As musical instruments develop, some go out of fashion, others rise to prominence; as singing styles change to accommodate an ever-evolving collection of musical genres; and most importantly, as less and less music is being taught in our schools, churches, and homes: Now is a critical time in the life of the Christian Church to invest in musicians. Let us explore the biblical and historical significance of music to our common faith in Christ, and then examine some practical ways congregations can actively invest in protecting and preserving musical tradition, raising up a new generation of church musicians, and encourage creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship for the next wave of “new songs” (Ps 33:3) our faith needs to carry the ministry of music forward.
I have never met a person named “Jubal” in real life. I know that the biblical name has been used in the English-speaking world, and likely on purpose (former Virginia House of Delegates member and Confederate General Jubal Early springs to mind). In scripture, Jubal is mentioned only once, in Genesis 4:21. He is a descendant of Cain, son of Lamech, brother of Jabal. He is credited as the father of certain instruments: qinor and uggab, both frequently translated as harp or lyre and pipe or flute. It is an interesting footnote in the ancient text; a detail that clearly had enough significance to have been preserved through both oral and written tradition. (As an aside, his brother is credited with being a nomadic herder, and his half-brother is credited with being a metal worker. All three pursued what today we consider to be essential skilled trades.)
Reading the first Testament in our Bible, one cannot imagine that there has ever been a stretch of time in human history where music has not been present as a means of creative expression, teaching information, preserving history, celebrating and lamenting the ebb and flow of life, as well as for worshiping and glorifying God.
Consider the references to instruments in scripture: Shofar, tambourine, cymbal, bells, trumpet, voices, reed pipes and other flutes, organ or mouth organ, lyres and harps, and yes, drums. Lots of drums! Or let us consider for a moment the styles and genres of song that are employed throughout the biblical narrative: Songs of ascent, praise, lament, victory, hymns, spiritual songs; songs of victory, defeat, exile, banishment, or divine punishment; didactic songs, songs for weddings, funerals, and inaugurations. Perhaps it is good to remind ourselves also of the number of musicians (singers and instrumentalists) named in the text, those spanning many generations, nations, and languages: Jubal (the first, Ge 4:21); Moses and Miriam (Ge 15); Moses and Joshua (Dt 31-32); Deborah and Baruk (Jg 5); David (many, beginning in 1 Sa 18); Asaph (1 Ch 16, Ps 105); Jehoshaphat’s Singers (2 Ch 20); Solomon (credited with 1,005 songs, 1 Ki 4); Prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Habakkuk; Hezekiah’s trumpeters (2 Ch 29); the five dirges of Lamentations; Jesus and the Apostles leaving their last meal (Mt 26); Paul and Silas (Ac 16); the congregation in God’s throne room (Re 14-15). This is a mere handful of illustrative examples; other unnamed musicians, men and women, play key roles in public worship, celebration, recollection, and lament.
Musical expressions and traditions have been adopted and adapted by the Church since its inception. When Hymnal: A Worship Book was being compiled in the early 1990s, a collaboration among the Church of the Brethren, the General Conference of the Mennonite Church, and the Mennonite Church in North America, it drew upon the contributions of over 300 individual creative sources for the music contained therein, some of which were quite contemporary at the time, and some of which pre-date modern musical notation methods.1 Songwriters, named and anonymous, copyrighted and in the public domain, all added to the rich depth of theology, musicality, culture, and linguistic expression that so adroitly facilitate praise and adoration from the believing community. Music has never ceased to matter to Christians.
God commands the people of faith to use music. In his essay, “The Command to Sing” by Steve Hollaway of Harbor Church, he describes the command to sing thus:
You can’t gather with the body of Christ and stand there with your arms folded and your mouth shut as if you weren’t part of the body, as if this command did not apply to you. The Bible never says, let those sing who can sing, as if it were a spiritual gift. The Bible never says, let those who have beautiful voices sing, as if natural talent were required to praise God. The Bible just says “Sing!” Over and over, dozens of times, we are commanded to sing: Sing to the Lord, sing praises, sing joyfully, sing a new song. Come into God’s presence with singing. The command to sing may be repeated more frequently than any command in the Bible except the one to love.2
He goes on to describe from John’s revelation how the writer hears “every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing….” (Re 5:13a). Steve Hollaway rejoices in this, saying, “I love that: every being in the universe singing! Congregational singing is not just a command; it is our destiny.”
As we take in the whole picture, from Jubal to Heaven, from the human voice to instruments engineered of wood, string, metal, and clay, from ancient Israel to Babylon to Jerusalem to the eternal kingdom, the music of our faith sings and plays onward and upward, never-ending, never relenting in passion or purpose. God delights in our songs, God commands that we use the artistic, verbal, emotional, expressive language of music in all its varied forms to tell our story of God’s presence and mission, and to glorify God for all to hear. My former Ashland Theological Seminary professor Dr. Ronald Sprunger once said, “We sing more theology than we’ll ever hear preached, so let’s make sure it’s good theology.” From hymn books to Christian radio stations, corners of the Church continually work to preserve the beloved songs of tradition and glory days as well as create new music in up-to-date language, employing new recording and production techniques, and using technology to more broadly disseminate songs, hymns, and spiritual songs.
