In my last two posts I pointed out that many churches are reaching the contemporary culture, (Some of them in large numbers.), without embracing it, two of which I mentioned by name. It must be therefore, that the use of pragmatic methods including contemporary music, are not as we are often told, necessary to reach the postmodern or emerging generations for Christ. I would like to take that premise a step further in this post and say that the use of music as an instrument of evangelism, is not only unnecessary, it is unbiblical. I alluded to this earlier when discussing contemporary music groups.
Now in the New Testament we are given instruction for how we are to use music in the Church. In Ephesians 5:19 and Col. 3:16 the apostle Paul gives us similar instructions. He tells us to “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,” To whom was Paul speaking? He was addressing believers, the Churches, not unbelievers and he instructed Christians to sing first “to one another” and second, to “the Lord”
In a sermon series out of Ephesians chapter 5 called, "Living In The Spirit" Dr. John MacArthur said, “If anything ought to be different in the Christian life it should be the music. Music is the expression of the soul so if we are redeemed our songs should reflect that. Redemption gives us a ‘New Song’”
Let me give you some of the verses that describe the song of the redeemed.
Psalm 33:1-3 "Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten‑stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy."
Psalm 40:3 "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD."
Psalm 96:1 "Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth."
Psalm 98:1 "Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him."
Psalm 144:9 “I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,”
Psalm 149:1 “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.”
Isa. 42:10 "Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them."
Rev. 5:6-9 "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty‑four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."
A "New Song" in Scripture is always connected with redemption. It is always the song of salvation. In his commentary on Ephesians 5, MacArthur says, “One of the greatest distinctions of Christianity should be in its music. Because the music God gives is not the music of the world… God gives His new creatures a new song, a different song, a distinctive song, a purer song, and a more beautiful song than anything the world can produce.”
I want to stop there for just a moment and say, that really based on those texts of scripture there really shouldn’t be any question about whether or not we should use the music of the culture in the church. It’s pretty clear that our music is supposed to be different. We are not supposed to be like the culture. II Cor. 6:14-18 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
Why is this even a question? Why is this even an issue? We are clearly to separate ourselves from the world, and over and over again that is applied to music as we are told that our hearts are no longer to sing the kind of music that we sang as pagans. But we are to sing a new song, and I believe that means more than just the lyrics. That will, I believe become obvious as we continue this study. MacArthur continues.
“The primary audience for our singing is to be fellow believers, “one another”. Throughout Scripture the singing of God’s people is shown to be within the fellowship of believers. No music in the Bible is ever characterized as being or intended to be evangelistic. God may use the gospel content set to music to bring the truth to the lost and thus lead them to Himself. Since the message is so powerful, the open heart may receive it even though it comes with a melody. But that is not the intent for music, and when emotions are played on without a clear or complete presentation of God’s truth to the mind, such music can be counterproductive by producing a feeling of well-being and contentment that is a counterfeit of God’s peace and that serves to further insulate an unbeliever from the saving gospel.
Now in the New Testament we are given instruction for how we are to use music in the Church. In Ephesians 5:19 and Col. 3:16 the apostle Paul gives us similar instructions. He tells us to “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,” To whom was Paul speaking? He was addressing believers, the Churches, not unbelievers and he instructed Christians to sing first “to one another” and second, to “the Lord”
In a sermon series out of Ephesians chapter 5 called, "Living In The Spirit" Dr. John MacArthur said, “If anything ought to be different in the Christian life it should be the music. Music is the expression of the soul so if we are redeemed our songs should reflect that. Redemption gives us a ‘New Song’”
Let me give you some of the verses that describe the song of the redeemed.
Psalm 33:1-3 "Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten‑stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy."
Psalm 40:3 "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD."
Psalm 96:1 "Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth."
Psalm 98:1 "Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him."
Psalm 144:9 “I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,”
Psalm 149:1 “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.”
Isa. 42:10 "Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them."
Rev. 5:6-9 "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty‑four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."
A "New Song" in Scripture is always connected with redemption. It is always the song of salvation. In his commentary on Ephesians 5, MacArthur says, “One of the greatest distinctions of Christianity should be in its music. Because the music God gives is not the music of the world… God gives His new creatures a new song, a different song, a distinctive song, a purer song, and a more beautiful song than anything the world can produce.”
