Church Music and the Bible

4. The fact that the Bible says that much of our music should be directed to the people leads us naturally to the next Biblical principle—namely, that church music must be intelligible to the congregation. In 1 Corinthians 14:9 Paul says, "Except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air." In verses 15 and 16 he recommends that we "sing with the un­derstanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?" In verse 19, after making it clear that he personally could speak in tongues if he wished to, Paul says, "Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."

The minister who soars in circles high above his congregation does not feed his people. In the same way the musician who renders music that the congregation can­not understand is speaking in an unknown tongue and is not edifying the congrega­tion. If the music is such that at the close of it the unlearned cannot say Amen, it has not met a basic qualification laid down by the apostle Paul.

When Jesus came to this earth He did not go back several centuries and learn classical Hebrew, the literary language of the Old Testament, and say that this alone was the language in which God's word was to be communicated. He spoke in Aramaic, the common language of the people of His day.

Though Jesus could have spoken incom­prehensible philosophies, He told instead simple stories about fish nets and candle­sticks and adolescent boys, and the com­mon people heard Him gladly. Can any minister have a higher ambition than to be like Jesus? Can any musician?

The musicians who take part in a reli­gious service are really assistant ministers. Whereas the minister talks as he prays to God or preaches to the people or bears his testimony, the musician sings or plays his prayer and praise to God and his exhorta­tions and testimonies to the people. Just as it is important that the minister speaks clearly and simply, so it is important that the musician sings and plays clearly and simply.

How we love the minister who tells good stories now and then! How we love the musician who plays a real melody now and then! Melodies are the stories in music.

5. If the music is to be understood and en­joyed by all the members of a congregation, then it follows that church music must be subject to a considerable degree of varia­tion for the simple reason that people vary so much.

God made both the stars and the atoms, both the hummingbirds and the alligators. Though all these vary a great deal, it is evi­dent from Revelation 5:13 that all God's creatures and creations praise Him and add glory to His name. There is probably no one instrument and no one style of music —neither Gregorian nor Romantic, neither Bach nor Rhodeheaver, neither chorale nor gospel song—that ought to be considered exclusively suitable to the glory of God.

In the United States we prefer organs and organ music for our church services, but everyone knows that in many parts of Central America the people prefer to use guitars and marimbas. Can anyone say that God does not accept these lesser instru­ments, when we have more baptisms in a year's time in Central America than in any other place in the world?

Since people are so different, and since God can be glorified in different ways, wonder if we could all come to some sort of agreement that it would be acceptable to use different kinds of music in our church services?

When a highly trained musician says that only complicated music can be played in church, the less-trained members of the con­gregation think the highly trained ones are being selfish. But put the shoe on the other foot. When the less-trained members of the congregation say that the highly trained musicians may never play their kind of mu­sic, isn't this being rather selfish too? Aren't we all souls for whom Christ died? Brothers and sisters in God's great family? Since God can be glorified in so many different ways, should we not all be willing—happily and generously willing—to take into account one another's differences?

This brings us to point No. 6, perhaps the most important point of all: Church music should be geared to the one great purpose of the church—the salvation of souls. In I Corinthians 9:22 Paul says, "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

The salvation of souls! That was the great purpose of Christ's descent to this earth. That was the great purpose of Paul's missionary journeys. And should not that be the purpose of all our religious music?

If sermons ought to be spiritual and have sap and life in them, musical selections also ought to be spiritual and have sap and life in them.

We have been talking about singers bringing a message from "people to peo­ple," but this cannot be ordinary conversa­tion. Musicians must sing and play dis­tinctly about God. Their business, like that of the minister, is the salvation of souls.

Ordinary music will not do. Merely clas­sical music will not do either. (Many selections that are listed as "Music for Meditation" are really backgrounds for daydream­ing.) On the other hand, merely catchy melodies will not do. Only music that helps to save souls will do. "That by all means I might save some," as Paul says.

It is one of the facts of our contemporary American society that while cheap jazz, rock 'n' roll, and twist records are broadcast almost endlessly by nearly every AM station in the nation, it is also true that there is going on a great revival of culture in our cities and of liturgy in our Protestant churches. Cultural centers are springing up all over the country. The August 10, 1962, issue of Time said that "to date, close to $375 million is involved in building projects scheduled to house the arts in 70 cities."

Big companies such as Procter and Gamble and IBM are establishing cultural centers because they know that their employees will be happier if they have concert halls and art galleries to go to.

Now an Adventist may write off the con­cert-goers as snobs, the members of liturgical churches as daughters of Babylon, and the rock 'n' rollers as rank heathen, but do we not have a responsibility for all the souls for whom Christ died?

You students one day soon will be sitting on committees that help determine our church music. Are you thinking in terms of music that will "by all means save some"? Does it not behoove our music majors to get used to the idea that God may be able, through them, to use the simpler types of music to win the less cultured people? I was once asked to conduct a series of song services in a reform school. The young boys enthusiastically requested "Do Lord." I re­fused because I didn't think "Do Lord" was good music. I promptly lost all my in­fluence in that place. What a Pharisee!

On the other hand, doesn't it behoove the nonmusic majors to get acquainted with the higher types of music because ap­preciation for this type of music may be used of God to win the more cultured strata of society?

Though you may not personally care for it, your ability to talk intelligently about the productions of Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, and Saint-Saens may one day impress some cultured but lost soul with the intellectual respectability of the Advent mes­sage. Your willingness to have some of the more cultural types of music played in your local church may be the turning point that persuades a liturgically-minded Lutheran to be baptized into the remnant church be­fore it is too late.