Why Does the Church Sing?
Growing up, I went to a lot of concerts. When I was a child, my parents would take me to stadium concerts, and the eruption of voices when the performer sang his most popular song was electrifying. As I grew into adolescence, I played in multiple bands at much smaller venues, and there were times when the audience’s voices would drown out the sound of the band. Hearing a room full of people, no matter the size, singing in one accord was beautiful and arresting. But is there any difference between those experiences and what the praise team and congregation do every Sunday?
Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” In this verse, the Apostle Paul gives clear instructions about why we sing, what we sing, and how we sing.
Why Do We Sing?
We sing so that the Word of Christ may dwell richly in our church. The Word dwells in each individual through disciplined reading and studying the Bible in private, but the primary way that the Word dwells in the church is through the teaching ministries and the singing of the church. This is why doctrinally sound and Scripture saturated songs are so important to the life of the local church. The preaching of the church is vital, but the congregation does not repeat and memorize every word of the sermon. In song, the church’s thoughts about God, Christ, the Spirit, sin, atonement, resurrection, regeneration, and a host of other doctrines are shaped by unified repetition. We sing so that the truth of the Word permeates our hearts and shapes our church.
What Do We Sing?
Paul instructions the Colossians to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. There is clearly a distinction between these three types of songs since Paul uses this trio both here and in Ephesians 5, and some commentators have sought to find the difference. For example, John MacArthur suggests that psalms are from the Old Testament Psalter set to accompaniment, hymns are simpler songs of praise and exaltation, and spiritual songs may be songs of personal testimony. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact distinctions, but we see clearly that Paul instructed churches in the first century to sing diverse songs. For us, this means that we sing a variety of types songs: old and new, fast and slow, deep and simple. The considerations of the song should be less focused on the style of music and more focused on whether or not it is true and singable. They must be true because the songs of the church shape the doctrines of the church. They must be singable because one of the purposes of the church’s singing is our unified declaration of truth.
How Do We Sing?
Paul says that we sing with thankfulness in our hearts to God. We have been loved with an everlasting love and brought from death to life. The songs of the church ought to reflect the gratefulness of the people toward God. We sing songs of lamentation and supplication, but even the church’s grief and pleading are shaped by a secure hope in a good God. If the gospel becomes the lens through which we see all things, the church cannot help but to sing with a joy founded upon God who has rescued us from the domain darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son.
What then is the difference between the singing of the church and other live music? Concerts exist for entertainment. The performers often seek to elicit an emotional response from their audience which will result in a memorable experience. The church sings so that the Word would dwell richly in its members through true, memorable songs that elicit a spirit of praise and thankfulness toward God.
Jonathan Dulin, Associate Pastor