Corporate Singing
Introduction
After my years of observation and participation while being raised in the church, I have concluded a truism that I doubt many will contest: singing is a touchy subject on Sunday. “What we sing” and “how we sing” are often what come to characterize a church in the eyes of visitors, the outside community, and within the body itself.
“O, the worship here is just great. It helps me connect with God.”
“The music leader here needs to go. He doesn’t choose songs that resonate with my generation.”
“That’s the church that only sings hymns.”
“Their music is too loud.”
“They don’t sing enough. I’d prefer a shorter sermon so we could worship through song more.”
“I don’t know these songs. I wish we would sing songs I know.”
“We always sing the same songs. I wish we would sing a new one now and then.”
My point is that music in church is a big conversation, and people divide over it for a lot of different reasons. Why is this the case? Why is music, perhaps above most other aspects of the corporate worship service, such a fertile soil for contention and discontentment? I certainly do not pretend to have a thorough answer to that question, but I do think I have part of it. Hear me out.
Music is normally used for individualistic purposes.
Outside of Sunday, what is the role of music in our lives? Think about it. We utilize music to create our own, personalized soundtracks for our days.
We put on our favorite, calm playlist while our coffee is brewing.
We activate heavier, fast-paced music while we exercise.
We turn on romantic music on the way to a date.
We turn on songs from our teen years when we are feeling nostalgic.
Music is at our fingertips and in our devices, ready to pair wirelessly to innumerable amplifiers in countless situations. There are even speakers in showers, for crying out loud.
My point is that, through the normal rhythms of our day, music is a servant at our beck and call. We listen to what we want, when we want, according to whatever mood we find ourselves in. Music exists to serve me.
Sunday is a Corporate Endeavor
Now, what about Sunday morning? If you are an obedient Christian, you gather together with the church to participate in the ordinary means of grace (Heb. 10-:24-25). Here is the rub we do not often consider: You are not in control at church. You do not determine when the service begins or ends. Unless you are in leadership, you are not deciding on elements like the call to worship, the sermon text, or (ready for it?) the music.
Singing can be a vulnerable thing. Sunday is, for most, the one place where you are being asked to sing songs you did not choose. They may not match your mood. Perhaps you do not have these songs included on your “Me Time” playlist on Spotify. They may not be done at a tempo you prefer or in a style you prefer. Here is what I am getting at succinctly: you are normally in control of music, but you set that control aside at the door when you come into church.
If a song comes on the radio or through my phone on a Tuesday, and I do not like it, I can turn it off or change it with a tap of my thumb. On Sunday, when a five-stanza hymn is being sung that you think is awfully boring, you do not wield your typical power. You must endure.
Do you see the cause for consternation? Again, music, which we normally use for individualistic purposes, is utilized for corporate purposes on Sunday, and the reality is that your personal musical preferences are not the priority. But, because we all think pretty highly of our own opinions, we believe that our preferences and style, etc. are best. We think thoughts like, “This church won’t be so bad once they figure music out.” What we mean by that is “…once I can get my way regarding the songs.”
An Illustration
Let me illustrate this personally. Consider the following two truths.
In pastoral ministry, I have never received a note from anyone in the body requesting that I preach a specific text or passage of Scripture.
I have, however, received multiple notes from people in the body telling me which songs we ought to sing.
This is revealing, and typical, I think. It demonstrates the unhealthy estimation we place on our personal musical preferences on Sundays.
How to Help
The point is not that we stop using music through the week so that it becomes easier to participate on the Lord’s Day. I love music. I often do have something playing in the background, and I am pretty specific about what I will listen to and when. Music is great. I get it! If you were to cut off my supply of “Classical Focus Playlist,” Marty Robbins, Rich Mullins, or various movie scores, I would be troubled. The point is that we must be eager to fight for the integrity of Sunday, and that means singing well. I do not mean everyone must be a great singer, but that we must sing well. Let me end with some practical tips for approaching corporate worship rightly.
Think Biblically
Approach Sunday with right thinking. Remember that music was made by God and is a gift from God. The people of God have always sung corporately to him (Exodus 15). When I join with the saints on the Lord’s Day, I am doing just that - joining with the saints. I am not putting on a concert for them. I have not come to showcase my talents, but to add my voice to the many so that we can all, as one, praise and petition our great God.
Trust the Leaders
I can not speak for every church, but at Bayview Bible Church, I assure you that thought and intentionality go into the planning of the liturgy. We do not throw darts at a board to choose our music. “I got an ‘H’! Find me a song that starts with ‘H’!”
