The Purpose of Music in the Church - Part 1
“...we’re not being as accurate as we should, when we refer to the singing part of the church service, as “the worship”, because the reality is, that worship is much broader and deeper than that...”
What is the purpose of music in the church, and why is it important to know this? Is there even a specific purpose? In the next 4 posts, we will be looking at what the purpose of music in the church is, and why we must know what this is.
As believers, we want to make sure that everything we do, in the context of a church service, has a purpose, or there’s no real point in doing it. However, when we talk about music having a purpose, this isn't according to what we think its purpose should be, but a purpose that is in harmony with God’s Word. As we know, God is the One who created music, and the ability to play instruments and sing, so we need to look to Him for His intended purposes.
Even back as far as Genesis 4:21, not long after the world was first created, we read of a man named “Jubal”, (or YOOVALL in the Hebrew). The scriptures tell us he was “the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe”, or the harp and the flute as it says in other translations.
So that’s the first mention of a musical instrument in the Bible, and I love this verse because the harp is a stringed instrument, and so is the acoustic piano if you think about it - so I think we’re on good ground as piano players, with a long and rich heritage to our instrument!
So if God created music, then music has a purpose - a good purpose. Of course, music can be enjoyed in many areas of our lives, but for the focus of this post, the specific context we are dealing with is music within the church.
We know that throughout Scripture God places a high priority on singing, as a form of worship. In fact, there are over 50 direct commands for us to sing, and singing is mentioned over 400 times in the Bible.
However, one of the mistakes we often make in our terminology is to speak of “worship” as if that’s only referring to the times we sing in church. This is incorrect. Worship is far more than singing, it’s our whole lives, and it’s the whole service when we think of coming together as the church.
As John Piper says, “True worship is a valuing or a treasuring of God above all things.”
So we’re not being as accurate as we should, when we refer to the singing part of the church service, as “the worship”, because the reality is, that worship is much broader and deeper than that, and so any singing or music, is purely a particular expression of that wider aspect of worship.
However, it is an important part of worship, and it’s the part that we get to be involved with, as church piano players.
So the first, and primary purpose of music within the church, is this...
TO BRING GLORY TO GOD, BECAUSE HE IS WORTHY
In addition to this being the ultimate purpose of music, it is the ultimate purpose of our whole lives - to bring glory to the One who rightly deserves all the glory.
When we look at the 4th and 5th chapters in the book of Revelation, we get a glimpse at how those in heaven respond towards the Father, and the glorified Son of God in worship. Look at these words from Revelation 4:8-11...
8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."
Then we have these words in Revelation 5:11-14…
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" 14 And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.
If you were to sum up the essence of worship in one word, as we see it here in the book of Revelation, I think the word “response” is helpful, because that’s essentially what worship is. Whether in song, or any other expression, worship in its essence is a heartfelt response to God, for all He is, all He has done, and all He will do.
We can agree with those we read about in Revelation 4 & 5, that He is indeed worthy of our praise and adoration, and that’s why we want to bring Him glory. One of the ways we can do that is by praising Him through singing and music, as we are encouraged to do in Psalm 150:1-6...
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! 2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! 3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
In the next few posts we will look at some other purposes of music in the church, but let us remember, that the ultimate purpose in music, is to bring God glory because He is worthy.
[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 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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