Zach Young, Director of Music Ministries
One of the recurring debates in churches is the purpose of presentational music in worship services. Some believe that all church music must be sung by everyone, with no valid place for preludes, offertories, anthems, solos, etc. At the other (more common) extreme, congregational singing is anemic or largely absent. The emphasis is on the virtuosity of the musicians or engendering an emotional response from the people. The congregation is the audience, the musicians are performers, and God is (apparently) a bystander.
I am grateful that Stephens Valley Church does not fall into either extreme. Biblically, our first musical priority in worship is congregational singing. We also have a choir and instrumentalists who prepare presentational music as the congregation listens, helping direct our thoughts, stir our affections, and regulate our response to the One before Whom we would fall at His feet as though dead, were it not for His grace in reaching down to us (listen again to the Jan. 18 sermon from Rev. 1).
Our presentational music fulfills four roles in our worship services:
1. The prelude helps us prepare our hearts and minds for worship. Like a sacred curtain between the world and the sanctuary, this music sets apart the worship time and affords space for prayer and focus.
2. The choir anthem proclaims the gospel. The singers adorn the truth with good and beautiful music that penetrates the heart in ways that the spoken word may not.
3. Music during the sacrament helps us ponder the mystery of the Cross and partake of our spiritual nourishment. Practically, it blocks out distracting background noise. There may also be occasions when we sing hymns together during the distribution, reminding us that the Lord’s Supper is shared in community (communion) as a time of joyful thanksgiving (eucharisteo).
4. The postlude is usually loud and boisterous for a reason: this is our marching music! The church is not meant to “sit, soak, and sour,” but to be people of action, pressing on toward the prize as we take the gospel to a lost and dying world.
You will notice that the bold words begin with “p,” but there is one “p” word you will not find: performance. While we might quibble over the exact definition of performance, it is commonly associated with entertainment. We must take care to avoid irreverence by applauding music offered in a church service. Psalm 47:1 mentions clapping within a general poetic call for all the nations to praise God, not as a command for clapping to occur in corporate worship.
Though applause is not expressly forbidden in Scripture, the Apostle Paul reminds us that many things may be lawful, but not helpful nor edifying (1 Cor. 10:23). It is wise to consider that the gravitational pull of our culture is decidedly opposed to reverence, awe, respect, dignity, etc. Plus, we are expressly forbidden to give glory to anyone but God, and it is far better to be clear about that than to walk close to the edge (Isaiah 42:8). In Christian worship regulated by Scripture, the congregation are the performers, the choir and instrumentalists are the prompters, but the audience is God. Let us do our best as a congregation to respond appropriately, offer[ing] to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28b–29).