This, of course, has both positive and negative consequences. It would be impossible to preserve and keep in active regular rotation every song ever written for or about the Triune God. Some music is meant to be generational, seasonal, or event-specific. The same song sung by Moses and Miriam at the liberation of Israel from Egypt would not have been appropriate to sing by the rivers of Babylon. We know that. For those of us who have a particularly eclectic taste in (church) music, it can even be a source of frustration and sadness just how quickly our most beloved songs fall out of favor and usage. Music speaks for us. It translates our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions in a similar way to how the Holy Spirit translates our “groans and sighs too deep for words.” Music inspires us, teaches us, reminds us, or shifts our attention and energy focus. A pleasant, memorable melody, a lilting beat, or a moving chord progression all help to convey our meaning from a deeper level. Music is transcendent, even through language. As Christian recording artist Donnie McClurkin famously declared, “Alleluia is the same in any language!”3
As we age, the hymns and songs we were taught as children become more relevant once we live the faith for a while. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Ps 119:105)4 ceases to be a Bible memory verse song and instead becomes a truthful reminder to stay in God’s Word, meditating on it, reading it, digesting it and applying it daily, in all situations and circumstances. “Read your Bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow”5 actually morphs from being a fun children’s motion song in Vacation Bible School to become one of the most important lessons our teachers ever imparted to us. “Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come; ‘tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home” is no longer a hymn stanza we prefer to skip to get to the last line of the hymn “Amazing Grace;” rather it becomes an anchor to our souls: We can weather any storm, persevere through any trial, because “God’s grace is sufficient and God’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Co 12:9).”6
One consequence of the ever-flowing stream of music, then, is that we risk losing something precious from our collective memory. Also, we may leave behind particular texts that succinctly or poetically expressed a doctrine or scripture that the church cannot afford to release. As the pendulum swings away from songs about the transcendence of God to focus on songs about the imminence of God, we risk losing a “both/and” biblical perspective in the way we relate to God. Perhaps by only singing about God as transcendent, we fail to communicate to the lost and seekers how near, how concerned, how loving and patient our imminent God is. Likewise, we may become so familiar with God as our friend and brother that we lose sight of God’s sovereignty, preeminence, and holiness.
Furthermore, in a very real way, we risk leaving the elders of our churches without a familiar musical language as they approach their day with God more urgently than the young. In the same way, we may focus so much on using songs in worship that are comfortable and familiar with everyone who is already established that we neglect to consider how alien they may sound to a new member, an unchurched neighbor, or a child unfamiliar with our “Christianese” or church jargon.
One of the most positive aspects of the continual development of songs, hymns, and spiritual songs in a variety of musical languages, styles, and genres is that there is something for everyone. Everyone can find their own language of the soul when churches are willing to expand their music libraries. As someone who once worked as a floor supervisor at the largest independently owned Christian bookstore in Florida, I can testify that in our music section, we had Messianic music from the Jewish tradition to Christian Metal and Hard Rock bands like Norma Jean and Wolves at the Gate to Southern Gospel to Bubblegum Pop to Gospel Choirs to Rap artists. These musicians employ their God-given skill and talent, with both ancient and modern instruments and techniques, using a wide assortment of instrumentation, poetry, storytelling, technology, and vocalization to unapologetically communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ to a niche audience.
While the argument is strong and sound that music in the church should focus on congregational/corporate expression, the Bible also exhibits solos and small group musical expressions as well, as demonstrated above in the fourth paragraph. Furthermore, our congregations need to reclaim our position at the front of musical trends as we did in the days of Johann Sebastian Bach (one of the greatest church musicians, the father of modern Rock-and-Roll via basso continuo).
We are bleeding church musicians. This is happening for a few reasons. First, churches are not adapting to new styles as church musicians age, so as musicians retire or lose the capacity to facilitate corporate worship, any other musicians in the congregation may not be adept at presenting the same style as the former musician. This happens when a congregation relies solely on an organist or pianist, only to find that the remaining instrumentalists are actually guitarists who prefer sharp keys and songs without rapid chord changes (rapid chord changes are a benchmark of high church hymnody). Another gap is caused when a congregation attempts to move away from traditional music to blended or contemporary/modern music without considering the style skill of existing musicians.
Second, previous generations relied heavily on the public school system and local parents to ensure that their children had access to music education and training, whether piano lessons, general music classes that teach ear training and sight-reading, or the opportunity to play an instrument in a marching or concert band, pit orchestra, or string ensemble. Those days are disappearing and in many places around the country, those programs are gone entirely and have been for a while.7 The church simply failed to pick up with schools and homes left off. As musical knowledge became less of a priority to the public consciousness, so it has diminished in priority in our congregations; thus we have produced multiple generations of church members who no longer understand part harmonies, how to sing in their own natural range, how to read the music on the page, or how to play an accompanying instrument.
