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We've seen Mr. Elliff's writings before, and generally they're well thought out and informative. However, this particular missive is somewhat lacking. We think that Mr. Elliff is suffering from a very common malady, tunnel vision, something which we on occasion suffer from. We all tend to get locked into our perspectives and then overlook information that would refute our theses.
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You could put the entire teaching about church music in the New Testament in a paragraph or two. (Ok, so here's his premise, that the amount of time Scripture discusses something is related to its importance. Hmmm. Try applying that test to, say, the Trinity to see how that works out.)
Add to this teaching those spirited illustrations of corporate singing in heaven displayed in the last book of the Bible, when angels and throngs of people fill the air with thundering six to eight line choruses. When it comes to intentional instruction about music, however, there are really only four passages in the New Testament:
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16
Therefore, let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise, if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks since he does not know what you are saying? For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified. 1 Corinthians 14:13-17
What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 1 Corinthians 14:26(Notice how he artificially limits the scope of the topic to "N.T. teaching Scriptures" in order to establish his premise. But any doctrines about music in the church, as well as any other doctrine, are based on the whole of Scripture, not just directly instructional passages. But even here Mr. Elliff fails.
In order to demonstrate his unfortunate cherry picking, we list below additional N.T. Scriptures related to music and praise, and in particular, one that contains direct instruction, James 5:13:
Lk. 15:25 Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
Lk. 2:13-14 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
Lk. 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Lk. 5:25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
Lk. 17:15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
Lk. 18:43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Lk. 24:52-53 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Ac. 2:46-47 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Ac. 3:7-8 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
Ac. 4:21-22 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Ac. 10:45-46 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Ac. 16:25-26 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.
Ro. 15:8-11 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.” Again, it says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples.”
He. 2:12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”
Ja. 5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
We can see there is more to music in the N.T. than just a "measly" four Scriptures. We included incidents of praise, since in the Hebrew culture praise and music are so interwoven. They are a celebratory culture, where singing, dancing, and other physical demonstrations of worship are commonplace. In fact, praise and music are almost interchangeable.
Clearly the N.T. has a lot to say about music and worship, more than Mr. Elliff is letting on.
But why does he exclude the O.T.? The O.T. is replete with all sorts of incidents and expressions of musical worship. One particularly noteworthy and instructive instance is where David created a entire framework surrounding the idea of worship in the Tabernacle.
We also need to note that Mr. Eliff seems reluctant to actually quote the magnificent choruses of Revelation. He writes about, "...those spirited illustrations of corporate singing in heaven displayed in the last book of the Bible" as if they're not particularly important. Perhaps not important to making his case, we suppose. We shall remedy his oversight and add them ourselves because of their great richness in contributing to the topic at hand:
With all this going on, you would think that surely under it all you would discover a solid foundation of Scripture to support such massive, expensive and time-intensive behavior. (Would Mr. Elliff like to point out any Scripture that speaks to any sort of expenditure related to other cash-hungry church programs, with the exception of ministry to the widows and orphans? There is so much that goes on in churches today that is not addressed by the Scriptures. Is Mr. Elliff making an Argument from Silence?)
Sadly, however, very few churches think through what the New Testament teaches when forming their music strategy. What did churches of the New Testament, large or small, mature or new-born, do with music under the tutelage of the Apostle Paul? (What other church ministries, organizational features, or expenditures do we find addressed in Scripture? What did Paul teach regarding them? Does Mr. Elliff's church do this:
“I Go Because I Like The Music”
I’m guessing, but I doubt that anybody joined with the early believers because they liked the music. (Mr. Elliff admits his lack of information, but happily makes this into evidence for his case. However, had it been true that the early church [that is, a version of church few churches emulate today] lacked music, it would have been jarring to a culture steeped in celebratory expression of worship.
The Jewish Temple worship was also highly skilled, choreographed and perhaps exciting to listen to, but, again, the early church seemed to by-pass that approach to winning people to Christ, or for designing their church life together. (He uses words like "perhaps," "appeared" and "seemed," yet he writes with such certainty about what you and I must do, and what every church must be like.