We have a library of songs that is dynamic. We add songs, we take songs out. We have criteria for them. They must, for example, be biblical and singable. We use the Hymns of Grace hymnal because it largely reflects our values in song selection. We also sing some Psalms because, well, they are Scripture and we are positively commanded to sing them (Col. 3:16). The leaders of the church who are called to shepherd the sheep are doing their best to shepherd you through the music. Is there room for input and feedback regarding the music? Yes, of course there is. The simple point here is that there ought to be a default trust of the leadership in all aspects of Sunday, including the music.
Do Your Best to Blend In
Churches are full of individuals. That’s true. And God saves us as individuals. Absolutely. However, those individuals together form a single, spiritual body. If there is a tendency toward one ditch that the American church is facing, I would argue it is toward being too individualistically-focused, not too corporately-focused. This often comes through in music.
Here are some believable examples. Someone relatively new to the body demonstrates an overly eager desire to join the music team because he has a beautiful voice others need to hear. A woman who can play a specialized instrument is begged to play on Sunday as a novelty. I have witnessed such examples through my life. Perhaps you have, too. But it is not just the people helping with music up front who might be tempted to turn music into a showcase event. People standing in the congregation can and do find ways to draw attention to themselves during what is meant to be a corporate pursuit.
Singing in an overly stylized way, such as adding a “fall” to the end of a phrase, holding a note far too long, or intentionally starting to early or too late are methods to make sure everyone around me hears my voice above the rest. Volume can be another mechanism. People with powerful voices often use them to drown out the saints around them.
“But that’s just how I sing,” some may say. To that I would answer, “That may be how you sing in the truck, the shower, or in the kitchen, but we are at church now, and we are singing as one. Your personalized style of singing may be unhelpful to the others who are trying to sing around you. The loving thing to do may be to make some adjustments.”
This is not meant to sound harsh, but I know it does. Our culture pounds into our heads the lie that everything is about me, me, me. But friends, the corporate gathering is not a personally-catered worship session for just you or me. I do not come together with the church each Lord’s Day with the purpose of making sure the world knows all the nuances of my personal expression. If that is my desire, I can always take up new career in interpretive dance in Portland.
Conclusion
Not everyone who reads this may agree. That is likely ok, but depending on why they disagree, it may prove my point entirely. My hope is that Christians will not just take seriously what they are singing, but also the why and the how. To that end, I hope this short post has provoked some good thoughts on the subject.
To hear a sermon I preached on singing in church, listen here.
After my years of observation and participation while being raised in the church, I have concluded a truism that I doubt many will contest: singing is a touchy subject on Sunday. “What we sing” and “how we sing” are often what come to characterize a church in the eyes of visitors, the outside community, and within the body itself.
“O, the worship here is just great. It helps me connect with God.”
“The music leader here needs to go. He doesn’t choose songs that resonate with my generation.”
“That’s the church that only sings hymns.”
“Their music is too loud.”
“They don’t sing enough. I’d prefer a shorter sermon so we could worship through song more.”
“I don’t know these songs. I wish we would sing songs I know.”
“We always sing the same songs. I wish we would sing a new one now and then.”
My point is that music in church is a big conversation, and people divide over it for a lot of different reasons. Why is this the case? Why is music, perhaps above most other aspects of the corporate worship service, such a fertile soil for contention and discontentment? I certainly do not pretend to have a thorough answer to that question, but I do think I have part of it. Hear me out.
Music is normally used for individualistic purposes.
Outside of Sunday, what is the role of music in our lives? Think about it. We utilize music to create our own, personalized soundtracks for our days.
We put on our favorite, calm playlist while our coffee is brewing.
We activate heavier, fast-paced music while we exercise.
We turn on romantic music on the way to a date.
We turn on songs from our teen years when we are feeling nostalgic.
Music is at our fingertips and in our devices, ready to pair wirelessly to innumerable amplifiers in countless situations. There are even speakers in showers, for crying out loud.
My point is that, through the normal rhythms of our day, music is a servant at our beck and call. We listen to what we want, when we want, according to whatever mood we find ourselves in. Music exists to serve me.
Sunday is a Corporate Endeavor
Now, what about Sunday morning? If you are an obedient Christian, you gather together with the church to participate in the ordinary means of grace (Heb. 10-:24-25). Here is the rub we do not often consider: You are not in control at church. You do not determine when the service begins or ends. Unless you are in leadership, you are not deciding on elements like the call to worship, the sermon text, or (ready for it?) the music.
Singing can be a vulnerable thing. Sunday is, for most, the one place where you are being asked to sing songs you did not choose. They may not match your mood. Perhaps you do not have these songs included on your “Me Time” playlist on Spotify. They may not be done at a tempo you prefer or in a style you prefer. Here is what I am getting at succinctly: you are normally in control of music, but you set that control aside at the door when you come into church.
