The Role of Music in Worship-part 6

The Role of Music in Worship-part 6 

       It is not too difficult to argue that the words of a song matter, but to contend that the sound of an instrumental prelude or offertory matters is much more of an abstract conceptualization.  If we only had to be concerned with God accepting the words of our musical offering then worship music would not be such a complex phenomenon. We know from Colossians 1:16 that God created the visible (horatos-3703) and the invisible (aoratos-517) i.e. sound.  No sounds escape God’s hearing!  He not only knows and sees but also hears.  So, philosophically we must consider the sounds we make in our musical worship. Although it is a novel thought to some, we worship God with the sounds we produce in musical worship. If the musical sounds we produce are not appropriate for honoring God, then no worship takes place.  

        Many Christian musicians seem, by their musical offering praxis, to be concerned with text only.  In their way of thinking, if the text is biblically accurate, the musical offering will bring honor unto God.  If a Christian is going to base a philosophy of music ministry on a “musical offering” thesis, then that musician will need to acquire some knowledge of the sacrificial system of Old Testament worship.  The Levites and Priests were very careful about the preparation and presentation of the Temple offerings which were presented to Jehovah.  We should do no less today.

       When we are making preparations for music worship, a part of our thought processes must include very careful sound preparations. For instance, we must decide which sounds to include in the instrumental prelude.  The volume, style, use of instruments, and the way the prelude is presented by our musical instruments will affect the audience’s preparation for worship. The particulars of how the prelude is presented are an issue of music administration and therefore outside of the scope of this philosophical post today.  However, instrumental musical offerings do matter and I contend that the way we present instrumental musical offerings also matters to God who is not only the object but also the audience and "listener" to our worship.