How can I justify hopping, clapping, and swinging back and forth while singing praises to God?  It feels so good; it can't be wrong... can it?

Sincerely,
Mover And Shaker

Dear Mover And Shaker,

Just because something feels good doesn’t mean it is good.  If our standard for right and wrong is whether or not something feels good… all sin would be acceptable because all sin is intended to make us feel good (1 Jn 2:16).

It is very important that whenever we try and find what is right and wrong, we don’t go looking to prove that something is okay.  You can find anything in the Bible if you want it bad enough – all you have to do is twist the Scriptures and take them out of context (Gal 1:6-7).  Don’t try and justify behavior; try and find the Bible pattern.

So what is the Bible pattern for singing praises?  We are told to make melody with our voices and with our hearts (Eph 5:19).  What God wants to hear is our voices – not instruments, not clapping, not hopping up and down like at a rock concert.  God wants us to soberly and faithfully approach Him with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col 3:16).  We are to worship in a way that is decent and orderly (1 Cor 14:40), so the unbeliever and unlearned will be convicted by our words and behavior (1 Cor 14:16).  Much of modern worship is about how we feel, and it caters to our entertainment instead of God’s Word.  If we don’t have an example of christians hopping, clapping, and swinging back and forth in the Bible – we shouldn’t do it either (Rev 22:18-19).

When I am playing the piano in our worship, I hardly ever feel the presence of God.  But when I have the Sunday off, and I am worshipping, I feel God's presence.  Why is this?

Sincerely,
Not Feeling It

Dear Not Feeling It,

There are two parts to your question that must be dealt with.  Before we answer your concerns about how and when you feel close to God, we recommend you read the post “Music to HIS Ears”.  After reading that, it may make the second part of this question obsolete because it explains how using instruments as a part of worship isn’t a biblical practice.

The second half of your question deals with emotion.  The Bible never talks about us feeling the presence of God.  In fact, mankind hasn’t been allowed in the presence of God since Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden (Gen 3:8).  The angels are in God’s presence (Lk 1:19), but mankind won’t be until the Day of Judgment.  God is certainly close to us and affects our lives (Acts 17:27-28), but we don’t have direct contact with Him.  So when we talk about “feeling the presence of God”, what we are really discussing is when we feel emotionally close to God.  Emotions are fickle.  There will be times when you will feel like God is far from you… but you are wrong because He is still watching over you (Ps 9:10), and there are folks that believe that they are close to God, but they are separated from Him because they are living wickedly (Matt 7:21-23).  Simply put, we can’t trust our emotions to be accurate.  The only way to confidently know that God is near you is to live faithfully by hearing and acting upon His instructions (Rom 1:16).

I've been reading over some of the responses to questions involving music, and I keep hearing Ephesians 5:19 being thrown around a lot.  To a musician, anything that comes from us is from the heart… be it banging trashcan lids together or the serenade of a choir spanning all octaves.

As a musician, everything I play, I play for the Lord because I want to deliver a beautiful gift for Him and for all to hear.  There is beauty in Metallica, there is beauty in Psalms, and there is beauty in prayer, but the people answering questions on here have a strong tendency to not like instruments (or more specifically in church).  With every instrument I touch, I can feel ideas exploding from my heart for God, but you seem to rebuke others who want to join along in song with me using other instruments if they don't carry the same praise that I do for the Lord.

The standard response to my question is "you’re looking too deeply at the Scripture" + "Scripture is perfect" = Only sing, but I want the long answer.

So could you please expand on the "...and make music from the heart" part of Ephesian 5:19 for me?

Thanks and God Bless.

Sincerely,
Musician

Dear Musician,

Before we go into the specifics of this issue, it is important to note that how we feel about a topic is not the same as the truth on a topic.  We may feel that a certain activity is pleasing to God, but that doesn’t mean it is.  God tells us that His ways are not our ways (Isa 55:8) and that every man’s ways are right in his own eyes (Pr 21:2).  The issue isn’t whether or not you feel that you are pleasing God when using instruments to worship – the question we have to ask is: “What do the Scriptures say about instruments in worship?”

