Is singing more important than preaching? The answer to the question in the title is obviously no. Paul didn’t say it is through the foolishness of singing that men will get saved. Yet, just how important is our time of corporate singing?
I have heard 1000’s of sermons in my life. In fact there is the possibility I have heard over 6000 sermons in my 34 years of life. How many of them do I specifically remember? How many of them do I think about on occasion and reapply the teaching? I don’t know, maybe 50 or 60. Maybe more if something jogs my memory. Yet, how many songs do I know every word to. 1000’s! Now I have a strange ability to remember lyrics and melody lines after one or two hearings of a song, but still most people remember 100’s of songs more than they remember sermons. I know this frustrates those of you that preach every Sunday, but the cold hard facts are its true. At least in our modern times.
I don’t believe this diminishes the importance of preaching. I believe it raises the level of responsibility for those of us who choose what our congregations sing from week to week. I get to use a format that attaches emotions to words through music. I also, unlike preachers, get to sing these words over and over again for decades solidifying them in the memories of the congregation. This brings with it a high level of accountability to those of us who choose congregational songs.
To sing songs in corporate worship for any other reason, other than the desire to teach the great truths of scripture, edify one another, and testify to what God has done for a congregation is a dangerous, dangerous game. Picking a song because of its popularity or its ease of use has no place in corporate worship. To flippantly choose a song without thoroughly checking its accuracy is no different than stepping to the mic to preach error. If you choose a song that teaches error then you have just taught that same error to your congregation. Do you think God will hold you responsible? I do.
To those of us who are responsible for the first half of our corporate worship services it is high time we see our responsibility and begin to take it seriously. We are teachers of the whole body and we will be held responsible for what is taught.
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36 year old husband, father, pastor, singer, musician, reader, eater, rider, watcher,
AMEN!
If it were not so important, I doubt that so much of the Biblical text would be poetry and song. Nor would there be so much information about music and songs in the Christian life, corporate worship, and even Heaven itself. In fact, I may sing next Sunday’s sermon.
Oh amen brother, amen! I wish more people would take this same position on this VERY important topic.
There is something about the way a song is strung together that our brains just remember it. Even grade school teachers know this, and this is why they made us sing all those goonie songs in school. Case in point:
Schoolhouse Rock
So anyway, your post is dead-on accurate and such a great encouragment for those in the body in the position to make a difference in our worship music.
Thank you for posting this.
SDG,
Carla
Ok, now you’ve gone from preachin’ to meddlin’. Scott, again, good post for us to think about. My post I mentioned in a comment to your previous post is on this exact topic, but from the opposite angle. I’ve heard many, many times that the music (or everything else prior to the sermon) prepares us for the sermon, which is the central part of the worship service. I don’t think that’s true. I don’t believe there is one central activity for a worship service.
But our conclusions are exactly the same: if the music stands on its own, without simply being a precursor to the preaching, that means the person who chooses which songs are sung has a weighty task. He (or she) must select theologically meaty songs that not only allow emotion (secondary task) but also teach or reinforce doctrine (primary task). Again, in summary, if the music doesn’t preach, it doesn’t belong in the service.
Now that you’ve scooped me, my post will be out sometime this week.
Music is important in the worship service, but not more important than the expository message from God’s Word. I would have to say that the high point of the Worship service is the preaching by the pastor. We should not forget that God’s Word is inerrant, songs are not, unless they are coming directly from a Scripture passage.
Let me also mention that there was no music in Neh. Chapter 8, the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus in Matt. 5 or the great sermon that Peter preached in Acts 2, when the people cried out in repentance asking what to do to be saved. People wanted to be save from their sins as a result of the preaching of the Word of God not music.
Don’t get me wrong it is okay to praise God with voice and instruments in worship, David said this in Psalms 150.
But again I look at is as preparing the heart of God’s people for the message that is to come from Him.
What songs/composers do you recommend?
Scott, I am right with you, we need music leaders who will usher us into God’s presence in order to hear a word from Him. There are many voices out there today and o how we need to hear His voice in His Word. Praise and glory do His name.
Craig, next week I will post a list of new songs and writers that I think are making real strides to write music for the church.
Out of curiosity, Scott, what are your thoughts on Psalmnody?
Excellent thoughts on the importance of truth vs. error in song. Sometimes we may think a little error in song will go unnoticed. However, our memories prove otherwise.
Gene I am obviously not against singing the Psalms. However, most of the Psalmody I have heard is archaic and difficult for the average Western ears to follow. That being the case it is difficult to teach, because the chant like qualties don’t follow melodic patterns that easily recongnizable. I have sung several of these in various choirs over the years and in that setting I think they could be very beneficial to any congregation. But to just try and teach most of them to the average church would be somewhat comical.
Part of the problem I believe is thqt the translation into English loses some of the melodic qualities. But we know for sure that Western music and what the Israelites actually sang would be miles apart. You can even say that for Eastern verses Western chording. The Eastern structure is a 5 note chord structure while the Western is a three. That is why when we hear sitar music it reminds of us of playing a song on a chalk board.
Addendum to Gene’s question. However, with the somewhat revival of Irish hymns I believe in a few years some churches might actually enjoy some of the chant like Psalmody out ther.
Good points. Many contemporary believers forget that it is not only the mind that we pastors are supposed to target. It is essential that we also target the affections.
We wonder why the moral climate of our people is waning. We try to fill their heads with knowledge in an attempt to fix their wills.
Yet it is only through the combination of right thinking and right feeling that our wills will be changed.
We do what we love, not what we know; although what we love must be informed by what we know.
That is why good hymns — affection-targeting music combined with mind-targeting lyrics — can be a life-transforming tool for the believer.
“What songs/composers do you recommend?”
Louis Bourgeois
Lee I will post some recommendations towards the end of the week.
We must not forget that nowhere in scripture does is say that “My house shall be called a house of preaching”…or “My house shall be called a house of singing”. ..instead, it says “My house shall be called a house of prayer”. We must be very careful that we don’t diminish the act of worship. Worship is that one thing that we can give back to Almight God that He doesn’t have. Granted, God’s word is TRUTH and LIFE and apart from it we will perish…but this business that preaching is more important than the worship time is rubbish. It is all equally important and should walk hand in hand.