Everybody else is “audience.” (Unsupported assertion.)
To be more truthful, Miss Roselle wouldn’t have a chance to warble among such musicians. (More bad behavior cited. This doesn't advance his argument at all, any more than it would justify the call to eliminate all pastors from churches because some of them are bad or errant preachers.)
Often people join churches only when they “like the music.” (Do they? Does Mr. Elliff have any evidence for this? And really, if they go to church for the music and end up getting saved or healed, or decide to become a missionary or evangelist, what difference does it make what motivated them to go to church?)
For many people, that alone is enough to satisfy. Sadly, many churches are so music-driven that the teaching of the word is swallowed up in its ample motherly arms until it is nearly irrelevant. Three weeks without the full production, and the church building would be emptied. (This may or may not be true, he doesn't know. Nor does he really know the Word is being swallowed up. He's created a cause and effect scenario that he actually cannot demonstrate.)
Don’t mistake my concern for a lack of desire for excellence. (???)
The New Testament on Music
So how should we integrate moving, meaningful, Christ-exalting music into our church’s life? What should we do or not do? I could suggest a thousand things off the top of my head (beginning with, “Have a talk with Miss Roselle.”). But what we need is not better ideas, but biblical ideas. Let me suggest a few things the Bible teaches. I believe these are among the most critical ideas, because these are all God has chosen to say about music to the New Testament church in the New Covenant. Be prepared for some radical concepts:
First, the verses above indicate that music should be about edification of believers. (Perhaps Mr. Elliff forgot that he quoted Ephesians 5:19: "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." That would be vertical, wouldn't it?
One might get the feeling that Mr. Elliff is looking to affirm his own beliefs from Scripture, rather than allowing Scripture to establish and inform his beliefs. In fact, worship is specifically directed to the Lord. "Worship" is proskuneo, which means to fall down/prostrate oneself to adore on one's knees." There is nothing at all the suggests worship is the music we do in church.)
At least this is the emphasis in Paul’s writing. (Left unquoted and unreferenced.)
Finally
All I’m really saying is that, like a child in the park, we have run off in all directions related to music without consulting our Father for His wishes. For 60 years my uncle faithfully and lovingly brought his sister chocolate-covered cherries for Christmas. Only in her late 80s did she tell me privately that she never liked chocolate-covered cherries. He had never consulted her, but assumed his taste was hers. What if we like what we do for God, but God doesn’t like it at all? When our practice, as sincere as it might be, almost totally disregards the body-life design of God for the church spelled out for us in great detail in the New Testament, we surely are working against His intentions. Even if arriving at His view of the church means that we make major structural changes, would it not be right to do so?
The main lesson, summarized, is that early New Testament believers purposefully abandoned choreographed, professional and elaborate musical presentations to the shadowlands of the temple age, and moved forward into the simpler, more fluid and flexible, leadership of the Spirit. (Once again he makes his assertion, but hasn't demonstrated it or offered any evidence.)
Although I’m not sure exactly how all of this is accomplished, I would rather be attempting to go His direction than assuming I know better than God what He likes. With careful attention to the body language of the New Testament, and authentic trust in God, surely we can take steps, gradually if necessary, to return to this glorious simplicity, beauty and balance.
Copyright © 2013 Jim Elliff
Christian Communicators Worldwide, Inc. Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in unedited form including author's name, title, complete content, copyright and weblink. Other uses require written permission.
Clearly the N.T. has a lot to say about music and worship, more than Mr. Elliff is letting on.
But why does he exclude the O.T.? The O.T. is replete with all sorts of incidents and expressions of musical worship. One particularly noteworthy and instructive instance is where David created a entire framework surrounding the idea of worship in the Tabernacle.
1Ch. 6:31: "These are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there."And look what David intends to do at this tabernacle.
Psalms. 27:6: "Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD."There is much more O.T. Scripture on worship, so we could say a lot more regarding this, but suffice to say that arbitrarily limiting our source material is an artificial delineation not warranted by the subject matter.