A third reason churches struggle to preserve and create music is gatekeepers. Gatekeepers are the members of our churches who have taken it upon themselves to maintain the status quo as they have known it or remember it, at the expense of assimilating into active leadership new members, young people, children, and other musicians whose musical language is different. There are still threads of the “drums are of the devil” mantra adopted by fundamentalist Christians at the outset of the popularity of jazz and rock-and-roll. Drums are actually biblical. Beats are global. Tones, modes, chords, key signatures, time signatures, and music arrangement are not unique to any nation, tribe, people, or language. Music spreads across international borders faster than almost anything, and can easily be adopted by or assimilated into another people group’s culture, and it has been this way since the days of Jubal, the father of the flute and harp.
What can congregations do to invest in musicians and mitigate the gaps in musical leadership for our present and future life together? I would like to suggest four things: Budget for it, Train for it, Recruit for it, Educate about it.
- Budget. Each year as the church council deliberates over ministry investment plans or budgets for the coming year, prayerfully consider adding a specific line item to fund private or group music lessons for interested parties at any playing level. Make the money available to finance lessons and lesson books for young people, widows and widowers, grandparents and grandchildren, or mentors and mentees to learn to play an accompanying instrument (piano, organ, keyboard, guitar, for example). If your church is using modern music and desires to have it accompanied live, budget for the bassist, drummer, or vocalists to have access to a teacher or training resources; invest in instruments for the church that are available for your musicians to practice. Do research; find out the going rates of private lessons in your area; perhaps you will even be able to hire someone from the neighboring town to come one day a week and hold a studio in the building. This could easily even become an effective side-door outreach ministry, especially for young people who need to develop a portable, marketable skill like singing or playing an instrument.
- Train. In addition to offering to fully fund music lessons for budding musicians in and around your church, be intentional about adding teaching moments in the worship gatherings themselves. Before singing in a round, spend a few minutes explaining what a round is and how it works musically. When learning a less familiar hymn, take a moment to teach the bass, tenor, alto, and soprano parts separately. This is sometimes known as “lining,” and was the most popular church music education method from the Reformation to the advent of digital recording and the dawn of the Praise and Worship music era. Train your members to recognize, cheer, and appreciate developing talent. Be sure to honor the work and time being invested by your musicians to learn new songs, new chords, new styles, or to learn to play in public (which can be terrifying for some). Train the church to be a music laboratory, where musicians are being grown surrounded by people of great love and faith.
- Recruit. A worship leader needs to be a worshiper. One cannot lead others into spiritual worship of a God that is yet unknown to them. Consider this in your budgeting, training, and educating. My brother had a friend who was hired by a Lutheran church to play drums in their contemporary service. He was not yet a Christian, but while banging on the drums, attending rehearsals with the Christians around him, hearing and seeing the worship leader and pastor, observing their witness, he received Christ and was saved while playing the drums. The pastor and worship leader(s) really need to be in sync with each other in their common faith in Christ, their understanding of worship, and how music can (in some ways) facilitate worship. Additionally, the Church may find that recruiting supporting musicians with the skills and willingness to serve can be an effective approach to evangelism and discipleship. Many high-quality musicians exist outside the church, who by being engaged for service by a church, become an extension of the congregation’s own mission field. Do not fear recruitment. Meet them where they are, introduce them to Jesus, and fold them into the flock with gentleness and love.
- Educate. Separate from training musicians directly, this is educating the congregation. Teach the young to appreciate the rich history and theology of sacred hymns. Teach elders to appreciate the musicality, ingenuity, and personal expression of new musical styles and genres. Show the church the skill required to play a solo, to sing harmony, or to create a backbeat. Educate the members of the church on the biblical support for quietness, loudness, kneeling, standing, clapping, bowing, singing, playing, dancing, rejoicing, meditating. Scripture shows us all of it! Nothing is off-limits. Drums, tambourines, horns, strings, flutes, voices, cymbals – the music of the people of God was good and loud until the English-speaking world got hold of it. Educate the believers on the scripture basis of the songs you sing; more importantly, avoid using songs that cannot be supported by scripture. Remember Dr. Sprunger’s lesson: We sing more theology than we ever hear preached. Educate people about what resources are available for the individuals and families in the congregation to expand their own musical repertoire for private worship Monday through Saturday.
Congregations can enhance their music ministry, raise up a new generation of musicians, encourage the bridging of musical divides, and develop healthy, well-rounded budgets and beliefs in support of music so that we all can successfully continue to “sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” together in our generation, and for generations to come.
Leah J. Hileman is a Brethren minister and prolific recording artist based in Western Pennsylvania.
- Slough, Rebecca. Hymnal: A Worship Book. Brethren Press, 1992.
- The Command to Sing. https://www.blockislandtimes.com/affiliate-post/command-sing/37023.
- McClurkin, Donnie, Language Medley. https://youtu.be/WdqyPo1XsWk.
- Grant, Amy and Michael W. Smith. “Thy Word.” ©1984 Meadowgreen Music Co./Bug and Bear Music.
- “Read Your Bible, Pray Every Day.” Author Unknown.
- Newton, John. “Amazing Grace,” 1779. Public Domain.
- McKinstry, Aileen. “Why America Needs to Continue Funding Music Education in Public Schools.” Issue Brief for Public Advocacy, Pennsylvania State University, 2017.