Singing = Worship (?)

Sometimes it seems to me that Christians are all about singing. Yes, in the Church of Christ we accept that there are “five acts of worship.” And yet after a song service we'll talk about how good it was to get together and “worship,” but somehow we don't rejoice in how we've had a chance to worship at a small group bible study. I love music. There is something about music across a variety of genres that I find comforting and fulfilling. And I am hardly trying to suggest that there is no place for singing in the worship of God's people. But frankly, I am persuaded that we have an unhealthy preoccupation with music. I have heard people complain that “we don't sing enough,” and they'll actually count how many songs were sung in the “good old days,” and how few are sung now. But where in the Bible do we see that as the emphasis? If you hold a monthly singing, how many people do you get? Would those numbers be the same if it were a monthly scripture hearing night, or a monthly prayer night? These are practices that scripture would indicate are much more central to the worship of God's people than singing.

Daniel Block, commenting on the church in large part equating “music” and “worship” says: “[This raises] all sorts of questions about the significance of other aspects of 'Sunday service': prayer, preaching . . . But also about religious rituals in the Bible and the scripture's relatively minor emphasis on music in worship. Not only is music rarely associated with worship in the New Testament, but the Pentateuch is altogether silent on music associated with tabernacle worship. All of this highlights our skewed preoccupation with music in the current conflicts over worship.”

I am not aware of any instance in scripture or church history where singing sparked revival, but rather the key always seems to be prayer, confession, and a deep concern with and obedience to God's word. So I think that we have some questions to ask ourselves. What is it we actually want to do? Are we just looking to feel good? Or is our aim the edification of God's people, and a fresh passion for the fame of God's name to be known in the world? And if that is our aim, is what we are currently doing going to get us there? I think it is a real tragedy that somewhere along the way we let the musicians define for us what worship is, rather than the word of God.