The good folks at 9Marks recently posted an article by Michael Lawrence entitled “Who Should Pick The Music.” One of my desires of blogging is not to comment so much on other blogs or articles, but to simply write what I am compelled to write. But, I believe this one does deserve some attention.
As you will see, what frustrates me so much about this mindset is that it totally misses the mark (no pun intended) on how the Body is to function and minister when it gathers as well as when it is out and about. Which really makes me wonder if people truly understand what and who the church is…that being, the church is the Fulness Of Him, the Dwelling of God, the Body of Christ and therefore members of one another.
Anyway, I digress, you should check out the article and then see my comments/thoughts below.
During our gathering, we have our own “hymnal” that has variety of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs in it. From this hymnal, anyone can pick a song to sing during our Lord’s Day gathering. That means if someone is moved by the Spirit to sing a particular song, then we sing it. What the Body sings on any given Sunday is not determined by anyone but the Body itself (unless it is a special occasion or event). We even allow someone or a family to minister to us with a song that they have written or simply want to share. If there happens to be something theologically wrong with the song, then we will address it appropriately…but that has yet to happen.
This approach of allowing members of the Body to choose what is going to be sung during a gathering, seems to be more keeping with the New Testament and what the Early Church practiced…other than the fact they probably didn’t have any official hymnal at the start. The exhortation of “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord/singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God,” is manifested in a greater way when there is freedom for any individual or the Body to choose what is sung during a gathering. When an Elder or “worship leader” determines each song to be sung each Lord’s Day, it can definitely bind the Spirit and therefore bind the Body. On a side note, where is “worship leader” in the New Testament? The Spirit is one who should be leading the worship of God’s people.
In our case, the Elders have oversight when it comes to what is contained in the hymnal and final say if necessary. But, for the most part, what is contained or in our case what remains in the hymnal is determined by the Body. In the near future, as a Body, we will be going through the hymnal and giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down on each song. Our primary issue with some songs is they don’t lend themselves to congregational singing.
The Pastor should not pick the music! But he should leave that role to the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit lead people to sing, worship and choose their music.
Lastly, not all Protestants or genuine, New Testament Christians are “convinced that the Word is the center and climax” of the worship service. The center and climax of the Early Churches worship service was in fact the Lord’s Supper a.k.a. the Agape/Love Feast. It was the primary reason why the New Testament/Early Church gathered. This is not to say that teaching, preaching, prophecy, words of wisdom and knowledge were not part of a New Testament gathering…they indeed were. The Early Church likely devoted more time during their gatherings to the Lord’s Supper and a communal meal, than they did to the Word. Also, prayer (and praises) was just as much if not more of a part of a New Testament gathering than the preaching of the Word…except when Paul came into town and preached all night. But that was not the norm. What would spiritually happen in our churches if as much time was devoted to prayer during a Lord’s Day gathering as it was to the Word? Great things I am confident. If you want some encouragement on this, check out David Platt’s “Relenting Wrath” message from T4G.
I don’t see that Christ or the Apostles implied that the churches gathering was to be dominated by one or two people (the preacher and the worship leader). Instead, what is implied is that more members functioned/ministered instead of only a couple of members. How is the Body truly seen when only one or two members are functioning/ministering during a Lord’s Day gathering?
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