Instrumental Music

I have been asked to present the reasons why we (churches of Christ) do not use mechanical instruments in our worship. I can’t speak for the churches of Christ, and others who share my conclusions may approach the issue differently than I do. My reason for rejecting the use of mechanical instruments in worship is really very simple. It has to do with the principle sometimes called the law of specificity or the law of exclusion.

A Crucial Principle of Religious Authority — the Law of Exclusion

A. The law of exclusion is derived from principles of logic, common sense, and clear Scriptural examples. It can be expressed as follows:

When a general command is given, everything embraced within that general command is authorized (unless a specific thing is expressly prohibited). When a command is specific, only that which is specified is authorized. Everything else is automatically excluded.

B. Scriptural applications of this principle:

1. Noah and the ark (Gen. 6: 13-15) Gopher wood is specified.
2. Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10: 1 à Lev. 16: 12)
3. Moses struck the rock (Num. 20: 7-12,24; Deut. 32:48-52)
4. Uzza struck dead (2 Sam. 6: 3-7 à Exod. 25: 14-15)
5. The priesthood of Jesus (Heb. 7: 13)
6. Lord's Supper (Milk and cookies? Burgers and Coke?...)

C. Common, everyday applications of this principle: menu, recipe, contract, etc.

The law of exclusion is a common sense principle that we use in our daily activities and that God clearly intends for us to apply to religious authority:

·        Gal. 1:8-9;
·        1 Cor. 4:6
·        Rev. 22: 18-19

How does this apply to the question of instruments in worship?

Simply. The New Testament give us the general command to make music and then specifies which instruments to use. Notice:

· Eph. 5:19 “…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord…”
· Col. 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

These passages instruct us to communicate musically. That is the general command. If that were all that was said, we would be free to express ourselves musically in whatever ways we chose. But the command is specified.

1. We are told which instruments to use to make music: Our voices (“singing”), and our hearts. Because these “instruments” are specified, all others are excluded. This is the essence of the reason why instruments should not be used.

2. We are told to use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to speak to, teach, and admonish one another. It is impossible for mechanical instruments to do this.

History of Instrumental Music in Worship

There is no indication, explicit or implicit, that early Christians used any instrument other than their hearts and voices to carry out the command to “sing.”

It was more than 600 years after Christ and his apostles lived and taught that Pope Vitilian I introduced the organ into Catholic worship. The introduction of the organ threatened to split the Catholic church in two and so it was removed to preserve unity. More than a century later, it was brought out again with some opposition, but eventually won incremental approval and finally, widespread acceptance.

Protestant groups all around us that now boast instrumental music once rejected them.

· John Calvin (1509-1564) said, “Musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting of lamps, and the restoration of other shadows of the Law.”

· Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) said, “What a degradation to supplant the intelligent song of the whole congregation by the theatrical prettiness of a quartet, bellows, and pipes! We might as well pray by machinery as praise by it.”

· John Wesley (1703-1791) said, “I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen.”

· Martin Luther (1483-1546) said, “An organ in the worship of God is an ensign of Baal.”

There is no evidence that the apostles, or any Christian for 600 years, used instruments in worship. Why? Because they understood that God specified vocal music (acappela literally means, “in the manner of a chapel”). It has only been within the past hundred years or so that the use of mechanical instruments in worship has been widely accepted.

Arguments used in defense of instrumental music in worship

A. They were used In Old Testament worship.

1. Yes, as was burning incense, animal sacrifices, feast days, etc.

2. Old covenant is done away in Christ - 2 Cor. 3:14; Col. 2:14-17; Heb. 10:1.

B. In Eph. 5:19 "Psallo" means "To pluck/twang" -- Must be an instrument involved.

1. Yes, but what is to be plucked? Eph. 5:19 -- The heart!

2. Otherwise, all would have to play an instrument!

3. psallo –

· "In the N.T., to sing a hymn, sing praise” Vine’s Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words.
· "In the N.T. to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song." Thayer

C. There are instruments in heaven -- Rev. 14:2-3.

1. Revelation a book of signs, symbols & figures. These instruments are no more literal than the chain which binds Satan (Rev. 20:1-2).
2. Even if these are physical, literal instruments, that doesn’t authorize them in the church on earth.

D. We like it, we want It, and we are going to have it.

This, I suspect, is the real reason (along with ignorance) why instruments are used so widely. This, of course, is stiff-necked rebellion.

F. Worship is good, no matter how we do it.

· Tell that to Cain, Nadab & Abihu, Uzza, Moses, and a host of others.
· Jesus said there is a wrong way to do it -- Matt. 15:7-9.