In case you missed Part 4, find it here: Lyrics Are Paramount
Keith Getty
has often said that “we are what we sing,” meaning that we end up believing
whatever it is we keep singing about. As we have discussed in a recent post
regarding the lyrical content of our songs, the selection that we make is no
meaningless task. Simply put, our music should reflect what it is we know about
God, i.e. who He is and what He has done. In fact, whether we realize it or
not, our music will reflect what we believe about God—be it correct, or
incorrect—and to what level we grasp a particular truth will be manifested in
our songs.
Generally
speaking, IWL’s will find themselves operating in one of two paradigms when it
comes to song selection: 1) They select the song based on its overall thought,
statement, and lyrical content, and then considers the musical accompaniment
that enhances it; or 2) They select the song based on the overall sound and
feel of the music—period. In our modern world today, it is all too obvious that
most churches operate under the second principle. This practically leaves them
at the mercy of the latest “worship” album being generated by young musicians
in their early to late twenties who have virtually no theological training, or
firm grasp of the timeless doctrines of the Christian faith that are taken from
the Word of God. It is a vicious cycle that continues to degenerate, rather
than mature since the model is based on emulating youth, rather than
theologically proven wisdom.
To be clear,
youth does not necessitate bad theology, but as a general axiomatic principle,
maturity grows with age, so the younger someone is the more prone they are to
the trappings of their immaturity if not well-trained. It is no wonder that the
Apostle Paul told his dear—and quite young—apprentice, Timothy, to “let no one
despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in
conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim 4:12). He was to be even more
diligent in his youth to be an example to everyone as to what a godly, faithful
youth looked like. All of this is to say that the youth-dominant—or
youth-targeting—music that dominates the albums being emulated in our churches
around America are not exactly a bunch of Timothy’s, meaning they are not
theologically minded-pastors. This is not so much a criticism as it is an
observation, which demands our attention as to what we do with it. Put another
way, it is not to say that there is necessarily bad theology in a bulk of the music being sold, rather there is
very little of it—and this is a problem.
It is
notable that when the Apostle Paul told the Colossian church to sing “psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs” (3:16) in this familiar and oft-quoted passage,
that he preceded it with the instruction to “let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly.” He told the exact same thing to the Ephesian church in 5:18–19.
John MacArthur has rightly said that our worship will be as high as our
theology is deep. The deeper we understand the Word of God, the more it will be
reflected in our lives and in our songs.
This goes
right back to what Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4 in regards to
what worship would look like—it would be in spirit and in truth (v. 23). It is also why he told this Gentile woman, “you
worship what you do not know; we [the
Jews] worship what we know” (v.22)
(emphasis mine). Again, make no mistake, this is not relegated to music alone.
In fact, it is largely targeting the life of the individual and their
obedience; their holiness. Yet, it affects everything that falls under the
worship umbrella. Truth is knowable, definitive, and absolute. It goes without
saying that it should be a hallmark of any song that we offer up to our mighty
and holy God.
It is also
important to understand how the Word of God impacts our volition, or our will.
When the word of Christ dwells in us richly, it does not sit stagnant—that
wouldn’t be very rich. No, we understand from Hebrews 4:12 that the “word of
God is living and active,” so we can
expect it to have an effect on the soul in which it resides.
Listen to the
beautiful way in which the prophet Isaiah wrote in regards to the effect of the
word of the LORD:
“As the rain
and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the
eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to
me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in
the thing for which I sent it” (55:10–11).
The outcome?
Verse 12 continues: “You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the
mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the
trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
The more we
are saturated with the word of God, the more we have reason to praise Him with
all reverence and awe and, in fact, the more natural it will be for our mouths
and lips to articulate those things. Our Lord Himself said of both good and
evil people in Luke 6:45 that it is, “out of the abundance of the heart his
mouth speaks.” It is no wonder that both Isaiah and Colossians attribute the
work of the Word of God to high and acceptable praise and worship. This is what
the Holy Spirit does in a redeemed life.
Consider the
commendation of Hebrews 13:15: “Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of
praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” For our
lips to be fruitful in offering this sacrifice of confessing His Name, then our
hearts must be full of—yes, richly indwelt by—the word of Christ.