We also need to note that Mr. Eliff seems reluctant to actually quote the magnificent choruses of Revelation. He writes about, "...those spirited illustrations of corporate singing in heaven displayed in the last book of the Bible" as if they're not particularly important. Perhaps not important to making his case, we suppose. We shall remedy his oversight and add them ourselves because of their great richness in contributing to the topic at hand:
Re. 5:12-14 In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen”, and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Re. 5:9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Re. 5:11-12 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Re. 14:3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No-one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
Re. 15:2-4 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”Pressing the issue further, there are many Scriptures in the N.T. that do not indicate actual music, yet we must include them because they suggest worship:
Mt. 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Lk. 6:23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
Ac. 2:25-28 David said about him: “I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence."
Ph. 3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord!
Ph. 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!That’s it. For all the millions of dollars spent on buying equipment, paying music leaders, crafting multi-level music programs, training choral leaders, and building buildings that accommodate elaborate musical presentations, these verses comprise a very tiny pedestal upon which to rest such a large elephant as the music program of the church. (Ahh, so this is it. He's not interested in whether or not the modern manifestation of music in the church is Scriptural; rather, he's bemoaning the money spent on it!)
With all this going on, you would think that surely under it all you would discover a solid foundation of Scripture to support such massive, expensive and time-intensive behavior. (Would Mr. Elliff like to point out any Scripture that speaks to any sort of expenditure related to other cash-hungry church programs, with the exception of ministry to the widows and orphans? There is so much that goes on in churches today that is not addressed by the Scriptures. Is Mr. Elliff making an Argument from Silence?)
Sadly, however, very few churches think through what the New Testament teaches when forming their music strategy. What did churches of the New Testament, large or small, mature or new-born, do with music under the tutelage of the Apostle Paul? (What other church ministries, organizational features, or expenditures do we find addressed in Scripture? What did Paul teach regarding them? Does Mr. Elliff's church do this:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47
If not, why not?)
“I Go Because I Like The Music”
I’m guessing, but I doubt that anybody joined with the early believers because they liked the music. (Mr. Elliff admits his lack of information, but happily makes this into evidence for his case. However, had it been true that the early church [that is, a version of church few churches emulate today] lacked music, it would have been jarring to a culture steeped in celebratory expression of worship.
Mr. Elliff has no way of knowing what attracted the early believers. He appears to be arguing his case based on the actions of misguided people in today's church. But we prefer the biblical explanation.)
If they were looking primarily for music and show, (He slips in "show," as if being attracted by the worship was the same thing as being attracted to the show.)
If they were looking primarily for music and show, (He slips in "show," as if being attracted by the worship was the same thing as being attracted to the show.)
perhaps the local temple would have been the better choice. The pagan temple worship that most people knew in those days included plays, dance, singing, and even parades, but the early believers appear to have never thought of emulating their kind of worship in order to attract such people for Christ. (How does he know this? He's speculating, based on his personal preferences as to how a church ought to conduct itself.
But the author errs too ways. First, he restricts his comments to pagan churches, when the Temple was a central operating point of the early church. Ac. 2:46:
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
Second, if churches are implementing worship programs to attract people for Christ, the author would need to cite evidence.)
Early church music was no match for the extravaganzas temple leaders could put on. Unlike our churches today, early Christians didn’t even compete with them. (Again, he can't possibly know this.)
The Jewish Temple worship was also highly skilled, choreographed and perhaps exciting to listen to, but, again, the early church seemed to by-pass that approach to winning people to Christ, or for designing their church life together. (He uses words like "perhaps," "appeared" and "seemed," yet he writes with such certainty about what you and I must do, and what every church must be like.
And the Jewish Temple worship is an indicator of the importance of music in the culture of the day, which likely spilled over into the early church in some form. Mr. Elliff draws precisely the opposite conclusion based on no evidence whatsoever.)
