1. Apply Romans 12:2 to your congregational worship.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Resist the pressure to conform, (i.e. fashion like) to the patterns of many churches, which are themselves conforming to the patterns of the world, regarding music. It is sad to see more and more churches that have for centuries been conscious that worship is a holy act, (i.e. separated from the popular and entertainment principles of the world) - moving in the very direction of these worldly principles and attractions.

The church where there was once a pulpit and seats, (and maybe an organ or piano), and where men, women, boys and girls sung songs of praise to God with minimal distractions - now has a drum kit crammed in behind the pulpit and guitar amplifiers at either side of the ‘stage’. Or, it has a $30,000 music system, complete with stage lights and other effects.

“I am afraid that where organs, choirs and singing men and women are left to do the praise of the congregation, men’s minds are more occupied with the due performance of the music than with the Lord, who alone is to be praised. God’s house is meant to be sacred unto himself, but too often it is made an opera house, and Christians form an audience, not an adoring assembly.”

2. Be honest with yourself.

If you are a singer or instrumentalist out the front of a congregation in what is called the worship band/group, I sincerely plead with you to ask yourself some serious questions: Am I a Christian? Do I love God with all of my mind as well as my heart, and do I know what it means to fear Him, to hallow His name and to worship Him in spirit and truth? Is what I’m doing out the front, causing me to focus on God alone, or is there a bit of glory in it for me? Am I being distracted from a concentrated, sincere singing to God by what I’m playing, or by what the other members are playing? Am I dressed in a way that will most likely cause me to stand out and cause others to particularly notice me?

I also encourage you to meditate, i.e., read and seriously ponder over scriptures such as the following: Psalm 127:1; Ecclesiastes 5:1; Isaiah 66:2b; Amos 5:21-23; John 4:24; Romans 12:2 and Hebrews 12:28, 29

When I think back to when I first attended church, I was astonished that I was so readily put out the front of a church to help “lead worship”, by people who didn’t even really know me. In fact, I may not have even been converted at that stage. Yet I was expected to help lead people into worshipping Almighty God. I can tell you now that I was not worshipping God; I didn’t even really know who God was and what it meant to worship Him.

“When are you getting back on the drums? We miss the drums…” So said a lady to me at another church I used to attend. I played drums at the morning and evening services and when my conscience started convicting me that I was merely entertaining myself and the congregation during worship, I stopped playing and took my place in the pews. Apparently, people missed seeing and hearing me play drums in the “worship band.” I wondered if God missed me entertaining myself and the audience in worship. I
wondered if God missed me becoming greater as He became less. (see John 3:30).

3. Remove all musical distractions and embellishments.

You don’t need a drum kit; you don’t need a guitar; you don’t need three vocalists out the front. If the goal is to be edified through song, i.e., words, sung to God and one another, you simply need one skilful musician who can lead the congregation to sing. I say skilful because, like other leaders of worship, e.g., the preacher, the leader of song must be gifted in that discipline; it goes without saying that they must also be a mature Christian.

It would seem to me that the most appropriate instrument to lead a congregation in song is the piano, since it has the whole range of notes; also, a skilful pianist can easily lead the tempo and dynamics of the singing to suit the words being sung. A skilful acoustic guitarist can also be appropriate, especially if he can play the melody line as an intro to familiarise the congregation with the tune. The instrument must not drown out the voices of the worshippers, you should hardly hear the instrument, apart from leading in verses.

Remember what you are in church for; to participate in the most holy, (separate from the world) act there is: worshipping the Almighty. Having a band and vocalists out the front not only looks and sounds and feels like a worldy event, but it also leads to an intimidation into silence of many of the congregation. A lot of people, (who unfortunately usually don’t voice their concern) feel less of a worshipper when they see and hear “the great singers in the worship team ‘belting it out’ on the platform. After all, what average congregation can compete with a group of gifted, microphoned vocalists blasting a melody from the stage…?”

Getting rid of all musical distractions and embellishments will not be easy. It will mean advising certain people to put down their instruments and microphones, and join the congregation in singing. This could have the effect of hardening certain people because, they want to do what they feel is good. They want to play and sing in front of the congregation. However, if God the Holy Spirit is at work, the advice will be humbly heeded. It will be the responsibility of the Pastor and elders, and even the musician if he/she is convicted, to speak the truth in love to the other musicians/singers.

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A common objection from pastors, and leaders, (and parents) is that if someone’s got a gift, let him/her use it in the worship service! This is not the sort of reasoning we should use in determining who leads in the church. I have seen the most terrible results of this reasoning in churches; unskilled guitarists, out of time drummers, singers who cant sing, leaders who have no skills in introducing songs, volumes that are irresponsibly too loud…etc. Or, on the other hand, professional musicians who know exactly how to play, sing and entertain their audience.

4. Find a suitable singer(s)

It is most helpful to the overall singing if there are at least one or two well tuned, stronger voices to help increase the volume. This doesn’t mean out the front with microphones. Strong voices in the congregation should encourage others to sing heartily. It is a great encouragement to the congregation, and a good witness to those visiting or anyone outside the building who may be listening, to hear the sound of people in good, hearty singing.

In God’s providence, there will be at least one person in your congregation who can sing. Seek them out and encourage them.

