Are musical instruments in worship wrong?

I have touched on this subject on this blog, but not yet delved into it fully until now. Is it okay for Christians to worship God with the accompaniment of musical instruments? This seems like such a silly question to believers outside of the nominal Church of Christ. “Why would it matter?,” they ask. For those raised in the Church of Christ, however, or convinced that its traditional rejection of instruments is what the Bible teaches, read on.

I don’t intend to convince you to go out and try to introduce instruments in your church, by any means, but I do intend to convince you that we ought to stop claiming the Bible teaches against the practice. Many of us owe an apology to our brothers and sisters who don’t see a Biblical prohibition against using musical instruments. Why? Because there isn’t one.

I intend to show that this question is really a matter of conscience, and the conscience of most objectors has been formed by tradition and some incorrect reasoning along the way. How do I know this? Because that used to be me. I was raised in Churches of Christ which vigorously preached against musical instruments. I studied the issue in depth in my younger years and accepted the conclusion whole-heartedly, preaching and teaching against it myself until eventually reexamining and reforming my beliefs in light of scripture.

I first want to make it clear that the question I’m addressing has nothing to do with the value or beauty of acappella congregational singing and worship. I love singing in four-part harmony, and thoroughly enjoy acappella worship music. I grew up on the hymnal “Sacred Selections For The Church” (affectionately known as “The Red Book”). As a young adult, my small congregation purchased and sung its way through the entire “Songs of Faith and Praise,” an amazingly edifying experience.

While I am happy that the acappella tradition in Churches of Christ has contributed some beautiful and uplifting worship music to our church culture, I also believe each congregation of believers has the right to determine whether to use instruments or not. All I ask is that we make that choice for intellectually and spiritually honest reasons. If it’s because there are a large number of fellow congregants who would be offended by it, fine. You shouldn’t do it. If it’s because the use of instruments just “seems” out of place to you, and more like a concert experience than a participatory one, that’s fine too. Others don’t agree, but that is not a Biblical “thus saith the Lord” issue. I am simply saying we ought to be accurate in expressing what our objections are. To say that the Bible teaches against it is just not accurate.

Biblical Myths About Instruments

The following objections are the most commonly raised among Churches of Christ and other groups which prohibit the use of musical instruments in worship:

1. God never commanded their use.
2. The first century church didn’t use them.
3. Instruments are associated with Baal worship.
4. We are to “make melody in our hearts,” not on musical instruments.

God Never Commanded Their Use

This is probably the easiest myth to debunk. I had been told for years that King David is the one who introduced musical instruments into the worship, and that God just “winked” at it (overlooked it). Not so. God actually commanded the use of musical instruments. This means God actually valued the production of the instruments, the skill required to play them, and the finished product, a public worship service full of them.

2 Chronicles 29:25 – He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets.

This is a pretty powerful statement, and one I had apparently read many times before without noticing. If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, it is not possible for God to suddenly hate musical instruments. I understand that this fact by itself doesn’t mean we need to go out and recruit a worship band. It should, however, give us pause before suggesting that God only wants acappella singing, and will be offended if we offer our voices along with instrumental accompaniment.

Before taking such a stance, we should notice the unbelievably large volume of Scripture presenting instrumental worship in a very positive light:

1 Samuel 10:5 – After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.

2 Samuel 6:5 – David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

1 Chronicles 13:8 – David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.

1 Chronicles 15:16 – David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their fellow Levites as musicians to make a joyful sound with musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.

1 Chronicles 15:28 – So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps.

1 Chronicles 16:42 – Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.

1 Chronicles 25:6 – All these men were under the supervision of their father for the music of the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king.

2 Chronicles 5:12-13 – All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. 13 The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud.

2 Chronicles 7:6 – The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.

2 Chronicles 20:28 – They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets.

2 Chronicles 23:13 – She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and musicians with their instruments were leading the praises.

2 Chronicles 29:25 – He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets.

2 Chronicles 34:12 – The workers labored faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descended from Kohath. The Levites—all who were skilled in playing musical instruments…

Nehemiah 12:27 – At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.

