Every church in Galesburg, IL has its own distinctive approach to worship music. If you’ve been visiting around, you’ve probably noticed different
musical styles, songwriters, and instruments in each different church. Finding the right Galesburg church requires prayerful consideration. As you think through all the different factors that impact your decision, keep in mind that music matters. In most church services, music takes up a significant portion of time. Music has immense power to influence our emotions, thoughts, and actions, so we can’t overlook its importance.
Wondering what to look for when it comes to church music? Read on to discover some biblical principles that can guide your decision.
Music That Produces Godly Emotions
Music can make us feel many different ways: happy, sad, scared, proud, thoughtful, or even angry. When used as part of our worship services, it’s important that music is producing emotions that aid our worship.
microphone and music notes
Music doesn’t simply have any emotional meaning we choose to give it as listeners. Across different cultures and people groups, researchers have found that listeners can agree on the objective emotional meaning of a piece. The value, morality, or helpfulness of those emotions can be up for debate. However, around the world, we all know what a happy, sensual, angry, or playful musical piece sounds like.
Music can influence us towards both positive and negative emotions. In Psalm 81:2, the psalmist describes music with a “sweet” sound, and Job 21:12 describes music that evokes happiness. When we’re praising God for his magnificence or goodness, music that reinforces these emotions can help us focus on our worship.
Of course, worship can also involve unpleasant emotions, like sorrow. Grieving over our sins and asking God to forgive us is a vital aspect of the Christian life, and it can be a powerful part of corporate worship. Music that’s somber and thoughtful can help us work through these difficult thoughts and feelings. There’s a proper time and place for “sad” or “slow” music in our worship services. Proverbs 25:20-22 tells us that to sing happy songs to a person who is grieving would be simply irrational.
Thus, whether our worship on a particular day involves pleasant or unpleasant emotions, it’s best for our sacred music to complement them properly. Music should not be pulling us emotionally in an opposite direction from the sermon and other aspects of the worship service; rather, it should help to enhance them.
Music That Communicates Truth
Song lyrics matter, too. As you sing during a Sunday worship service, pay attention to the words you’re being encouraged to repeat. Are they echoing the enduring truths of God’s Word? Are they based on scriptural teachings? Or do the words seem to be an afterthought?
Song lyrics are powerful. Throughout history, they’ve inspired human beings to go to war, fall in love with one another, and identify with particular groups and movements. In the church you choose to attend, make sure song lyrics are being used intentionally to focus your mind and heart on the truths of God’s Word.
Music That’s Distinctly Spiritual
In Ephesians 5:19, Christians are instructed to sing “spiritual” songs. What makes a song “spiritual”? Is it the words, the tune, the instrumentation, or the rhythm? These specific questions can be controversial and difficult to answer, but there’s a biblical principle woven throughout Scripture that can help guide our big-picture view of things.
Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, God places great emphasis on the difference between the godly and the ungodly. Many of God’s commands to the Israelites were designed to reinforce this distinction. For instance, the children of Israel were supposed to eat differently, dress differently, and conduct business differently from members of the surrounding nations. By issuing specific commands, like not eating certain foods or wearing certain fabrics, God was teaching the Israelites the importance of making clear, visible distinctions between God’s chosen people and other groups who didn’t worship the one true God.
How can we apply this principle of difference to music? Simply put, all music has cultural meanings and associations. If you go on a music streaming service like Spotify or Pandora, you’ll find the available music is grouped into different categories, from pop to country to rock to classical. Each of these classifications carries cultural significance. Some genres represent sexuality and rebellion, while others represent specific subcultures within the American population.
The point is that music means something beyond itself. The music we include in our church services should be distinctly spiritual. Anyone listening should not be hearing cultural associations to ungodly movements, ideologies, or people. Rather, our worship music should fall into a distinctive, “spiritual” category that clearly sets it apart from secular options.
Music That’s Offered, Not Performed
When we worship God through music, we’re not putting on a “performance.” Ephesians 5:19 tells us to sing and make music to God from our hearts. The focus here is not to impress everyone listening or show off our skill in the eyes of other people. When we make spiritual music, God is our audience, and God is concerned with our hearts.
What does it look like to honor this verse in a church service? When music is played or sung, appreciation should be directed towards God, not towards the musicians. Musicians should also be careful to keep the focus on God, avoiding movements, vocalizations, or musical styles that direct peoples’ attention towards their bodies or anything besides God.
As you visit various Galesburg churches, look for church members who enjoy making music unto the Lord and do it with passion and sincerity. We should always offer our best to the Lord, but that involves a different level of skill for each of us. Remember that you can make a big difference in a church’s music program. If you have talents and skills to offer, look for a church where they’re needed and they can make a real impact!
Interested in making a joyful noise with us at Harmony Baptist Church? Contact us to learn more about how you can get involved with our musical worship!