5. Sing biblical songs

Discover God’s song book! There is a song book right in the middle of your Bible that contains 150 songs to worship God with. Firstly, Scripture itself encourages us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, (Col.3:16). Also, the psalms are such that they express the whole range of human emotions and feelings we experience in the Christian walk, from the pit of despair to the mount of joy.

Churches that only sing positive, joy songs are not being true to the reality of the Christian walk. There are psalm books readily available to use in congregational worship.

Then there are numerous biblically based hymns that contain true and solid theology that reflect the way God has dealt and is dealing with us as His people, and that reflect His awesome love, mercy, justice, faithfulness, pleasure, wrath…etc.

It is a sad fact that one of the main reasons for disunity in the evangelical church is because there is disunity in its public worship; not only regarding the form of singing but also the content. The church that used to be recognised as a unified, holy people singing psalms and biblical hymns, is now seen as an open musical marketplace where style and personal preference rules, often at the expense of unnecessary controversy, disunity and a bad witness.

We must pray that God has mercy and leads us back to a holy, biblical, unified church, where one need not feel uneasy or alienated when visiting their Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican or other brethren and singing praises to God.

6. Learn suitable tunes*

But what sort of tune should be used? What style? Is it a matter of personal taste and style? No. Music in Christian worship must not be based on the question, “what style would you like?” But rather, “what tune is suitable for everyone regardless of age, and, what tune is least likely to draw attention to the worshippers.

Archibald T. Davison wrote in 1933,

“What constitutes appropriateness of substance is too often determined, however, by the personal preference of the individual for a certain type of music quite apart from its technical make-up and the associations which surround it, or by confused thinking which embraces almost any type of music as eligible to be included within the category of ‘church music.’ ”

If God is to be worshipped with “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Col.3:16); if, as Psalm 148 tells us, “kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; young men and maidens; old men and children” should praise the Lord, then surely natural intelligence and Christian prudence would suggest that we use a musical style that not only all can sing, but which also all can appreciate.

Pastors and elders - don’t fall for the objection that “young people need a style of music that suits them; that they can relate to in order to worship, they need the popular sounds of today.” This is simply not true. There are many young people singing psalms and hymns to tunes that have stood the test of time for centuries, and they sing them alongside brothers, sisters, mums, dads, grandpas and grandmas.
The truth is, young people can and must learn to appreciate music that all can appreciate and benefit from, especially in terms of the worship of God. Young people should be able to worship with old people, and they can, if a suitable tune that both ages can sing and appreciate is chosen. There are hundreds of tunes that can be sung to psalms and hymns. These tunes have stood the test of time for centuries and they can be sung by anyone regardless of age.

7. All in together- one body

Imagine a people of God, Christians, all gathered together on a regular basis, singing the praises of God. Children, teenagers, young adults & the elderly, all worshipping God together and singing songs put to music that all can understand and appreciate. A picture of heaven? Maybe.

Yet this was the picture of the Christian church from the time of the first Century up until about 70 years ago. Around the 1930’s or 40’s things started to change, even more so around the 60’s, to the point where one hardly sees such a picture described above in Christian worship. Instead, the worshipping body today is largely segregated and the most prominent, separated part is that of our youth and young adult.

When the church worships God, it does so as “one body” and this body is made up of all different ages ranging from 1 to over 100. “Both young men and maidens, old men and children; let them praise the name of the Lord.” (Ps.148). Psalm 150 also suggests the oneness and togetherness of assembled worship, conveyed by an orchestra of instruments and “everything that has breath” praising the Lord. (Psalm 150 is not a proof text to justify having a band in the church service, that’s not the point of the psalm.)

An unwarranted separation has occurred in the modern church congregation, which has no precedent or justification form Scripture or church history whatsoever. It concerns the categorisation and separation of one part of the body from the other, namely, the youth, from the rest of the congregation. This is a result of an ideology that reasons that youth and younger teenagers are so radically different from the rest of the body of Christ, therefore they need radically different worship styles.

Compare the “praise and worship” that is aimed at the youth in “youth services” to that of the music sung in churches and homes and small groups where mostly middle aged and elderly people attend. If it’s all in the name of worship or ministry, should not the 9 year old be able to worship with the 19 and the 90 year old? They should be able to worship together.

Grandma and Grandpa go to the morning service and sing psalms and hymns to tunes that have stood the test of time for centuries, but are, according to the youth, outdated and boring and not what young people like. Therefore, the youth will wait for the evening service where they can tap their feet to the pop style music. Too bad for Grandma who wants to worship her Lord in the evening!

8. Don’t rob your children.

Where does it all start?
“Isn’t it good to hear all those young feet shuffling away…” So said a minister to the congregation as he told the younger people that it was time for them to go to “their church”, i.e. Sunday School. Let me change the minister’s statement into a question: “Is it good to hear those young people going away?” Is it good to see six year old Emily and even 12 year old Jack separating themselves from Mum and Dad and the Grandparents? Is it good to keep the children away from hearing the God appointed minister and elders leading the service, praying and proclaiming the Word?

It is a tragic pattern of the world that children, and then in particular, teenagers are becoming more separated from parents and authority figures, socially, culturally, educationally and emotionally. God forbid that we, the church, contribute to this.
I pray and plead with ministers and elders and anyone else in leadership in the church, if this is the way your church operates, please pray and reflect on this and ask God to reveal His will in this situation.