Nehemiah 12:36 – …and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani—with musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the teacher of the Law led the procession.

Psalm 33:2 – Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

Psalm 43:4 – Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Psalm 71:22 – I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 92:1-4 – A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day. 1 It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, 2 proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, 3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. 4 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done.

Psalm 98:5 – make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,

Psalm 147:7 – Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp.

Psalm 149:3 – Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp.

Psalm 150:3 – Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre…

Isaiah 38:20 – The Lord will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives in the temple of the Lord.

We have an entire book of the Bible, the Psalms, made up of songs that were accompanied by instruments. How do we know that? The word “psalmoi” from which the Greek Septuagint (used in the time of Christ) derived the title for the book of Psalms, and from which we get our English title as well, means “instrumental music, and by extension, the words accompanying the music.”

Would it not be a little bizarre to conclude that God suddenly reversed course and hates instruments? We may not deduce from these passages that we must use instruments, but we can certainly learn a lot from the Biblical record on the subject: Instruments were originally commanded by God for use in public worship, and regularly used in both public and private praise with full approval from God. He’s the one who created the laws of physics that work together to create pleasing melodies and harmonies in music. He obviously finds this creation of His enjoyable, whether it is expressed through the voice or through instruments.

The First Century Church Didn’t Use Them

A lot could be written on this particular point, simply because this line of reasoning affects many traditional Church of Christ sacred cows. There are numerous doctrinal errors we encounter if we try to claim that we can do nothing for God other than what he specifically commands us to do, or that we have an example being done in the New Testament. This is sometimes called the Law of Silence, and I’ve addressed the faulty reasoning here, here and here.

It’s true that the first century church probably did not use instruments. At least, historical documents don’t indicate it, and the first century synagogue probably did not either. But remember, synagogue worship was not a commanded thing, either. The tradition of worshiping in synagogues was never a part of the Old Law, and arose during the silent period between the writing of the Old and New  Covenant scriptures. Jesus and the first generation of converts to Christianity just accepted the traditions of synagogue worship. The traditions Jesus spoke so strongly against were the hypocritical ones that conflicted with the central values of the Kingdom of Heaven that was being ushered in.

To infer from the absence of musical instruments in the First Century Church that they are therefore prohibited for modern believers is a clear over-reach in doctrinal assumptions to me. There are much more plausible reasons why they weren’t used than the notion that they were not allowed or “authorized,” for instance:

• Tradition. Synagogue worship (which was never commanded by God) didn’t use them, and first century Christian gatherings were largely modeled after what they experienced in the synagogues.
• Lack of wealth. First century Christians were not wealthy. Instruments would have been very expensive and out of reach to most believers.
• Lack of playing skill. Because of their scarcity, few believers would have had the skill to play a musical instrument.

At the heart of this argument, however, is the mistaken notion that the New Covenant scriptures are a law-book to be interpreted such that we can only do things that are “authorized.” The Bible places no such constraint on us, if we are “walking after the Spirit.” In fact, if the Law of Love is indeed the Greatest Command, then there are an infinite number of ways to express God’s love without first finding a “legal precedent” for each act of kindness in the Scriptures. If it’s the loving thing to create an orphanage to help poverty-stricken orphans in Haiti find adoptive families, then we need not search for a Scriptural justification for it. In fact, if we have the ability to do good and choose not to do it, we are sinning.

See also:

• Silence Is Divine
• The Flaw of Silence
• The Law of Silence In Scripture

Instruments Are Associated With Baal Worship

This is hardly worth mentioning here in light of the wealth of verses noted above showing that instruments were not only widely used and approved in Biblical times, but God actually originally commanded their use. However, a verse in Amos is often pulled out of context to suggest that musical instruments are associated with Baal worship, and therefore must be rejected by believers today. Here is the verse in context:

Amos 6:1-5 – Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David…

It is argued that this verse places chanting “to the sounds of the viol” as an element of Baal-worship, but if that is the case, then so is lying upon beds of ivory, stretching out on the couch, and eating lamb or calves. I hardly think anyone is seriously ready to make that case. Obviously, Amos is pronouncing a “woe” on those who have become complacent and have chosen to ignore impending doom. It has nothing to do with the “viol” or musical instrument being inherently evil.

