I\u2019ve often been asked the question, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t your church use instruments?\u201d In other words, why don’t churches of Christ use a band or a guitar, piano, or organ\u00a0in worship? The absence of mechanical instruments of music is one of the first things that a visitor or guest notices when he visits one of our services.<\/p>\n
And many consider this odd or strange or unusual. So they want to know, \u201cWhere\u2019s the piano?\u201d If we think that this question was answered in the 1950s and that we don\u2019t need to be talking about it anymore, we are fooling ourselves. The truth about it is, we don\u2019t talk about it much anymore. Think about it\u2014when was the last time you heard a preacher preach a lesson on the importance of singing (and only singing) in worship? My preaching brothers, when was the last time you preached on this subject? What would you say to someone who would ask you about the music in churches of Christ?<\/p>\n
Sometimes the question is asked like this: \u201cThey had instruments in the Old Testament, why not today?\u201d It is true that the Israelites used instruments in praise to God. Do you know why? God told them to. Notice the actions of Hezekiah the king: \u201cHe stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king\u2019s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. So the Levites stood ready with David\u2019s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets\u201d (2 Chronicles 29:25-26). Instruments were a part of the Old Testament assemblies just like animal sacrifices.<\/p>\n
Read the next verse. \u201cHezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel\u201d (2 Chronicles 29:27). There they are in the same \u00a0verse\u2014burnt offerings and instrumental music. Why don\u2019t we have animal sacrifices in worship today? God didn\u2019t tell us to. Why don\u2019t we have instruments in worship today? God didn\u2019t tell us to.<\/p>\n
When you look at the instructions God gave his New Testament church, the only thing that is clearly taught is for us to sing. Matthew says about Jesus and his disciples, \u201cWhen they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives\u201d (Matthew 26:30). The apostle Paul penned, \u201cSo what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind\u201d (1 Corinthians 14:15). The Colossians were told, \u201cLet the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God\u201d (Colossians 3:16). James wrote, \u201cIs any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise\u201d (James 5:13).<\/p>\n
The question under discussion is a bigger question than, \u201cAre we going to play a piano in church?\u201d The question is, \u201cAre we only going to do what God authorizes or are we going to do anything that God does not specifically condemn?\u201d If we can do anything that God does not specifically condemn, that means we can pray to the virgin Mary or sprinkle instead of immerse or have coffee and cake for communion or have our worship assemblies on Monday instead of Sunday or preach from the Book of Mormon instead of the Bible or have snake-handling services or \u2026<\/p>\n
If it were left up to me,\u00a0I like instrumental music. I like the sound of trumpets and violins and guitars. We would find a great band and some talented vocalists to sing and play. We would bring some creativity to our Sunday assemblies. We could even have some pretty and talented women to \u201cdance in the name of Jesus.\u201d (Read Psalm 150:4). Besides, that would draw a crowd and inspire the multitudes, wouldn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
But good people, it\u2019s not left up to me. Worship is not about what I want or what I like or what makes me happy. Worship is about making God happy. Jesus said, \u201cGod is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth\u201d (John 4:24).<\/p>\n
In every religious matter, there\u2019s a way that absolutely cannot be wrong. And I know that singing spiritual songs to teach and admonish other Christians and singing hymns of praise to God cannot be wrong.<\/p>\n
By Keith Parker<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve often been asked the question, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t your church use instruments?\u201d In other words, why don’t churches of Christ use a band or a guitar, piano, or organ\u00a0in worship? The absence of mechanical instruments of music is one of the first things that a visitor or guest notices when he visits one of our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,32,66],"tags":[204,812,571,625,547,352,123],"class_list":["post-3289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-church","category-think-excerpts","tag-guest","tag-instrument","tag-music","tag-praise","tag-singing","tag-think","tag-worship","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n