If there is a question that comes with arguments and
controversy in Christian circles - and especially among those concerned with singing and worship service in the church - it is this one.
It punches worship leaders in the face.
I have even heard that it punches some so heavily to the
extent that they are convinced to altogether forsake singing in church in
exchange for "the pursuit of a greater and more influential gift...;"
because (seemingly) it has been "revealed" to them that music,
as a service, is not worthy a crown of glory when we meet Christ on the last
day.
What is it all about anyway? What is this pursuit for a
greater gift all about?
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| A pastor teaching a worship team on the importance of the music ministry in the Church |
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It may be true that we place less emphasis on the importance
and difference of/between gifts and services in the church or that we choose to
play middle ground when addressing this matter. The latter is due to avoiding strife
on doctrinal matters and therefore covering up our fear with negligence and abandoning the course of
teachings on such matters.
Somewhere, you may hear one or two (or several) pastors (music pastors or pastors in general) bellowing: "this or that gift is superior to this or that gift" and
so forth and so on, while trying to convince their congregation about gifts and
services.
Elsewhere, another couple of men of God will be heard exalting the significance
of the Holy Spirit in empowering Christians in service; and that any one with a
gift or a service can be effectively used to bring glory to God in one or many other ways.
There is a third group though. This one denies that singing
(or as we love calling it, worship) is not a gift and it therefore
has no room among the "major gifts" in the Church. This, they support
with a Scripture we all know quite well: Ephesians
4:11-12 (NKJV) "And He Himself gave
some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ..."
Although it does not descriptively and categorically mention that these mentioned
above (apostleship, prophesy, evangelism, pastoral work and teaching) are the
so-called "five major gifts" in the Church, this group jumps up with this Scripture in defense
of their aptness in such matters. It is therefore a dogma among its members that music
(or any other gift or service whatsoever) holds no seat amongst the "big
five gifts."
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In trying to defend the language with which Christ through His
Spirit speaks in many places, and while in some other way attempting to solve this mix-up,
I can give us one example which is very practical: in Acts Chapter 10, the apostle Peter is
hungry one afternoon and is caught in a trance which leads to the following conversation
between him and the Lord (Acts 10:13-15) "And a voice came to him, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.' But
Peter said, 'Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.' And
a voice spoke to him again the second time, 'What God has cleansed you must not
call common...'"
Why am I bringing up this story? Consider this...
Christ and Peter could look
at the same thing (food) and funny enough, both agree and disagree on what it
stood for. According to Peter, the food that was being presented him was unclean. And he was right: God had initially proclaimed the food unclean (Leviticus 11); but now, in this very encounter, the
Lord declares the food clean. Was God contradicting Himself? No, I don't
think so. Why then was it both "clean" and "unclean"
at the same time? It fights logic, right?
Okay, I think it was because the Lord wanted Peter to become
flexible to His voice and understand deeply why at all the food could be both clean
and unclean. That His voice mattered more than the food. That the issue of clean-ness and unclean-ness was less important as compared to the ultimate goal that was being sought after.
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| ...His voice matters more than the food... |
This sounds paradoxical yeah, but it is the truth.
When we keenly consider the above conversation, we can, to a
considerable extent, draw a conclusion and say that they are both wrong and right all who say,
"singing is a lesser gift" and that "singing is not a lesser
gift..." Because just as food (in its being clean or unclean) does not
really matter in Peter's case but the One who created and serves it to him that
afternoon, so does the "less-ness" or "greatness" of music as
a service or gift matter to the One who gives it to us for His own glory!
It doesn't matter whether the gifts/services being used in
the Church are "major" or "minor"; what matters is whether
they are being used effectively for the purpose for which they are/were intended.
It doesn't matter how many talents the servant was given in Jesus' parable below.
What matters is whether the talents were put to work or not!!
Matthew 25:14-15, 19-20, 22,
24-26: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a
far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
And to one he gave five talents,
to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and
immediately he went on a journey.
After a long time the lord of
those servants came and settled accounts with them.
So he who had received five
talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me
five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'
He also who had received two
talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have
gained two more talents besides them.'
Then he who had received the one
talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you
have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
And I was afraid, and went and
hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
But his lord answered and said to
him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown,
and gather where I have not scattered seed."
In another example, the apostle Paul notes the following to the Corinthian church to show them that every gift (whether important or less important) mattered in the house of God, and that the weaker/lesser gifts (as the Corinthian church was convinced to see them) were being used by God for a greater purpose and to fulfill the unity of the Church...:-
1 Corinthians 12:21-25: "The eye
cannot say to the hand, 'I do not need you,' nor in turn can the head say to
the foot, 'I do not need you.' On the contrary, those members
that seem to be weaker are essential, and those members we consider less honorable
we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with
dignity, but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended
together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, so that there may
be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one
another."
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| ...God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another... |
Whether our enthusiasm in service through singing is in any case
killed or promoted due to our doctrinal standings, it is all upto us. We may
choose to mumble and fumble in indecision with which side to take, but it's all
irrelevant to Christ. We may choose to take no stand at all - it really doesn't
matter to Him. What matters is how well our ears are inclined to the voice of the
Spirit of God as He attempts to align our tiny theological standings on the
part music plays in the Church to His own, for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is greater than men (1 Corinthians 1:25.)
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The other few things that are good to understand and put mind
as we follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit concerning music in the church are the questions answered below:-
1. What is a gift (or a spiritual gift)?
A gift, in Christian service, refers to the ability given to
a Christian by the Holy Spirit towards serving the body of Christ. Also, according to this post and this one I wrote earlier on on discovering your abilities, gifts and talents, talents can
compliment or grow into
gifts.
2. What are services?
A service is work done by a Christian (as one person or
group) that benefits another person, group and/or God.
3. Who gives gifts and services?
Christ/God through the Holy Spirit.
Reference: Refer to the Scriptures above.
4. Why are gifts and services given to the Church?
(c) For the betterment of our relationship with God - Him
talking and walking with us, and us doing the same (Romans12:1 and Hebrews 13:15-16.)
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As I finish off, here is what
C S Lewis had to say one day:
"Imagine
yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first,
perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right
and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed
doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house
about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What
on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different
house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an
extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were
being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He
intends to come and live in it Himself.”
So it is whenever God uses our gifts and services in His presence: it is all for His glory.
End note: If you have ever tried to think that
singing/ministering in music is a lesser gift, try telling that to the 24
elders and angels in Heaven.
Bonface Morris.
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