If a song comes on the radio or through my phone on a Tuesday, and I do not like it, I can turn it off or change it with a tap of my thumb. On Sunday, when a five-stanza hymn is being sung that you think is awfully boring, you do not wield your typical power. You must endure.
Do you see the cause for consternation? Again, music, which we normally use for individualistic purposes, is utilized for corporate purposes on Sunday, and the reality is that your personal musical preferences are not the priority. But, because we all think pretty highly of our own opinions, we believe that our preferences and style, etc. are best. We think thoughts like, “This church won’t be so bad once they figure music out.” What we mean by that is “…once I can get my way regarding the songs.”
An Illustration
Let me illustrate this personally. Consider the following two truths.
In pastoral ministry, I have never received a note from anyone in the body requesting that I preach a specific text or passage of Scripture.
I have, however, received multiple notes from people in the body telling me which songs we ought to sing.
This is revealing, and typical, I think. It demonstrates the unhealthy estimation we place on our personal musical preferences on Sundays.
How to Help
The point is not that we stop using music through the week so that it becomes easier to participate on the Lord’s Day. I love music. I often do have something playing in the background, and I am pretty specific about what I will listen to and when. Music is great. I get it! If you were to cut off my supply of “Classical Focus Playlist,” Marty Robbins, Rich Mullins, or various movie scores, I would be troubled. The point is that we must be eager to fight for the integrity of Sunday, and that means singing well. I do not mean everyone must be a great singer, but that we must sing well. Let me end with some practical tips for approaching corporate worship rightly.
Think Biblically
Approach Sunday with right thinking. Remember that music was made by God and is a gift from God. The people of God have always sung corporately to him (Exodus 15). When I join with the saints on the Lord’s Day, I am doing just that - joining with the saints. I am not putting on a concert for them. I have not come to showcase my talents, but to add my voice to the many so that we can all, as one, praise and petition our great God.
Trust the Leaders
I can not speak for every church, but at Bayview Bible Church, I assure you that thought and intentionality go into the planning of the liturgy. We do not throw darts at a board to choose our music. “I got an ‘H’! Find me a song that starts with ‘H’!”
We have a library of songs that is dynamic. We add songs, we take songs out. We have criteria for them. They must, for example, be biblical and singable. We use the Hymns of Grace hymnal because it largely reflects our values in song selection. We also sing some Psalms because, well, they are Scripture and we are positively commanded to sing them (Col. 3:16). The leaders of the church who are called to shepherd the sheep are doing their best to shepherd you through the music. Is there room for input and feedback regarding the music? Yes, of course there is. The simple point here is that there ought to be a default trust of the leadership in all aspects of Sunday, including the music.
Do Your Best to Blend In
Churches are full of individuals. That’s true. And God saves us as individuals. Absolutely. However, those individuals together form a single, spiritual body. If there is a tendency toward one ditch that the American church is facing, I would argue it is toward being too individualistically-focused, not too corporately-focused. This often comes through in music.
Here are some believable examples. Someone relatively new to the body demonstrates an overly eager desire to join the music team because he has a beautiful voice others need to hear. A woman who can play a specialized instrument is begged to play on Sunday as a novelty. I have witnessed such examples through my life. Perhaps you have, too. But it is not just the people helping with music up front who might be tempted to turn music into a showcase event. People standing in the congregation can and do find ways to draw attention to themselves during what is meant to be a corporate pursuit.
Singing in an overly stylized way, such as adding a “fall” to the end of a phrase, holding a note far too long, or intentionally starting to early or too late are methods to make sure everyone around me hears my voice above the rest. Volume can be another mechanism. People with powerful voices often use them to drown out the saints around them.
“But that’s just how I sing,” some may say. To that I would answer, “That may be how you sing in the truck, the shower, or in the kitchen, but we are at church now, and we are singing as one. Your personalized style of singing may be unhelpful to the others who are trying to sing around you. The loving thing to do may be to make some adjustments.”
This is not meant to sound harsh, but I know it does. Our culture pounds into our heads the lie that everything is about me, me, me. But friends, the corporate gathering is not a personally-catered worship session for just you or me. I do not come together with the church each Lord’s Day with the purpose of making sure the world knows all the nuances of my personal expression. If that is my desire, I can always take up new career in interpretive dance in Portland.
Conclusion
Not everyone who reads this may agree. That is likely ok, but depending on why they disagree, it may prove my point entirely. My hope is that Christians will not just take seriously what they are singing, but also the why and the how. To that end, I hope this short post has provoked some good thoughts on the subject.
To hear a sermon I preached on singing in church, listen here.
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