For many, singing at church is nothing more than a commercial break that allows for a smooth transition between the
more important episodes within the service. When it comes to worship through song who really cares
right? Why bother? Would it really matter if we just dropped it from the
service entirely? At least then we wouldn’t have to stand there being
disinterested and disengaged for so long.
If these thoughts and feelings strike
a chord with you, you’re not alone. For many of us, when it comes to
congregational singing, we relate to the experience of making declarations of
truth to likeable melodies, but have minimal to no experience of being
ministered to by the Holy Spirit. Worship
through song really has become a take
it or leave it kind of activity. But what do the Scriptures have to say for
it? Could it be possible that those who have this attitude toward singing in
church are missing out? Is it time for a reformation in our thinking regarding
congregational singing, and thus a renewal of its practice?
The Scriptures testify to worship
being an all of life activity (Rom
12:1-2). Given that corporate worship
through song is currently an aspect of our lives, because of its place in
our church services, how should we engage in the activity, so as to make it another
aspect of our lives that is also performed in worship to the Lord? Or perhaps
it doesn’t warrant being part of our lives at all? Maybe we should finally scrap
the dead practice and eradicate it from our church services?
I would like to challenge us to
consider the opposite. The offering of
praise we collectively bring to God through song, when gathered together as a
community in Jesus’ name, should not merely be permitted as a valid place
in our church services, but as an essential practice, respected and valued for
the unique way it brings glory to God and maintains our spiritual vitality.
The devaluing of corporate worship through song is
probably the result of many factors. In my opinion, two significant reasons for
it being devalued are: firstly, our simplistic view of what word-based ministry is; and secondly,
the informality of our services, due to us having made them seeker-sensitive to the informal culture
in which we live.
With respect to our understanding
of word-based ministry we are guilty of placing listening to the word of God preached and responding to the word of God in song, in opposition, as if the two
are at enmity with each other. We fail to see that responding to God’s word in
song is in and of itself a ministry
of the word, in the sense that it helps consolidate the word of God preached and God’s truth more generally into our hearts,
by providing us with an opportunity to respond with thoughtful reflection,
word-shaped emotion, joyous praise and physical expression.
Regarding the informality of our
services, it seems our zealous attempts to contextualise the gospel for the
broader, largely informal culture have gone so far that we have now lost much
of our reverence for God, and this spills over into our singing. It is vitally important we take time to
self-reflect on our current attitude and practice. We are in great danger of
becoming mere hearers of the word instead of doers (Jas 1:22-24), puffed up
with knowledge, having lost our heart of love (1 Cor 8:1).
Piper states in The Pleasures of God, ‘It is God’s supreme
commitment to […] display the full range of his glory […], for the enjoyment of
his […] people […]. This everlasting and ever-increasing joy of God’s people in
[God] […] is the shining forth of God’s glory’ (pg. 339). How many people truly
relate to the idea of attending church for the purpose of enjoying God? How many can testify to fully delighting in God through the hearing of the sermon alone? How many truly cherish the opportunity to experience God’s
transforming, sustaining joy in worship through song?
Corporate worship can be a
powerful forming experience for us, yet many of us walk in functional unbelief
of this reality when it comes to practice. If our values and knowledge are
formed by the social relationships and structures in which we find ourselves,
then to be involved in a church where the majority of people place a low value upon
corporate worship, is to be in an environment where the cultural norm will
continue to reinforce that worship through song is not important, satisfying or
transformative. This makes changing a culture’s attitude toward corporate
worship difficult.
Congregational singing is
performed in both the vertical and horizontal dimension. The vertical refers to our personal
relationship with God, within which we sing to him and focus on enjoying him.
The horizontal refers to our mutual
edification of each other, as we sing God’s truth to one another, spurring one
another on to love and good deeds. Both aspects are important and we should
seek a balance between the two when it comes to song selection. Let us,
however, for the purpose of this discussion, consider the vertical aspect in a little more detail. What is God’s intention
for the vertical dimension of our corporate worship through song?
‘The climax of God’s happiness is
the delight He takes in the echoes of His excellence in the praises of his
people’ (J. Piper, Desiring God, pg. 30). Isaiah 48:11 affirms this statement, ‘For my own sake, […] I do
it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another’.
God’s glory is his highest concern and it should be ours too. Corporate worship
is one of the ways we can magnify
God’s name above all else.
