I’ve just been in a long and very useful email discussion about the use of instruments in church meetings.
I’ve had a number of emails about this in the past, and I’m glad that I have the opportunity to give the subject a bit more airtime. The last discussion involved a sentence that I used in my article in the August issue of EN (page 20) on emotional manipulation through music, where I stated: ‘God has given us music that moves our hearts not just to remember truths, but to respond emotionally to them’. I then quoted Psalm 92.4 (‘…at the works of your hands I sing for joy’, ESV). I’m sorry for any confusion, especially to the writer of the email I got in response, who picked me up on my use of the word ‘music’ in regards to that verse. The writer was concerned that I was saying that an instrumental accompaniment of a song was needed to help us respond emotionally to the truths of God. What I should have said is that ‘God has given us the gift of singing, which moves our hearts…’.
Musical chairs?
I certainly don’t believe that instruments are essential, as there are many church traditions and cultures that have no instrumental accompaniment and, of course, their singing can often be even more heartfelt than traditions that use many instruments. From verse 3 of Psalm 92, however (where the lute, the harp and lyre are mentioned in the context of singing God’s praise), it’s clear that instrumental accompaniment certainly shouldn’t be discouraged. I say this even though this is an Old Testament passage and no mention is made of instruments in the New Testament (except for the harps mentioned in Revelation 14 and 15). At the same time, there is certainly nothing in the New Testament that deems the use of instruments obsolete. Neither does the New Testament affirm or deny the use of (e.g.) chairs in church meetings. This doesn’t make it unbiblical to sit on a chair.
