More Than Music
There’s a sign on the back wall of a small Lutheran church in my hometown that I’ve never forgotten: If you don’t feel close to God, guess who moved?
The pews were hard. The hymns were rich. And something happened inside those walls — I met Jesus there. Standing beside my parents, holding the red hymnal, I followed along with the words and the tune and learned that singing and faith were somehow connected.
A few years later, youth leaders Doug and Susan opened their home to a group of us junior high kids — and as we moved our way through high school, they were patient, genuinely interested in each of us, and serious about helping us develop real faith. We sang in their living room. Some songs were fun and joyful. Some were honest about life’s struggles. Some felt like they came straight from Scripture.
I didn’t have language for it then. But in Doug and Susan’s living room, my first theology of worship was forming.
I think about worship a lot. Maybe because I’ve spent so much of my life as a pastor — responsible not just for finding my own way in worship, but for helping others find theirs.
Romans 12:1 reminds me that worship is more than a song. It’s an entire life offered to God. But what I’ve come to believe about singing in worship is simple: not every song we sing in church is doing the same thing or directed to the same person.
Paul writes to the Ephesians: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19 NIV). Some singing is directed to one another. Some singing is directed to the Lord. And some singing, if we are honest, is primarily to ourselves — maybe for enjoyment, good clean feel-good singing.
I have been helped recently by the thought that there are at least three categories — or maybe just directions — of songs we sing. Putting songs in those categories (to self, to others, to God) has helped me with my own perspective.
Some songs are just fun, maybe even confessional. We are celebrating our faith. I think some songs are really no more than Christian entertainment. No problem, as long as we don’t call it more than that.
Other songs fit the Ephesians 5:19 command and bring encouragement, build up faith, confess and proclaim truth, and remind us of Jesus and our commitment to walk with him.
This third category is deserving of a little more scrutiny. These are the songs we sing that are Godward. They should be orthodox — not pointing to feelings or what I do or did, but rather to God and who he is. His goodness, his attributes, his character. Truth is absolutely vital when it comes to worship. And so is holy reverence. I noticed that Jesus didn’t mention the need for a specific kind of production, lighting, atmosphere, or the volume of a PA system. He was inviting us to something deeper — a vulnerability that might even cost us something.
"Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:19)
When we sing this third category of songs, maybe there are a few questions worth asking.
To whom am I singing?
Am I mindful of what I’m singing?
How is my heart as I am singing?
These kinds of questions carry me back to that little boy in the pew, who first began to make the deeper connection to Father above.