A Word from our Minister of Music
“Let the work 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 heart to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Colossians 3:16-17
Paul clearly addresses the importance of worshiping God through song in this passage, as well as others (Eph 5:14), and indeed did worship our Lord through the singing of song himself (Acts 16:25; Eph. 5:14; Phil. 2:6-11; Col. 1:15-20; 1 Tim 3:16). The entire book of Psalms is a testament of our need to cry out in song to our Creator. Why is it then that music has become such a hot topic on our churches today? Statistically, music is the number one reason why a person chooses a church. This is not a new phenomenon. Charles Spurgeon called his music department “the war department.” As a music minister, I can relate to this struggle. How does one find the balance between incorporating musical excellence into a service without your Sunday morning becoming a show? I believe that if we examine these verses more closely, we will find that the key is not music at all.
The first point that I believe Paul was making here is that music is not an end unto itself. He says “teaching and admonishing one another… singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” I believe that one should not simply aspire to minister in music, but to be a theologian who uses music as the vehicle in which you are ministering. I take this very seriously, because weather I (or any of my colleagues) realize it or not, we are inundating our congregation with theology every single week. It is very easy to fall into the trap of choosing music based upon key, or tempo, or what you believe sounds good, but you must look first and foremost at the message and theology behind the song.
The second point that we can get from these verses is that all singing in the church should begin and end with the Holy Spirit. The word he uses for spiritual (pneumatikos) means to be taught or led by the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 2:6; 15:44, 45.) It is the concept that he promotes later of doing all in the name of (and in the power of) Christ. I know that in my own experiences, when I am doing all I can to bring a service or a program together, it will come up mediocre at best, but when I allow the Holy Spirit to take complete control and am entirely yielded to him, it is exceedingly more than I could have ever come up with.
The final point I would like to put forth is that worship is not an event, but a lifestyle. He says “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Not only the words of Christ, but Christ himself lives in the hearts of Gods children. With Gods wisdom present, then and only then can we live this out in every part of our lives. David Crowder has a book out called “Praise Habit” in which he says “Praise is something we are, not something we do… A praise habit is not just possible; it’s the very reason we were created. Live in constant awe of God and watch what He does next.” Has Christ so permeated your life that you are wearing thankfulness, joy, and praise like a habit? Let us praise God even in the everyday things, so that when we come on Sunday and on Wednesday and worship, we can truly admonish one another and sing his praise!
- Josh Sutton
