Over the past several weeks, a brief history of the use (or non-use) of instruments in the Church’s worship has been sketched. The main point I wished to drive home was that, while a cappella worship is strange in our culture today, it is absolutely not strange when the entire breadth of Christian history is taken into account. In this article, I would like to briefly sketch three reasons why we, along with many others throughout history, choose to worship with a cappella singing in our assemblies.
Silence of the New Testament
When it comes to the New Testament Church, the silence on musical instruments is deafening. In the Old Testament, musical instruments are associated especially with David and the temple. Many of the Psalms make refer to instruments and instructions were given for the Levites to play musical instruments within the temple. But when we read through the New Testament, we find no reference to instruments in the worship of the early Church. There is mention of Jesus and the disciples singing, and of the early Church singing, but absolutely no mention of them making use of musical instruments. Why is that? This silence should be a red flag causing us to inquire further, not plow forward without a second thought. The fact that the New Testament mentions singing and prayer, but makes no reference to the early Church using instruments certainly gives the impression that the early Church was in fact not using instruments.
The True Instrument of Praise is the Heart
Not only are instruments not mentioned, but where singing is explicitly mentioned, it is the heart that is identified as the true instrument of praise (Eph 5:17–21, Col 3:16). It’s also worth noting that Paul contrasts intelligible speech with “lifeless instruments” in 1 Cor 14:7. As Paul makes clear in all of these passages, it is the meaning and understanding of spiritual words, not merely sounds being produced, that constitutes the true spiritual worship of the Church. The addition of instruments, while entertaining and emotionally moving, cannot add to the intelligibility of the words sung, but can only detract. Therefore, they have no place in our worship service.
Maturity of the Church
A final reason for excluding instruments from the Church’s assemblies is recognizing that the Church is the mature form of God’s people. The Mosaic Law, animal sacrifice, the temple, incense, Levites, priests, etc. were given for a period of time in order to teach the people, lead up to the Messiah, and to serve as foreshadows of what was to come (see Galatians 3:19–24 and practically all of Hebrews). With the death and resurrection of Jesus and the establishment of the Church, the old “immature” things were done away with. This included the Mosaic Law, the sacrifices, and the temple with its ordinances. Now, here is the question before us: do the musical instruments of the Old Testament fall within the category of “immature” things that are done away with in the Church? The Church for several hundred years answered in the affirmative, and I believe they are correct. The harps and lyres and cymbals – all of the musical instruments associated with the temple – are in the same category as the temple sacrifices, incense, Levites, and priesthood. While there is not a specific verse stating this explicitly, the book of Hebrews, combined with passages such as Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:17–21, would certainly seem to point in this direction.
While there is more to be said on this subject, that’s all I’m going to say for the time being. I hope this series on instruments in worship has been beneficial to you. God bless.
Studies in the Bible 