In more recent days (yet long before Christian people used the words “Church Growth”), (Church growth was never discussed until recently? Really?)
enterprising leaders sought to attract crowds to their churches with music. It was called “special music.” (??? "Special music" was for the purpose of attracting crowds? Mr. Elliff will cite Miss Roselle's shrill "special music" as an example. So this unpleasant music was specifically designed to attract crowds? This doesn't even make sense.)
In more recent days (yet long before Christian people used the words “Church Growth”), (Church growth was never discussed until recently? Really?)
enterprising leaders sought to attract crowds to their churches with music. It was called “special music.” (??? "Special music" was for the purpose of attracting crowds? Mr. Elliff will cite Miss Roselle's shrill "special music" as an example. So this unpleasant music was specifically designed to attract crowds? This doesn't even make sense.)
I once made up an entire verse of a well-loved solo piece in a large church which rhymed but didn’t make sense. Perhaps that could be called “special,” but not most of what happens in churches every Sunday. What we do each week in churches might better be called “routine music.” We should say, “Miss Roselle will give the routine music this morning.” It doesn’t matter if Miss Roselle wilts the flowers with her shrill soprano warble, the order of service demands “special music.” It is planned out and pressed into the agenda, even if you have to get the most ungodly church members to do it. How did the apostle Paul ever make it without special music prior to his messages? (Once again Mr. Elliff is attempting to establish his perspective by pointing to bad behaviors and the failings of particular people. What have these got to do with the Scriptural basis for music in the church? By extension, does he criticize other practices in the service using the same criteria? Like announcements, offering, or Sunday school? )
But some churches offer more than a shrill solo. Some lay out a feast of music that is close to dazzling. Nobody announces that Miss Roselle will sing. She just does it—maybe with smoke rising up all around her. And many more do it after her. I cannot count the number of times in churches around our nation when I’ve heard music that was so professional, practiced, and polished that it would rival any ticket-only concert. Only the top musicians could be engaged to do it. (This is odd. He first criticizes churches for amateurish music, now he's unhappy with skilled musicians. Mr. Elliff finds himself at odds with David. 1Ch. 25:6-7:
But some churches offer more than a shrill solo. Some lay out a feast of music that is close to dazzling. Nobody announces that Miss Roselle will sing. She just does it—maybe with smoke rising up all around her. And many more do it after her. I cannot count the number of times in churches around our nation when I’ve heard music that was so professional, practiced, and polished that it would rival any ticket-only concert. Only the top musicians could be engaged to do it. (This is odd. He first criticizes churches for amateurish music, now he's unhappy with skilled musicians. Mr. Elliff finds himself at odds with David. 1Ch. 25:6-7:
All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king. Along with their relatives — all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD — they numbered 288.So, does Mr. Elliff want good worship music or bad worship music? Or perhaps no worship music?)
Everybody else is “audience.” (Unsupported assertion.)
To be more truthful, Miss Roselle wouldn’t have a chance to warble among such musicians. (More bad behavior cited. This doesn't advance his argument at all, any more than it would justify the call to eliminate all pastors from churches because some of them are bad or errant preachers.)
Often people join churches only when they “like the music.” (Do they? Does Mr. Elliff have any evidence for this? And really, if they go to church for the music and end up getting saved or healed, or decide to become a missionary or evangelist, what difference does it make what motivated them to go to church?)
For many people, that alone is enough to satisfy. Sadly, many churches are so music-driven that the teaching of the word is swallowed up in its ample motherly arms until it is nearly irrelevant. Three weeks without the full production, and the church building would be emptied. (This may or may not be true, he doesn't know. Nor does he really know the Word is being swallowed up. He's created a cause and effect scenario that he actually cannot demonstrate.)
Don’t mistake my concern for a lack of desire for excellence. (???)
I once thought I would give my ministry life to music. I know something about it. But it seems to me that we have gone to elaborate extremes before reflecting on what the New Testament has to say.