The fact is that God has given us instruments to use for worshipping Him – our hearts (Eph 5:19).  In the New Testament, God tells us to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to Him.  He wants the only melody He hears to come from our hearts.  Instrumental music wasn’t introduced into the church until over three hundred years after Christ.  In fact, ‘a cappella’ singing (singing without instruments) literally means ‘as the church’.  There are no examples of the church using instruments to worship God in the New Testament.  If we start using them, we are adding something to God’s Word (Rev 22:18-19).  All we are ever told to do is “sing and make melody in our hearts”… pluck your heartstrings as you sing to God, and you will make God happy.  If a congregation begins to use instruments in worship, they must do so without any New Testament Scripture to back up the practice.

The problem with instrumental music in worship is that it isn’t a part of the Bible pattern, and the moment we start doing things outside the Bible, we have gone beyond what God intended (1 Cor 4:6).  Instrumental music may sound appealing to us, but it is just one more manmade additive that adds to the division and confusion found in the religious world.

Why do some churches not allow musical instruments?  Ephesians 5:19 says to speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord...”  The Greek definition of psalms says “from a set piece of music or a sacred ode accompanied with the voice, harp, or other instrument”.

Sincerely,
Don’t Mean To Harp

Dear Don’t Mean To Harp,

The reasons some churches don’t use musical instruments (ours included) is because of the very verse you mentioned.  In the New Testament, we are commanded to “speak to one another” and “make melody in our hearts” (Eph. 5:19).  Col 3:16 says that we should “sing with grace in our hearts”, and 1 Cor 14:15 says that we should “sing with our spirit” and “sing with understanding”.  All of these verses clearly tell us what to be offering God in worship – heartfelt singing.

It is true that a psalm means “a piece of music or sacred ode accompanied with the voice, harp, or other instrument”, and if God hadn’t specified what accompaniment we should use, we could use any instrument we wanted… but God did specify what instrument He wanted us to use.  He wanted us to use our voices and heartstrings.  Incidentally, the word ‘acappella’ means ‘as the church’ because the early church never used instruments in their worship.  Instruments weren’t introduced into worship services until the sixth century.  The church of the first century understood that when God asked for them to sing – that meant they should only sing.  Since we desire to do exactly what the Bible says and neither add nor subtract from God’s Word (Rev 22:18-19), we simply use our voices.  God doesn’t ask for instruments in His worship, and we don’t go beyond what He has written (1 Cor 4:6).

I recently came across a Christian music station that I have been listening to in my car.  My spouse and I were talking about it, and we both know the reasons not to bring musical instruments in to the worship service (Eph 5:19).  However, we were wondering if there is anything wrong with listening to a Christian radio station where all the music is in concert with musical instruments.

Sincerely,
Just Wondering

Dear Just Wondering,

It isn’t inherently wrong to listen to “Christian Music”, but it is worth considering the effects it will have upon your influence, your behavior, and your conscience. You are right, God asks us to worship Him through singing and making melody in our heart (Eph 5:19). God never asks for any instrument to be plucked but our heart strings. That is the worship He asks for, and that is the worship we should give Him – no more and no less (Rev 22:18-19, Deu 4:2).

If you are going to listen to religious music with instrumental accompaniment, you must understand that they recorded it as a form of worship as well as a form of entertainment… which is wrong. Therefore, by buying and actively listening to such music, you may be sending mixed messages to others and supporting an industry that is built upon a false teaching. We have to consider how our behavior looks to others (Matt 5:16). Just because you know anything but acapella worship is wrong doesn’t mean others would.

You also must consider your behavior – are you singing along with the music? If so, are you worshipping God with the words of the song? It is not always easy to discern the line between singing along as a form of entertainment and singing along as worship. You must decide for yourself if your behavior crosses the line between personal enjoyment and active participation in a form of worship God doesn’t desire.

Which brings us to the last question – does it bother your conscience? If you cannot feel completely convinced in your mind that what you are doing is acceptable before God, you have to refrain. Whatever cannot be done in faith is sin (Rom 14:23). If you consider your conscience, your influence, and your behavior before God, only then will you be able to come to a sound personal decision on whether or not you can listen.