The takeaway
from all of this is two-fold. First, The IWL must constantly be devoting himself
to the study of the Bible. I cannot emphasize this enough. This alone would
revolutionize the way most churches approach the congregational time of
singing. Far too often—and I mean painfully so—the first available kid who can
play a guitar and sing is given this weighty task and many times he couldn’t
tell you where any given book of the Bible is even located. From my own
personal observations, this is usually because the church wants to save money
by not hiring on a full-time music minister. That has been the prevailing shift
in the last ten years. The theological importance of singing truth as a
congregation is usually not appreciated, thus not prioritized, as it should be
by the leaders who make the scheduling decisions.
By the way,
I was one of those kids once. From the beginning, I have wanted to understand
what worship really is, biblically, and how music is a part of that. I was (and
still am) passionate about doing music right
before my Lord and Savior. My disposition notwithstanding, I was theologically
immature and unable to practice the best discernment in song selection as I am
today. Churches would be doing themselves and the Lord Jesus Christ a great
service to place the responsibility of the music of the church into the hands
of a doctrinally sound and theologically mature leader who also possesses the
exceptional ability to play and/or direct music.
This takes
us to our second point in that the IWL must select songs that are theologically
rich so that it contributes to a higher exaltation of God as well as the
edification and maturity of the saints who sing the songs. They will start
learning and believing what it is they are singing, so we are indeed a type of
pastor as we contribute to the shepherding of people into the truth of the Word
of God. The song selection goes hand in hand with the preaching and teaching
ministry of the church—they both teach. The music aspect has its own special
benefit, in that it makes these truths that are being sung more memorable.
Keith Getty
said on one occasion that if the sermon on Sunday is a really good one, then
people typically remember the last song . . . If the sermon was a really poor
sermon, people still remember the
last song! In either case, we leave a memorable impression on people with our
music, so it would be a shame if they left with an impression of showmanship,
rather than the melody line running through their heads that carries along a
precious truth or praise about God. Music aids memory. It is extremely
practical and entirely useful. Professional jingle writers make a lot of money
for simply creating a memorable sound byte that ties people’s minds to a
product. Again, music aids memory.
A fantastic
example of this is when God had Moses write the law down in the form of a song
in Deuteronomy 31. God’s reason?
“Write this
song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put
it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the
people of Israel . . . this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of
their offspring)” (19–21) (emphasis mine). In other words, the song would
be memorable and teachable to all generations so that the kids would pick it up
and be able to sing it. The song would be a witness against them, if need be,
as it was the actual reminder of the Law of God to be obeyed.
Friends,
every part of the congregational worship service is to be focused on glorifying
and exalting our triune God which will in fact spiritually benefit and edify
the saints involved. The musicians and their leaders are simply servants who
provide a service that helps to meet that end. They are not there to act as a
marketing gimmick to fill the seats. They are not there to take votes on what
style everyone wants. They are not even there to meet people where they are at.
That misses the entire purpose for gathering. They are simply there to play
music so that everyone can sing to God!
The whole church gathers in order to hear from God’s Word and sing God’s
praises. They meet together to worship God from where they are at. While true
worship has a spiritually beneficial impact on the soul and mind, the target of
our music is not to achieve an experiential, or emotional, end that someone
thinks they need. No; rather, if you are offering your sacrifice with a pure and
humble heart before God in reverence and awe, then you will simply experience
the camaraderie of worshiping God with others of a like mind, knowing that you are
honoring God with acceptable worship—the right spirit and grounded in truth.
Fellow
musicians, do not cave into the pressures of having your ministry dictated by
complaints. Be a teacher. Shepherd your team and as much of the church as you
can to understand biblical worship and how music then fits into that. Remain
diligent to study Scripture so that when you speak it is obvious what your time
is spent reading and when you select songs they will be ones that reflect the
knowledge and reverence of the most Holy God. This will make you more valuable
to the work God is doing in His Church on earth. We will not be giving an
account to our congregation, elders, or family when we stand before God—we will
give an account to God alone. May we be men of conviction that take the
opportunity, through our musical talent, to raise the thoughts of men and women to the
highest of heights, where God is seated in the heavens on His throne.
As John the
Baptist rightly said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn 3:30).
In Christ
Alone,