So how should we integrate moving, meaningful, Christ-exalting music into our church’s life? What should we do or not do? I could suggest a thousand things off the top of my head (beginning with, “Have a talk with Miss Roselle.”). But what we need is not better ideas, but biblical ideas. Let me suggest a few things the Bible teaches. I believe these are among the most critical ideas, because these are all God has chosen to say about music to the New Testament church in the New Covenant. Be prepared for some radical concepts:
First, the verses above indicate that music should be about edification of believers. (Perhaps Mr. Elliff forgot that he quoted Ephesians 5:19: "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." That would be vertical, wouldn't it?
One might get the feeling that Mr. Elliff is looking to affirm his own beliefs from Scripture, rather than allowing Scripture to establish and inform his beliefs. In fact, worship is specifically directed to the Lord. "Worship" is proskuneo, which means to fall down/prostrate oneself to adore on one's knees." There is nothing at all the suggests worship is the music we do in church.)
At least this is the emphasis in Paul’s writing. (Left unquoted and unreferenced.)
From John’s Revelation we see music employed for praise, but Paul is straight as an arrow about insisting on edification as his principal directive. Music is not all vertical. (Perhaps not, but worship is.)
It also keeps others in view. We are to “speak” to each other with music, and “teach” and “admonish” (warn) each other. It should go without saying that edification is not the same as entertainment, (A false binary choice.)
which makes people happy and excited, but often does not deal deeply with the soul in the way that the word “edification” implies. The simple music of a congregation, for instance, when seeking to teach each other through thought-provoking words and music, can be a potent tool for spiritual development. This concept alone might change the content and manner of your music experience. (As we see from the Scriptures we added to his list, there is a lot of Scripture regarding "vertical" expressions, including the O.T.. We need to note that "vertical" expressions were ingrained into the culture of the time, so we shouldn't be too surprised that Paul spends little time instructing on something that was already so abundant and richly expressed.)
Second, music is to be a way to “let the word dwell richly among you.” This means that good music is the “word” or the “message” musically presented. It is joined to the testifying word, the preached word, the taught word, the prayed word of God, in such a way that the time spent together becomes a baptism in the word of God. The music of the song carries “the word,” “the message,” or “the truth” of God on its wings.
Third, Christian music is often to be an offering to the congregation from a spiritually-minded brother or sister. Paul says “each one has a psalm” as if to say, individuals come prepared and spiritually ready to sing a psalm (or, by extension, a spiritual song or hymn) to the group for their edification; or perhaps they are to suggest their psalm to the group for corporate singing. This does not preclude thinking through a song beforehand as opposed to being entirely spontaneous, but when offered, it often will give the appearance of spontaneity in the meeting itself. I know it is entirely out of range for most of us to consider this idea at all, but I’m only reporting what I’m reading. In the early church, people made contributions of their gifts and talents for the building up of the body. It was part of what it meant to have body-life in the church. The meetings were more or less open to believers’ gifts—orchestrated by God; not chaotic. To think otherwise is to be more a child of the Reformation than the New Testament. (It's not often that conservative teachers are willing to go here. Kudos, Mr. Elliff! This is radical stuff, which should indicate that music in the church is much more important than even the churches with "dazzling" productions affix to their presentations.)
Fourth, by necessary assumption, coordination of the meeting, including all musical gifts, must have been the responsibility of the elders who were in charge of guiding the believers, under the headship of Christ. I don’t think they would have understood an “order of service” as a means of doing this. The people simply brought their gifts and made their contributions under the guidance of the Spirit, looking to the elders as leaders for shaping the meeting as needed. Wise elders may have curbed the excesses of some, or even refused to allow others to offer their supposed gift, but however they worked it out, their meetings were open for the sharing of gifts and talents under their sagacious oversight. (Yes. Again, radical stuff. The expression of music and other spiritual activities are governed by the elders. Pastors are conspicuous by their absence!)
