Must you sing in church? (Bulldog for September)

Is music necessary in worship? And must one always have so much music? As an organist myself, my unqualified answer is: 'No'.
It is perfectly possible to worship without music or with just a bare minimum of hymns. Indeed, many find singing anything an effort. How-ever, if the answer is yes, both the music and its performance assume great importance. Music is such a powerful medium. For the sensitive, it is potent in creating atmosphere, appropriate music helpfully enhancing the text. It can also be an initial attraction for the outsider.
But if the music is inappropriate or badly performed by the congregation, choir or group, the wrong atmosphere can be generated. On such occasions, I long for silence, especially if visitors are likely to be distracted.

The 'W' criteria

The Bible gives no specific teaching about music in church - apart from doing things 'decently and in order' - but wisdom concerning man, psychology and art ought to govern what we do. Although we are unique creations that can 'feel' differently, personal preferences in both repertoire and performance should be sacrificed before more godly considerations. Whatever your preferences, tension would cease and worship be unified if extremes in both 'ancient' and 'modern' were recognised as stumbling blocks to others. Please allow someone who has studied both the effects of music and the wide differences between listeners, to suggest three overriding criteria that would control extremes. When in conflict, mere likes, dislikes and tradition should be surrendered for the sake of unity in the fellowship. Appropriately for worship, the criteria involve 'W' words:

Work

Music must work for all generations and not be divisive. Many songs fail dismally in this area. To be accessible to all, songs should be guessable, not set too high and free from irregular pauses and excessive pop syncopation. And those perverse or incompetent metre changes between verses can be avoided simply by changing the odd word.

Worthy

Much of the above could also have been included under my worthy criterion. So much ephemeral, unworthy rubbish has been accepted for publication. 'Charismatic' is no guarantee of quality. Furthermore, the text is often shallow or suspect. Mantra-like repetition and slang are equally unacceptable, and have you noticed the number of songs that begin with 'I'?!

Not worldly

The musical idiom - and of course the words and the performance - should be consonant with the life-or-death message, and certainly not worldly. Music that, from a distance, sounds sensual or trivial implicitly contradicts the words sung. Further, the performance and physical posture adopted by a music group should not draw attention to self - drum kits being a particular danger here. Those not sensitive to ambiguity in this area should sacrifice personal preference for the sake of those who are.
The Bible instructs us not to conform to this world. Seducing the young with the worldly sounds and sights associated with our often satanic pop culture is a deception bearing short-lived fruit. As the pop world represents godless, instant satisfaction, it is dangerous even to sound or look superficially like it. Worship magazines picturing casually-dressed young people in sensual poses with guitar or microphone create ambiguous worldly images. Advertisements referring to 'best-selling worship albums' and 'a stellar line-up of UK worship leaders' hardly suggest God-centred humility.

Instruments

The organ is no more 'spiritual' than the guitar and no particular age has produced the one acceptable music genre. The traditional hymn repertoire rarely offends my 'W' criteria, but its performance frequently does! It need not be of a 'professional' standard but if complexity can only be poorly done, better to do simplicity well instead. May I say to you, organists: feel as if you are physically 'conducting' the singing, maintaining a rhythmic continuity between verses; you congregation, stand immediately the introduction starts, and sing up - non-Christians may be watching you! And all musicians: beware of pride (I should know!). Final loud toccatas and music group intrusiveness can be equally unseemly.
Why sing something badly when it can be said more meaningfully? The notices will be sung next! I suspect many people imagine that merely going through the routine is sufficient. Liturgy in the C of E can even be a cop-out for clergy and people. Although it embraces the gospel, merely repeating or singing the words without personal assent has no spiritual value.
It is difficult to ponder deep truths when singing, and our repertoire and practice must not create further hindrances. Indeed, a proper meditation on words is best done in silence. I would love to stop the congregation in mid-hymn and ask what it was thinking about at that moment! The church is so easily a club where comfortable old routines are sung through or where popular worldly appeal confuses the message. So if you answer 'Yes' to M.U.S.I.C.?, please consider seriously what I have written.

This shortened Bulldog is reprinted from Crossway Magazine, with permission of the author.

Must you sing in church? (Bulldog for September)

The principles of the use of music in worship (reprinted from Crossway Magazine)

The 'W' criteria

Work

Worthy

Not worldly

Instruments

Peter Brown

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