Our worship needs to be an
expression of our delight in God (Ps 37:4). Burdened and begrudging obedience
does not glorify the Lord, because it does not testify to his all satisfying
goodness – it is not worship. Fortunately for the Christian, loving God through
obedience can be a delight. God’s gift of faith overcomes our deadness toward
him, awakening our affections for him so that our obedience to him is an
outworking of our heart’s delight (1 John 5:3-4). ‘The chief end of man is to
glorify God by enjoying him forever’ (J. Piper, Desiring God, pg. 369). The wonderful news is that God is to be
enjoyed, and the greater that enjoyment, the greater His glorification. It is
vital therefore, that we pursue a deepening satisfaction in the Lord in all aspects of our lives, including during our congregational
singing.
What is necessarily required for
our joy to soar? Surely, it is that we express
it! Joy is incomplete until it is expressed in praise. Our delight in God is consummated in our expression of praise to
him. We all relate to this truth in our experience. We have all been in
circumstances where delight has been awakened in response to something we
appreciate, but has failed to reach the heights for which it was destined,
because it was not expressed or shared with another. The same is true for our
joy in the Lord - our delight in God overflows in the greater joy of expressing
it in praise. To not participate in worship is to rob ourselves of higher
levels of satisfaction in God. ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most
satisfied in him’ (J. Piper, Desiring
God, pg. 288). Let us therefore pursue deeper levels of satisfaction in the
Lord in all aspects of our lives, including when we worship together in song!
You may be wondering if there is anything
in particular that makes corporate worship
through song so important? Jesus states, “For where two or three are
gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matt 18:20). This refers to his resurrected
presence (Matt 28:20). Although Jesus dwells in all believers by his Spirit
(Eph 1:13), he is present in a unique manner when believers gather together. Believers
therefore should make gathering together
a high priority. But why must we sing
together? Colossians 3:16 commands us to do so but why? The simple answer is
that we are commanded to sing together because our singing is a ministry of the word. It is not simply a medium through which
Scripture is proclaimed (although that is a good thing). Through song we have
the opportunity to respond to God’s word, by taking it captive, meditating on
it, making it our own, participating in it, and expressing it back to God in
praise in our own words, all with the assistance of music, which helps engage
our emotions. In this way the word ministers to us at the level of our affections, which facilitates greater transformation than when it is directed
solely at the mind and will. In music we have a medium that can elevate words
to a place where mere words could never go themselves. Singing is God’s gift to
us.
We should seek therefore to take
corporate worship seriously by participating in it regularly, actively,
intentionally and reverently, with the anticipation of experiencing joy in God.
We must be on guard against being passively present during corporate worship,
and fight against any mentality that devalues it to the ranks of being a mere time filler. We should seek to worship in song with an
attitude that sees it as a unique opportunity
to pursue and enjoy God. If a person is regularly untouched by their experience
of corporate worship through song this does not suggest that it has no value,
but rather that they are falling short of appreciating
its value, which ultimately reflects a deeper problem in them. We must fight against
complacency and apathy in congregational singing and fight for our delight. We
need to engage in corporate worship with an expectancy that God will show up in
our hearts, minds and experience.
Our value of singing in church
must increase. Our delight in the Lord is at stake and so is His glory. We must
work at being in community regularly for the purpose of worshiping together,
and should seek to intentionally prepare our hearts and minds for it. We are
commanded to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength,
unceasingly (Mk 12:30). All of life is worship in the broader sense, and worship through song is a part of all of
life. Surely our response to God’s
word is of equal importance to hearing
his word, for this is the purpose of God’s word – to transform us – to elicit a
worshipful response from us, whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. The proclamation
of God’s word, and our response to it, are not
enemies of each other. They represent two sides of the same coin. In fact our active response to the word of God proclaimed
is a continuation of the ministry of
the word, because it assists the word in taking root in us. The goal of corporate
worship through song is to make us more susceptible to being changed, and
transformation into the image of Christ is our ultimate goal. To neglect corporate worship through
song is to leave oneself thirstier, less healed, less edified, less happy, less
effective, less safeguarded against the enemy’s schemes, less satisfied in
Jesus.
In conclusion, God’s glory is his
highest prerogative. The Lord has ordained that his glory be caught up in our
delight of Him. Corporate worship through song is a fundamental way of magnifying
God’s worth by delighting in him. It holds the greatest promise of joy, in that
it provides the believer with an opportunity to express their joy in God, in
the context of other believers, where Jesus is thus uniquely present, with the
assistance of music, which moves our emotions, and helps engage our affections.
Our value of worship, therefore, must increase so that our spiritual vitality
continues to flourish, as we taste deeper levels of delight in God.
By Peter Crowther