Fifth, though Paul did not rule out ecstatic singing (singing in the spirit without engaging the mind), he admonished the church to “sing with mind also.” The larger point being made is that what is sung must be able to receive the “Amen” from those who are there. He mentions the “ungifted” being among them. It must be, on some level, understandable to them also. Here Paul is not approving what he denies earlier in 1 Corinthians (that those without the Spirit cannot understand the things of God), but is only meaning that people need to hear intelligible words in their singing. I am not going to delve into this debated issue of praying in the spirit and the matter of tongues, or the issue of interpreting such speech, but I am only making the obvious comment: Our singing must be intelligible to have its greatest value. It is what is intelligible that is ultimately most edifying. Understanding is important. (Given that Mr. Elliff is a contributor to worldviewweekend.com, this is a courageous admission. His publishers are confirmed cessationists, so he might want to be a little more circumspect about the spiritual gifts.)
Sixth, a variety of music forms may used. Whatever is meant by “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,” we may at least note that this was not a “hymns only” church, or a “psalms only” church. I know there are arguments about these words from those who practice exclusive psalmody. Even so, I take the view that these represent varying forms of music found in the church. Who would argue that an emotive Scripture praise song done by memory is usually more appropriate during a heartfelt prayer-time, than the singing of even such a great hymn as “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”? We need variety.
Seventh, no music directors are seen in the early church pattern of worship. Paul highlighted in Ephesians 4 the human gifts to the church Christ left us: “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.”
Surprisingly, he did not mention “music directors.” (Why should he? Sunday School Director is not there either.)
When spiritual gifts are listed in 1 Corinthians, Romans and 1 Peter, nothing about a music gift is mentioned there either. (This is a strange line of argument. Mr. Elliff appears to be mistaking a talent for music for a gift of the Spirit. Talents and gifts are not synonymous.)
Though I owe a lot to those music directors I enjoyed as a boy, and though there are some godly ones that I sincerely appreciate, the absence of such a staff position in the local churches of the New Testament documents is glaring. (On what basis can he claim this? He has not presented any evidence for this assertion.)
This is not to say that pastors who have musical gifts cannot do some wonderful things with music related to the church, but they should be pastors (elders, overseers) in every sense of the word. At the same time, musical gifts are not a requirement of pastoral ministry.
It also keeps others in view. We are to “speak” to each other with music, and “teach” and “admonish” (warn) each other. It should go without saying that edification is not the same as entertainment, (A false binary choice.)
which makes people happy and excited, but often does not deal deeply with the soul in the way that the word “edification” implies. The simple music of a congregation, for instance, when seeking to teach each other through thought-provoking words and music, can be a potent tool for spiritual development. This concept alone might change the content and manner of your music experience. (As we see from the Scriptures we added to his list, there is a lot of Scripture regarding "vertical" expressions, including the O.T.. We need to note that "vertical" expressions were ingrained into the culture of the time, so we shouldn't be too surprised that Paul spends little time instructing on something that was already so abundant and richly expressed.)
Second, music is to be a way to “let the word dwell richly among you.” This means that good music is the “word” or the “message” musically presented. It is joined to the testifying word, the preached word, the taught word, the prayed word of God, in such a way that the time spent together becomes a baptism in the word of God. The music of the song carries “the word,” “the message,” or “the truth” of God on its wings.
Third, Christian music is often to be an offering to the congregation from a spiritually-minded brother or sister. Paul says “each one has a psalm” as if to say, individuals come prepared and spiritually ready to sing a psalm (or, by extension, a spiritual song or hymn) to the group for their edification; or perhaps they are to suggest their psalm to the group for corporate singing. This does not preclude thinking through a song beforehand as opposed to being entirely spontaneous, but when offered, it often will give the appearance of spontaneity in the meeting itself. I know it is entirely out of range for most of us to consider this idea at all, but I’m only reporting what I’m reading. In the early church, people made contributions of their gifts and talents for the building up of the body. It was part of what it meant to have body-life in the church. The meetings were more or less open to believers’ gifts—orchestrated by God; not chaotic. To think otherwise is to be more a child of the Reformation than the New Testament. (It's not often that conservative teachers are willing to go here. Kudos, Mr. Elliff! This is radical stuff, which should indicate that music in the church is much more important than even the churches with "dazzling" productions affix to their presentations.)
