Church
of Christ
100 Rena Road Van Buren Arkansas
72956
Mechanical Instruments of
Music in New Testament Worship
Many times I have been asked why the Church of Christ does not
use musical instruments in their worship. Some people think that
it is just Church of Christ tradition. Some think we don’t
use instruments just so that we can be different. Some think it
is because we think that we are better and purer than other
religious people. Some think that we just don’t like music.
Some have visited our worship services and did not hear a word of
the sermon because they couldn’t get past the fact that we
didn’t have an instrument. Some have never visited again
and are not interested in learning anything about what we believe
and why because they like the instrument. We have been criticized
and accused of being old fashioned and judgmental and out of
touch with modern reality, and so on. We have endured all of this
because we do not use mechanical instruments of music to
accompany our singing in our worship to God. Sadly, after all the
years of criticism and accusation some members of the church of
Christ are abandoning sound Biblical thinking and giving in to
the pressure of worldliness. Let us not forget that we must seek
to please God and not man. We must follow strictly the
commandments of God, maturing in His Word without being tossed
about by the winds of false doctrine.
In the New Testament, the Law of Christ to which all men are now
being held accountable, there are no commands authorizing the use
of mechanical instruments of music in worship. That is not to say
that the New Testament writers did not give instruction about how
to worship God musically. For example, to the church in Ephesus
the apostle Paul wrote, “Speaking to one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19). This, along with
other New Testament passages, commands us to worship God
musically by singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord.
We know that we can safely obey this direct command by simply
singing without the addition of any mechanical instruments. We
acknowledge and strongly believe that adding a manmade musical
instrument to this command is dangerous and displeasing to God.
We will therefore offer to God what He requires nothing added and
nothing subtracted.
People have employed several justifications for using
instrumental music in New Testament worship. Some say that since
God authorized the use of instrumental music in the Old Testament
then we can safely conclude that He authorizes its use in the New
Testament. If that were the case, then should we not assume that
God still authorizes other Old Testament laws as well? First of
all, we need to understand that when we are talking about
authorization from God we are not talking about allowance but
rather about requirement. What God authorizes He requires. In the
Old Testament God authorized animal sacrifices. Does God still
authorize animal sacrifices today? God commanded that unruly and
disobedient children be stoned to death. Does God still authorize
this practice today? God authorized circumcision as the sign of
the Old Covenant. There were many things that God authorized then
that He strictly forbids now. Paul wrote, “Stand fast
therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do
not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul,
say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you
nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised
that he is a debtor to keep the whole law; you have fallen from
grace.” (Galatians 5:1-4). We cannot pick and choose what
we want from Old Testament authority to justify what we want to
do now. James wrote, “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all…So speak and
so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”
(James 2:9-12). Jesus, comparing the physical worship of the Old
Testament to the spiritual worship of the New Testament, said to
the woman at the well, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is
coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem,
worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know
what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is
coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:21-24).
Another justification that has been used for the use of
instrumental music is that it is an expedience to worship, the
same way as are microphones, speakers, songbooks, etc. Without
taking liberties against the specifics of God’s word it
must be said that much of what we do in religion is expedient.
For example, Jesus said, “Go into all the
world…” (Mark 16:15). He didn’t say how we
should go – by foot, horseback, automobiles, etc. We
therefore infer that we can use any means of transportation
available to obey this command. An automobile is not a necessity
it is an expedience to the command, “Go into all the
world.” Microphones, speakers and songbooks are modern
conveniences that make it easier for congregations to sing
together, hear the preachers and teachers better, etc. Jesus
stood up on a mountainside or in a boat on occasion so that He
could be more easily seen and His voice more easily heard. We use
these modern devices for the same reasons. A manmade musical
instrument however is a different matter. The apostle Paul
specifically commanded the Christians in Ephesus to “sing
and make melody in their hearts to the Lord…”
(Ephesians 5:19). We can obey this command by using our voices.
The use of manmade musical instruments, adds to the worship
something not authorized by this verse or by any other New
Testament passage – Why take the unnecessary risk?
Another justification that has frequently been employed is what
might be called the “God-given talent argument.”
People have said, “I don’t believe that God would
give such wonderful musical talent to people and then not allow
them to use them in worship to Him.” I agree that some
people are wonderfully talented musically and I would not deny
that that talent is God-given. Furthermore, I believe that those
God-given talents should be used to bring glory and honor to God.
They certainly should not be used to bring shame and dishonor to
God. Therefore, if a Christian with these God-given talents can
use them in such a way that they are a blessing to themselves and
to others and bring honor and glory to God then they should and
they should give God credit. That does not change the fact,
however, that the use of mechanical musical instruments in
worship to God is not authorized in the New Testament. For that
matter, there are many talents that God gives to individuals that
are unauthorized and inappropriate to use in worship. Paul wrote,
“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not
helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s
well-being.” (1Corinthians 10:23-24). If God has given to
an individual a talent then that individual has the ability to
use that talent, either for good or for evil, however he or she
chooses. If we are to be pleasing to God, however, we must not
insist on using our God-given talents in ways that God does not
authorize.
Musical instruments in New Testament worship today have become
almost the equivalent of first century idolatry. People cling to
these lifeless instruments, made by men’s hands, made of
costly materials, as though without them they could not worship
God effectively. They claim that worship without the aid of
musical instruments is dull and without feeling. The apostle
Paul, speaking to the Athenians about their idolatrous worship,
said, “Since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to
think that the Divine Nature is like gold of silver or stone,
something shaped by the art of man’s devising. Truly these
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men
everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:29-30). True Joy and
fulfillment (even emotional fulfillment) should come from obeying
the will of God, not by seeking our own pleasure. Worship that is
pleasing to God is that which follows the teaching of His word.
Notice carefully what Paul wrote, “Speaking to one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all
things to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.”
(Ephesians 5:19-20). Our singing in worship is an offering we
make to God. Pure, voice only, a’ cappella music, is
beautiful. If we are singing and making melody in our hearts in
obedience to God’s word, then we should sing
enthusiastically with feeling and with understanding, but
ultimately we should not be seeking the noise that is appealing
to our ears, but that which pleases God.