I want to stop there for just a moment and say, that really based on those texts of scripture there really shouldn’t be any question about whether or not we should use the music of the culture in the church. It’s pretty clear that our music is supposed to be different. We are not supposed to be like the culture. II Cor. 6:14-18 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
Why is this even a question? Why is this even an issue? We are clearly to separate ourselves from the world, and over and over again that is applied to music as we are told that our hearts are no longer to sing the kind of music that we sang as pagans. But we are to sing a new song, and I believe that means more than just the lyrics. That will, I believe become obvious as we continue this study. MacArthur continues.
“The primary audience for our singing is to be fellow believers, “one another”. Throughout Scripture the singing of God’s people is shown to be within the fellowship of believers. No music in the Bible is ever characterized as being or intended to be evangelistic. God may use the gospel content set to music to bring the truth to the lost and thus lead them to Himself. Since the message is so powerful, the open heart may receive it even though it comes with a melody. But that is not the intent for music, and when emotions are played on without a clear or complete presentation of God’s truth to the mind, such music can be counterproductive by producing a feeling of well-being and contentment that is a counterfeit of God’s peace and that serves to further insulate an unbeliever from the saving gospel.
It should be noted that the many contemporary entertainers who think they are using their rock-style music to evangelize the lost are often doing nothing more than contributing to the weakening of the church. Evangelizing with contemporary music has many serious flaws. It tends to create pride in the musicians rather than humility. It makes the gospel a matter of entertainment when there is not one thing in it that is at all entertaining. It makes the public proclaimers of Christianity those who are popular and talented in the world’s eyes, rather than those who are Godly gifted teachers of God’s truth. In using the world’s genres of music, it blurs the gap between worldly satanic values and divine ones. It tends to deny the power of the simple gospel and the sovereign saving work of the Holy Spirit. It creates a wide generation gap in the church, thus contributing to the disunity and lack of intimacy in the fellowship of all believers. It leads to the propagation of bad or weak theology and drags the name of the Lord down to the level of the world.”
Now there are several issues in that quote that I want to talk about. Most of them we will save until next time but I do want to finish something here that I started in the last post. I said that “evangelism is simply an excuse, a smoke screen, for an ulterior and far less honorable motive, for the insistence in many modern churches that contemporary music be used almost exclusively.”
First, let me say that many Pastors are like I was a few years ago. They have been led to believe that their worth as a pastor is somehow tied to the size of their church and that if the church is not experiencing radical growth, there must be something wrong with them or their ministry. This “success syndrome”, as some have called it, has done great harm to the ministry and the church and is something I hope to deal with in more detail in the future. As a result of this pressure to produce, pastors often find themselves grasping at any new trend that comes along, hoping it will generate numbers - excuse me, “souls”.
There are some, however, who bring this kind of music into the church and make it the exclusive or primary style of music used in their services, sometimes even to the total exclusion even of the piano and organ, and they do it with their eyes wide open. They know full well that contemporary music is no more effective than other styles of music, and yet they force it upon their congregation. So what is their motivation? Well it has to be one of two possibilities. It is either selfishness or idolatry.
Now you might say, “Wait a minute B.J., that’s a pretty heavy accusation”. Yes it is. But what other choices are there? If only one style is used and yet the church has a wide range of age groups with differing traditions regarding Church music, there is a very real and serious problem. (This would apply also to Churches who have members that like a more contemporary style and are forced to endure only traditional hymns to the total exclusion of anything else.) Having served as teacher of a class of senior members in the church I attend, I can attest that they as a whole feel as though they have been abandoned by the Church with regard to music. Sometimes they are willing to go along with if because they have been told it is “for the good of the church”, but they are very disappointed and disillusioned.
What kind of motivation would allow that to happen? Selfishness. Sad to say the reason the shift to contemporary music is made in many churches, is simply because it’s the kind of music that those in charge like and so it is forced upon the entire body. I’ve seen it happen. (To my shame, I’ve done it!) I’ve seen prospective pastors rejected because he questioned “our kind of music”. Dan Lucarini, a musician, "worship leader", and former proponent of contemporary Christian music said in his book, Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement, “the real motive for adopting CCM for praise and worship was not as we were often told, to evangelize those from outside the church, but was rooted in a need to satisfy our own desire for our favorite music.” It is certainly not done out of love for the Body of Christ.
