In churches and Christian Unions all over the world, the time given to Bible teaching is less and less. Many do not want to think; they want to feel God’s presence with them, and they look to music to give them that feeling. But we only encounter God through faith in Jesus, not through music. And how can we have faith in him unless we hear about him? Paul writes: “Faith comes through hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17).
What is more important to you: music or the Bible? When you choose a church, do you choose the one that has the best music group or the one that teaches the Bible best? Music is important. I will have much more to say about that later. But it would be possible to survive in our faith without it. But we could not survive without God’s word. It is by his word that God brings us into relationship with himself as we hear about Jesus and put our faith in him. It is also by his word that we are maintained in our Christian faith as the living God addresses us with both challenges and encouragements.
Some respond by saying: “That is fine; we do need the Bible. But we also need the Spirit. God speaks to our minds through his word, but he deals with our emotions through his Spirit”. But that reveals a serious misunderstanding of the relationship between God’s word and God’s Spirit. The Bible never allows us to split the two. The Spirit of God is the divine author of the Bible and continues to speak through it today. The word of God is “the sword of the Spirit”. So, if we want to be in close touch with the work of God the Spirit, it is vital that we listen to his word.
Read the entire article HERE.
6 comments:
some good thoughts here...but also some not explored. Like the engagement of music and emotion for less noble purposes. I have witnessed music used (in a church context)for the purposes of "softening out hearts for the message" when instead the listeners should be more discerning about what is being preached. This is just manipulation in disguise. And this occurs not just with the newer rock-infused music that churches are playing but also some of the time-honored hymns as well. If I ever have to hear "In the Garden" or "He touched me" (which has taken on a new meaning in these days of clegy abuse) it will be too soon.
No doubt.
Great article on music in church. Here's a question: why do we always sing first, THEN sit down for the sermon? If this is what we call "worship," then why is it not a response to hearing from God's word? Ever since reading Nehemiah 8 about Ezra reading God's law to the exiles and them responding in praise and worship, I've always wondered that. It seems so anti-climactic to me to drag my sleepy self into church, sing a bunch of songs to "get me in the Jesus mood," then I hear this bangin' sermon. I want to sing out for the joy of who God is, but then we all just file out quietly and start thinking about what to do for lunch. For me, it feels like a big let-down.
Does anybody else feel the same way? Why do we do it this way?
Dana,
I share your feelings. It makes sense to me, and has biblical precedent to sing in response to the proclamation of God's Word.
For the record, I don't mean to pick on COS or any church in particular. The songs-announcements-songs-sermon-gohome order of service seems to be the norm in most of the evangelical churches that I've visited. I don't understand where it comes from or why it's so common.
Dana,
Not sure exactly what was the genesis of the current/majority approach to church services. I know the more historic Protestant liturgies structured things in such a way that there was significant time given to prayers, readings, and songs of response to the proclamation of God's Word. Seems to make sense.
Post a Comment