Singing a Lie?

God in His wisdom determined and decreed that singing would be a part of the church’s worship assemblies. According to Ephesians 5:19 we should"speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Similarly in Colossians 3:16 the Holy Spirit directs every Christian – "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." If you can find a scripture allowing others to give as they have been prospered in your place, or pray or partake of the Lord’s Supper for you, or listen to and apply the sermon to their life as a substitute for you, then you might find a Scripture that will release you from the God-directed call for you to pour out praises and petitions to Him in worship through the avenue of singing. But let me save you the time and effort – you won’t find Scripture authorizing anyone to worship as a proxy in your place, and you won’t find a directive from God giving you permission to sit as a spectator and / or critic through any of the God- directed ways the Scriptures authorize us to approach God as we worship! Every child of God, male and female, is directed by God to engage in singing and thus teach and admonish one another. By the way, it is no mistake that the verse following Colossians 3:16 says, on the heels of addressing singing, "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do all the name of the Lord Jesus." God deliver us from a lop- sided imbalance in singing that insists all our songs in worship must be "traditional" or "contemporary." The important concern is that they be spiritual, truthful, and appropriate to sing to the Lord and to teach one another. Our chief concern ought to be that, like every other aspect of our worship assembly, songs and singing be heartfelt and Biblical, that is, expressing truths taught by God in His word. And God deliver us from giving in to the rabid pressure to "be relevant" and so concerned that worship be "user- friendly" that we end up being more concerned that worship assemblies please people who show up than pleasing the living God we are called and commanded to please and offer our worship to!

One other important matter needs consideration. We often hear, and rightfully so, that we need to practice what we preach. But to that we ought to add we need to practice what we sing. It has been said that we can sing a lie as easily as we can live one. The apostle Paul expressed an important principle in 1 Corinthians 14:15 – "I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding." We ought to think about what we sing, sing what we mean, and mean what we sing! My wife confesses to (and challenges) me that a line in James Coats’ 1940 gospel song "Where Could I Go" is difficult for her to sing – "Living below in this old sinful world, hardly a comfort can afford." Most of us are affording quite a bit of comfort, compared to early Christians and billions of people in third world countries today. My aim is not to discourage us from singing that song. My only desire is to urge us to be prayerful and thoughtful and engaged as we sing in worship. Don’t live a lie, and don’t sing one either. Will you think about it? 

 –                          Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN