worship together, this should be the aim, and as we continue to worship together, we should continue this journey of learning and growing together.
So these are my thoughts, what’s been going on in my head for the last 2 years with regards to musical worship. As we move closer to having CCF-related activities in person again, my hope and prayer is that we can, as a body of believers, consider these things as we sing together. All in all, let us seek to fulfill the words found in Colossians 3:16.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