Fourth, by necessary assumption, coordination of the meeting, including all musical gifts, must have been the responsibility of the elders who were in charge of guiding the believers, under the headship of Christ. I don’t think they would have understood an “order of service” as a means of doing this. The people simply brought their gifts and made their contributions under the guidance of the Spirit, looking to the elders as leaders for shaping the meeting as needed. Wise elders may have curbed the excesses of some, or even refused to allow others to offer their supposed gift, but however they worked it out, their meetings were open for the sharing of gifts and talents under their sagacious oversight. (Yes. Again, radical stuff. The expression of music and other spiritual activities are governed by the elders. Pastors are conspicuous by their absence!)
Fifth, though Paul did not rule out ecstatic singing (singing in the spirit without engaging the mind), he admonished the church to “sing with mind also.” The larger point being made is that what is sung must be able to receive the “Amen” from those who are there. He mentions the “ungifted” being among them. It must be, on some level, understandable to them also. Here Paul is not approving what he denies earlier in 1 Corinthians (that those without the Spirit cannot understand the things of God), but is only meaning that people need to hear intelligible words in their singing. I am not going to delve into this debated issue of praying in the spirit and the matter of tongues, or the issue of interpreting such speech, but I am only making the obvious comment: Our singing must be intelligible to have its greatest value. It is what is intelligible that is ultimately most edifying. Understanding is important. (Given that Mr. Elliff is a contributor to worldviewweekend.com, this is a courageous admission. His publishers are confirmed cessationists, so he might want to be a little more circumspect about the spiritual gifts.)
Sixth, a variety of music forms may used. Whatever is meant by “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,” we may at least note that this was not a “hymns only” church, or a “psalms only” church. I know there are arguments about these words from those who practice exclusive psalmody. Even so, I take the view that these represent varying forms of music found in the church. Who would argue that an emotive Scripture praise song done by memory is usually more appropriate during a heartfelt prayer-time, than the singing of even such a great hymn as “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”? We need variety.
Seventh, no music directors are seen in the early church pattern of worship. Paul highlighted in Ephesians 4 the human gifts to the church Christ left us: “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.”
Surprisingly, he did not mention “music directors.” (Why should he? Sunday School Director is not there either.)
When spiritual gifts are listed in 1 Corinthians, Romans and 1 Peter, nothing about a music gift is mentioned there either. (This is a strange line of argument. Mr. Elliff appears to be mistaking a talent for music for a gift of the Spirit. Talents and gifts are not synonymous.)
Though I owe a lot to those music directors I enjoyed as a boy, and though there are some godly ones that I sincerely appreciate, the absence of such a staff position in the local churches of the New Testament documents is glaring. (On what basis can he claim this? He has not presented any evidence for this assertion.)
This is not to say that pastors who have musical gifts cannot do some wonderful things with music related to the church, but they should be pastors (elders, overseers) in every sense of the word. At the same time, musical gifts are not a requirement of pastoral ministry.
Finally
All I’m really saying is that, like a child in the park, we have run off in all directions related to music without consulting our Father for His wishes. For 60 years my uncle faithfully and lovingly brought his sister chocolate-covered cherries for Christmas. Only in her late 80s did she tell me privately that she never liked chocolate-covered cherries. He had never consulted her, but assumed his taste was hers. What if we like what we do for God, but God doesn’t like it at all? When our practice, as sincere as it might be, almost totally disregards the body-life design of God for the church spelled out for us in great detail in the New Testament, we surely are working against His intentions. Even if arriving at His view of the church means that we make major structural changes, would it not be right to do so?
The main lesson, summarized, is that early New Testament believers purposefully abandoned choreographed, professional and elaborate musical presentations to the shadowlands of the temple age, and moved forward into the simpler, more fluid and flexible, leadership of the Spirit. (Once again he makes his assertion, but hasn't demonstrated it or offered any evidence.)
Although I’m not sure exactly how all of this is accomplished, I would rather be attempting to go His direction than assuming I know better than God what He likes. With careful attention to the body language of the New Testament, and authentic trust in God, surely we can take steps, gradually if necessary, to return to this glorious simplicity, beauty and balance.
Copyright © 2013 Jim Elliff
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