Music in New Covenant Worship

Over fifteen years ago, at the height of the worship wars in my part of the country, I began to think... to think a lot about music in the context of worship. Most of you know me well enough to know my preferences, so I hope you'll place that aside as you read this post.

It's long been my conviction that since Christ is our example, our duty and joy in meeting together with the body of Christ should be to lay aside our preferences in music for the sake of others. Much like in marriage, church should be a group of people resolutely determined to lay aside their own interests for the sake of others (Phil. 2:4). I'm so certain of this governing principle that I fear the judgment of Christ on our churches in the last Day will see much shame over the selfishness spilled out in worship wars over the past two decades in America (and beyond).

While I've held to these convictions for quite some time, I'm not sure that I could truly articulate the practical implications of my thinking until recently.

First of all, worship is not only for God, though we would all affirm that this is its primary aim.

Paul says in Col. 3:16, Eph. 5:19, and 1 Cor. 14:4, 12, 26 that our worship should be for the education and edification of other believers. So the next time you’re at church proclaiming the truths of the gospel or the trinity or some other great mystery of our God, look around. Look around, and then sing. Sing not only to God but to your brothers and sisters. Proclaim the gospel in song to them. They need to hear it from the preacher, and they need to hear it from you!

Second, to expand this idea of education and edification to a global scale by means of the New Covenant is where things really get fun! I'll explain.

Why do we have worship wars? That's easy. We have worship wars (particularly in America) because we have culture wars. If I were to take you to the heart of Africa or China or South America, and we were to experience the vast array of culturally specific worship styles in these contexts, it would nevercross your mind to try and force your church's style of worship into that context. Or it shouldn't.

Why? Because at the advent of the New Covenant, the Kingdom of God burst forth into all nations in a way that had never been seen before; and as this Kingdom advanced forcefully throughout the world, God's intent was not to mold every culture's expression of worship of Him into the Jewish/Middle Eastern forms. Rather, within the constraints of Scripture's commands for orderliness and doctrinal orthodoxy, each culture has the freedom to express worship to God in beautifully unique ways.

Enter the United States... the melting pot of the world. Is it any wonder that at the meeting point of hundreds of cultures and nations we find it difficult to settle into one prescribed musical expression? We war amongst ourselves because we are each absolutely convinced of the spiritual superiority of our own form of musical worship.

It seems that there are only a few possible solutions to this genuinely difficult situation in which we’ve found ourselves. One: we wait for the tide of "modern" music to overtake a church as the older generation dies out and the newer gains control. This may be pragmatic for some, but seems to me altogether unChristlike. Two: we choose to separate ourselves into different local churches based upon cultural preferences. I'm less opposed to this solution these days for the same reason I wouldn't ask an indigenous Chinese church to embrace an African form of worship. Perhaps we are just simply too diverse in our country to expect one form of “blended” worship to appeal to the heart of every single person. Three: everyone in the church could intentionally choose to “suffer” through various forms of worship that are not appealing to them for the sake of others. Of course, when I say "suffer," I'm being intentionally silly. It should be our joy to give up our preferences for the sake of others. I honestly believe that in some contexts option 2 is best. I also believe that in other contexts option 3 is favorable. Each church must discern God’s will for their particular setting.

The point of this post was not to try and fix the problem of conflicts over worship that we experience in this country. My hope is, rather, that we properly understand these conflicts in a biblical way. I pray that we’ll stop venerating musical styles and cultural expressions. I pray that we will love each other sacrificially, and I pray, most of all, that we’ll faithfully proclaim the gospel to ourselves and others through worship, preaching, and mission.

In Christ,

Andy