when the church sings
"...But be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." Ephesians 5:18-19
"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." Colossians 3:16
Make no mistake about it, the Apostle Paul believed that the churches should be singing. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he instructed at least two of the city churches -- Ephesus and Colosse -- to sing their "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs."
I would dare say there isn't a Christian church in any part of the world that does not have a musical tradition of one sort or another. We are a singing people. As a musician, worship leader, orchestral & choral arranger, and pastor, I've rolled these two passages from the Pauline epistles around in my heart and mind for years. Lately, events have brought them front and center in my thinking once again. As the Lord allows, I'll collapse around these verses for the next several weeks, posting ideas that have challenged my faith and practice.
Lest the proverbial cart finds its place (wrongly) before the horse, I should say at the outset that Paul's concerns were probably not related to singing, per se, nearly so much as they were driven by God's calling for the local church to experience -- and demonstrate -- a Spirit-filled, Word-of-Christ-indwelt reality, both in the devotional lives of its members and in the worship life of its congregation. I'll begin to comment more on that topic tomorrow, the Lord willing.
"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." Colossians 3:16
Make no mistake about it, the Apostle Paul believed that the churches should be singing. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he instructed at least two of the city churches -- Ephesus and Colosse -- to sing their "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs."
I would dare say there isn't a Christian church in any part of the world that does not have a musical tradition of one sort or another. We are a singing people. As a musician, worship leader, orchestral & choral arranger, and pastor, I've rolled these two passages from the Pauline epistles around in my heart and mind for years. Lately, events have brought them front and center in my thinking once again. As the Lord allows, I'll collapse around these verses for the next several weeks, posting ideas that have challenged my faith and practice.
Lest the proverbial cart finds its place (wrongly) before the horse, I should say at the outset that Paul's concerns were probably not related to singing, per se, nearly so much as they were driven by God's calling for the local church to experience -- and demonstrate -- a Spirit-filled, Word-of-Christ-indwelt reality, both in the devotional lives of its members and in the worship life of its congregation. I'll begin to comment more on that topic tomorrow, the Lord willing.
posted by Robert W Moore at
9:54:00 PM
3 Comments:
I agree with you Pastor. If you can't be a Spirit-led church, you might as well close your doors.
By
Anonymous, at Wed Mar 01, 05:50:00 AM PST
Thanks for commenting, Markus. It's tricky to nail down what "Spirit-filled" or "Spirit-led" means. For some, "the Spirit" becomes a way to justify ANYTHING, including elements of doctrine or practice that are not supported by Scripture. The other extreme is a church that is so narrow in their definition of "Spirit-filled" that it begins to posture as the only one that is right.
The Holy Spirit is powerfully active in Christians' lives, and yet the Apostle Paul was compelled to exhort us to "...be filled with the Spirit."
The singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs carries great strength when done by God's people who are thirsty for the work of God's Spirit in their midst.
By
Robert W Moore, at Wed Mar 01, 08:51:00 AM PST
Pastor, that is absolutely right. you hit the spot exactly on what I was thinking about. There is this one African-American lady in our church who doesn't care what anyone thinks, she just gets out in the aisle and sings her heart out(a little off tune, but that just shows how much she loves Jesus), with tears streaming down her face. She just lights up the whole room, and our Pastor wishes everyone would be like her, just worshiping God and not focusing on anything else, or what people think about you.
By
Anonymous, at Thu Mar 02, 01:25:00 PM PST
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