I should also address the fact that it says here that David invented to himself instruments of music, as this is probably where the myth is derived that David introduced musical instruments into public worship of his own will. We have it on good authority that he did no such thing: Instruments in temple worship were commanded by God through Nathan the prophet. That fact doesn’t contradict what is also clearly a fact: That David was infatuated with music (a creation of God), and probably invented many musical instruments in his lifetime. That doesn’t make them wrong for us to use in worship.

We Are To “Make Melody In Our Hearts,” Not On Musical Instruments

It is suggested by those who claim the Scriptures don’t allow for the use of musical instruments that we are given a command to “make melody in our hearts,” and this excludes the use of musical instruments. Since Paul is specific in how we are to make melody (in our hearts), the argument goes, we are prohibited from accompanying that melody with instrumental music.

Even when I did accept the premise that instrumental worship was wrong, I believed this was one of the weakest claims. This argument presupposes, first of all, that Paul was intending his words to be interpreted as a legal ruling, not a letter of encouragement. This incorrect framework for interpreting the New Covenant scriptures has often led to legalistic and unnecessary conclusions.

Beyond that, this argument doesn’t pass the common sense test. Music is a creation of God, and it is completely possible to make melody or harmony on an instrument while also making it in our hearts.  In fact, it would be fairly impossible not to do both at the same time. One can easily obey the command to make melody in his heart while also playing a musical instrument to accompany that melody. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Other Points To Consider

Inconsistencies That Follow

If we accept the premise that musical instruments are wrong, surely we would have to modify that statement somehow. Few people believe they are universally wrong, yet the boundaries for where one draws the line end up being completely arbitrary. For instance, ask yourself these questions:

1. If musical instruments are wrong only in the public worship, what constitutes the public worship? Is it between the opening and closing prayer on the Sunday morning gathering? Is God insistent on keeping it out of that period of time, but it’s okay right before or after that?
2. If musical instruments are wrong whether in the public worship service or not, then are we restricted from creating or listening to any instrumental songs that have worshipful or Christian themes?
3. If we are to restrict ourselves from creating or listening to music of a spiritual nature, isn’t it a little odd that creating and listening to music of a secular nature would be perfectly fine or even preferable? I know many Christians who bind themselves to such an incongruous opinion. So we can listen to all the country/western or classic rock we want, but God really doesn’t want us listening to something that has a positive spiritual or worshipful message? Really?

What About Musical Talent?

Playing an instrument is not a talent everyone has. Nor is singing on-key, for that matter. Clearly, however, there are followers of Christ who are very talented at one or the other. As believers, shouldn’t those who are talented at playing an instrument, like David was, be turned loose to create music that arises out of their deeply held faith to bless other people–like David did? Do we really think God has restricted them from creating music of a spiritual nature, doomed only to create “secular” music? I don’t think so.

I believe we are to use our talents to further the Kingdom of Christ, not bury them or waste them all on “secular” pursuits. We should have no “secular” pursuits, in my opinion. Every “secular” thing we do should be done “as unto the Lord” and redeemed with a spiritual purpose, whether it’s going to the grocery store and interacting with the store clerk, or playing a musical instrument.

Consider this advice from Solomon:

Ecclesiastes 9:10 – Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…

…echoed by Paul:

Colossians 3:23 – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…

So I ask: If musical instruments are wrong, how is a talented musician to use his talent for the Kingdom?

Dividing our lives up into boxes such as “secular” and “spiritual” only compartmentalizes our Christianity, and stunts our growth in Christ. Only when we know our identity in Christ and can express it consistently in every facet of our life by bringing every thought (and talent) into submission to Christ can we be truly committed to a life of Kingdom value. Isn’t that what it means to be “sold out” for Christ?