A gracEmail subscriber asks: "Why do some churches not use instrumental music in public worship?"
A subscriber from the Churches of Christ writes: "I have been hearing much lately in tapes and lectureships about our 'tradition' of acappella music. Do you see singing without accompaniment as a tradition, or as a biblical principle for public worship assemblies?"
To a sizeable percentage of gracEmail readers ... the propriety of musical instruments in Christian worship seems about as irrelevant as ... the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. Yet millions of Christians through the centuries have considered ... instruments in church ... a woeful mistake if not a serious sin. These include ancient church fathers, notable Reformers, Eastern Orthodox, Covenanter Presbyterians, conservative Mennonites, Primitive Baptists and Churches of Christ.
death of a distinctive (four-part series)
Many in my fellowship of Churches of Christ are convinced that anyone who plays or sings "in church" with any instrument other than the human voice displeases God. This series of gracEmails summarizes that history, then introduces a new book, Missing More Than Music: When Disputable Matters Eclipse Worship and Unity, by Danny Corbitt, that seems to me conclusive against such a point of view.
A gracEmail subscriber heard a sermon condemning instrumental music in Christian worship.... The preacher said that if we do just as God commands we cannot have instrumental music since the New Testament does not specifically command it. He called this "the law of silence." What should we make of this?
A gracEmail subscriber writes that all believers outside his group are lost and that their worship counts for nothing . . . because God seeks worshippers who worship Him in truth. He says that means following a precise New Testament pattern of external details which his own fellowship (and likely no other) . . . follows.
A gracEmail reader in Germany asks, "Is it possible for Christians in any denomination to worship 'in error,' so long as they center their worship on the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit?"
A correspondent asks, "Can you give me some thoughts on the fate of Nadab and Abihu, whom God destroyed by fire when they erred in their worship? Could I not receive the same fate as these men if I make a mistake while serving God?"
A correspondent asks, "Can you give me some thoughts on the fate of Uzzah, whom God struck dead when he touched the Ark of the Covenant? Could I not receive the same fate as Uzzah if I make a mistake while serving God?"
vain worship and human commands
A gracEmail subscriber asks: "How can anyone think that denominational people are Christians? Their worship does not follow the New Testament pattern, so it is "vain," and their unscriptural doctrines are "commandments of men."
A gracEmail reader asks for an explanation of the terms "psalms," "hymns" and "spiritual songs" as mentioned in Ephesians and Colossians.
A gracEmail subscriber in Alabama asks if the Bible ever says that angels sing. He has looked for such a statement without success.
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "Last Sunday as we sang the song "Come Lord Jesus, Come," it struck me that I really don’t want Him to come -- not now. It makes me feel like a hypocrite to offer praise and worship as if I do.... I know that life hereafter will be so much more than we can imagine but I don’t want that life yet.