Clayton Erb, Minister of Music, and Bill Brandenstein, Assistant Minister of Music, at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California, (The Church pastored by John MacAthur), in a session called Psalms, Hymns, And Spiritual Songs And the Changing Sound of Corporate Worship, at a pastor’s conference held annually at that church made the following comments. “It seems that few pastors who force or allow a wholesale shift to contemporary music love their flock enough to make sure that they won’t drive out some of the saints. How many true saints are expendable because of a change in music style?”
Lucarini said, “I would like to point out that that there have been ‘victims’ of our self-centered, callous attitude. Our adoption of CCM for the church service has alienated, hurt and even chased away some of our precious elder Christians and other committed believers.”
MacArthur, in his book, Ashamed of the Gospel said, “The obvious fallout of this pre-occupation with the unchurched is a corresponding de-emphasis on those who are the true church. The spiritual needs of believers are often neglected to the hurt of the body”.
Now what about the motivation for a total transition to contemporary music being idolatry? We’ll pick up there in my next post.
Now there are several issues in that quote that I want to talk about. Most of them we will save until next time but I do want to finish something here that I started in the last post. I said that “evangelism is simply an excuse, a smoke screen, for an ulterior and far less honorable motive, for the insistence in many modern churches that contemporary music be used almost exclusively.”
First, let me say that many Pastors are like I was a few years ago. They have been led to believe that their worth as a pastor is somehow tied to the size of their church and that if the church is not experiencing radical growth, there must be something wrong with them or their ministry. This “success syndrome”, as some have called it, has done great harm to the ministry and the church and is something I hope to deal with in more detail in the future. As a result of this pressure to produce, pastors often find themselves grasping at any new trend that comes along, hoping it will generate numbers - excuse me, “souls”.
There are some, however, who bring this kind of music into the church and make it the exclusive or primary style of music used in their services, sometimes even to the total exclusion even of the piano and organ, and they do it with their eyes wide open. They know full well that contemporary music is no more effective than other styles of music, and yet they force it upon their congregation. So what is their motivation? Well it has to be one of two possibilities. It is either selfishness or idolatry.
Now you might say, “Wait a minute B.J., that’s a pretty heavy accusation”. Yes it is. But what other choices are there? If only one style is used and yet the church has a wide range of age groups with differing traditions regarding Church music, there is a very real and serious problem. (This would apply also to Churches who have members that like a more contemporary style and are forced to endure only traditional hymns to the total exclusion of anything else.) Having served as teacher of a class of senior members in the church I attend, I can attest that they as a whole feel as though they have been abandoned by the Church with regard to music. Sometimes they are willing to go along with if because they have been told it is “for the good of the church”, but they are very disappointed and disillusioned.
What kind of motivation would allow that to happen? Selfishness. Sad to say the reason the shift to contemporary music is made in many churches, is simply because it’s the kind of music that those in charge like and so it is forced upon the entire body. I’ve seen it happen. (To my shame, I’ve done it!) I’ve seen prospective pastors rejected because he questioned “our kind of music”. Dan Lucarini, a musician, "worship leader", and former proponent of contemporary Christian music said in his book, Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement, “the real motive for adopting CCM for praise and worship was not as we were often told, to evangelize those from outside the church, but was rooted in a need to satisfy our own desire for our favorite music.” It is certainly not done out of love for the Body of Christ.
Clayton Erb, Minister of Music, and Bill Brandenstein, Assistant Minister of Music, at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California, (The Church pastored by John MacAthur), in a session called Psalms, Hymns, And Spiritual Songs And the Changing Sound of Corporate Worship, at a pastor’s conference held annually at that church made the following comments. “It seems that few pastors who force or allow a wholesale shift to contemporary music love their flock enough to make sure that they won’t drive out some of the saints. How many true saints are expendable because of a change in music style?”
Lucarini said, “I would like to point out that that there have been ‘victims’ of our self-centered, callous attitude. Our adoption of CCM for the church service has alienated, hurt and even chased away some of our precious elder Christians and other committed believers.”
MacArthur, in his book, Ashamed of the Gospel said, “The obvious fallout of this pre-occupation with the unchurched is a corresponding de-emphasis on those who are the true church. The spiritual needs of believers are often neglected to the hurt of the body”.
Now what about the motivation for a total transition to contemporary music being idolatry? We’ll pick up there in my next post.
What a great posting. Lots of Good information and well presented. I agree with you that music is not a tool for evangelism. I read in I Cor 1:21 "...it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe."
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