The Place of Music in the Church - Part 1
“It’s never a good sign when you hear people saying things like, 'Wow, the worship was so amazing, we didn’t have time for the sermon'. I hope you are in a church where your leaders prioritize the preaching of God’s Word, and see the worship and music as an important supplementary part of the service, but certainly not as the most important part.”
What is the place of music in the church, and why is it important to know this? Well, in the last few posts, we’ve looked at the purpose of music in the church, highlighting the 4 different aspects of this purpose, and how they relate to us, as believers. And to recap, the four aspects of this purpose are:
We’re now going to be looking at the place of music in the church, which we’ll be covering in the next two posts.
As we go through these 4 points, I’ll be highlighting what the place of music is, and also, in contrast, what it is isn’t. This all relates to the practical outworking of the purposes we’ve covered in the last four posts.
So as we consider the place of music in the church, and where it fits in, the first point is that music is there...
... to help, not hinder the congregation as they worship.
This reminds us of just how important it is in our role as church piano players to serve and support the congregation as they worship, and to do all we can to not hinder that worship.
This doesn’t mean we need to be perfect, but we do need to be competent.
Essentially, we help the congregation when we direct them towards Christ, which is our goal as church piano players. But whenever we distract them from Christ - which may happen by playing insensitively, or inappropriately, or it might occur because we are ineffective in leading the congregation through the songs, then this hinders them in worshipping God.
In many ways, we are like little John the Baptists, meaning that the whole point of our existence, in the church service, is to point people to Christ. We see the foundation for this principle and truth in Colossians 1:18, where, in speaking of Christ as the Head of the church, it says, “that in everything he might be preeminent”. This means that He Himself should occupy our minds and hearts, because He is the most important and central element of the gathered church.
And that is the truth we want to help, and not hinder, people from experiencing.
The second aspect of the place of music in the church is…
...to supplement, not supplant the preaching of God's Word.
The reason I mention this point is because, sadly, there are times when worship leaders, or church musicians, can start thinking that the music, and the worship in song, is more important, or more central than the preaching of God’s Word.
It’s never a good sign when you hear people saying things like, “Wow, the worship was so amazing, we didn’t have time for the sermon”. I hope you are in a church where your leaders prioritize the preaching of God’s Word, and see the worship and music as an important supplementary part of the service, but certainly not as the most important part.
Remember, it is the proclaiming of God’s truth through preaching that moves and stirs our hearts, to respond to God in worship. If we prioritize the practice of worship in song, over the preaching of God’s Word, then our worship and worship songs would gradually become devoid of truth, and filled with error.
As pastor and author John Stott said, “Preaching is making known the name of the Lord, and worship is praising the name of the Lord made known.”
2 Timothy 4:1-2 reiterates the importance of the priority of God’s Word…
…I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
That makes it pretty clear doesn’t it? The preaching of God’s Word is, and should always be, the priority when it comes to the local church!
So that’s the first 2 points on the place of music in the church. I’ll just summarize them again…
To help, not hinder the congregation as they worship
To supplement, not supplant the preaching of God's Word
In the next post, we’ll be looking at the last 2 aspects of the place of music in the church. As we do this, we will consider how to avoid our music complicating the worship service, and also what our mindset should be as church piano players, as it relates to this.
[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]
This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.
Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.
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