Paul's Passing Thoughts

Susan and I are having a great study together in the book of Ephesians. I have come to believe that Ephesians is the go-to book for a new ministry. It seems like the basics are all there: the gospel, prayer. our resources in Christ, unity, eschatology, church polity, the dynamics of biblical change, and even music.

Music has never been my big thing in the Christian life, and I always assumed it was just a preference issue until Susan and I got to verse nineteen of chapter five, then it hit me. The apostle Paul commands us to sing in the midst of the following context: edification. The primary purpose of music is to edify. This should be obvious (though it never has been to me) because Paul said to sing to each other in “psalms.” What is a psalm? It is truth set to a hymn, and without a doubt, Paul had the book of Psalms in mind. The book of Psalms is deep theology.

How ironic; in many churches, they preach from the book of Psalms, but the singing in the same churches will be set to “Seven-Eleven” music, or seven words repeated eleven times, otherwise known as “praise and worship” music. But to be honest, it is likely that churches who sing Seven-Eleven music also preach the same way: the same truth said different ways and repeated all year long. We call that “milk,” and not spiritual meat. Like the praise and worship music of our day, and the accompaniment of similar preaching, much of it will always be about one thing; the gospel, preached and taught 104 different ways per year. We call this Historical-Redemptive preaching (sorry, couldn’t help but to slip that in).

Music is a powerful way to remind us of truth. How often do you leave a department store with the difficulty of getting some tune out of your head, and often, a song you don’t even like! But even though the facts of the gospel are glorious, along with all of the trappings / blessings that come with it, I really think, “ok, we got it.” My point is this: church music should do more than jack us up emotionally, it should edify and replay truth in our heads all week long, with the great joy it also invokes.

The edifying songs are out there: A Mighty Fortress; Take My Life and Let it Be; Count the Cost; Praise Him in the Storm, and many, many more. Pay attention to your church’s music. Is it Paul’s kind of music, or 7/11 music?

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