The Place of Music in the Church - Part 2
“The greatest compliment you could receive as you play or lead the congregation in worship is not, “what a great musician we have”, but rather, “what a great God we have!”
How do we avoid our music complicating the worship service? And what should our mindset be as church piano players, as it relates to this?
Well, in the last post, we looked at the first two aspects of the place of music in the church, which were…
To help, not hinder the congregation as they worship
To supplement, not supplant the preaching of God's Word
We're now looking at the 3rd aspect of the place of music in the church, and that is...
...to complement, not complicate the worship service.
This is referring to the critical need for all aspects of music in the church service to not cause unnecessary complications. More often than not, this occurs when people take too much of a “professional” or “polished” approach to congregational worship.
It is important that it sounds good, as poor sound and unwanted noise can be a big distraction. But what shouldn’t happen, is that music gets elevated to such a point, that a disproportionate amount of time goes into making it sound perfect. When this happens, the focus then becomes more on the quality of the music than on the quality of the worship.
I’ll never forget being in one church, when a worship team were playing, and in the middle of the song, the guitarist tried to select a specific sound he wanted to play. However the pedal wasn’t working, so he kept pushing it with his foot, looking frustrated, and it was such a distraction because it really didn’t matter. He should have just moved on with the sound he had, and it would have been less of a hindrance to the worship.
So let’s not forget that the music we bring within the church is complimentary, and doesn’t need to complicate things; the songs don’t have to sound just like they do on the original artists version, with all the same sounds and rifs. And to put things in context, let’s not forget that most of the purposes we looked at just before, can all be carried out without a single instrument.
A biblical principle that helps us to understand these things is found in the story of Mary and Martha - where Martha is busying herself trying to get everything “perfect”. How does Jesus respond to this in Luke 10:41-42?
...But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."
The most important thing is not having the right sound on our keyboard, or the perfect EQ for our vocals, but rather the “good portion” is “did our worship please the Lord?” Did we come before Christ, and adore Him with all our hearts?
The fourth, and final, aspect of the place of music in the church is...
...to serve with, not showcase your gifts.
Speaking of modesty, there’s a great quote by Paul Washer that says, “your clothing should be a frame for your face, not a frame for your body”.
You can actually change the quote to make a musical point, and that would be to say “music, in the church, should be a frame for adoration and praise towards God, not a frame for your talents and gifts”
I’m sure those of you reading this sincerely desire to serve your church and be a blessing to your church, and so this point really serves as a gentle reminder, to always keep that focus - serving, rather than showcasing.
This doesn’t mean there’s no place for playing to a good level, or to play music that sounds beautiful, as this is also honoring to God. But it does mean that we guard our hearts against playing only to seek “praise and affirmation” of our talents.
A biblical principle we can look to with regards to this point is found in Romans 12:3, where it says...
...For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
The greatest compliment you could receive as you play or lead the congregation in worship is not, “what a great musician we have”, but rather, “what a great God we have!”
So in these last several posts, we’ve taken a look at what the Bible says about music in the church, defining both it’s purpose and place.
We’ve seen that the purpose of music in a church context, is:
And we’ve also seen that the place of music in a church context, is:
To complement, not complicate the worship service
To serve with, not showcase your gifts
So as we continue to serve as church piano players, may our attitude, and our music reflect these points, and may it always point people towards the Lord, for His praise and glory.
[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.
📧WANT TO RECEIVE NEW BLOG POSTS DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX?📧
SIGN UP BELOW
