When I read the Bible and try to understand what it is saying about worship, I don’t often come away with a great sense that singing together is an essential part of the practice of our faith. \u00a0There are verses that tell us to sing to the Lord a new song, and verses that talk about singing hymns and spiritual songs together. \u00a0However, God has plenty of angels to sing to him if that is what he is really after. The Bible also makes it very clear that singing isn’t the only way to worship. \u00a0This post won’t really focus on what God gets out of our singing, because I have no idea, but I hope it helps explain what we might be getting from it as His people.<\/p>\n
So why have we as Christ’s people continued to sing in our times of meeting together? \u00a0What is the point of singing in a community? \u00a0 Music style often divides us, so why continue at all?<\/p>\n
I struggle with communication. \u00a0Not a day goes by without failing to convey a concept properly or I am in a disagreement based solely on my inability to communicate. \u00a0It’s something that I have struggled with my whole life. \u00a0When I speak, you hear me, but you don’t understand. \u00a0When you speak, I hear you, but I don’t understand. \u00a0Our mouths are speaking, but our hearts remain deaf and mute to each other.<\/p>\n
Genesis 11 tells the story of where this all began. \u00a0Sometime after the great flood, the people of the earth begin to build a tower, united in thought and purpose. \u00a0God sees what they are doing and chooses to scatter the people of earth by confusing their languages. \u00a0They spread out across the whole earth, and to this day, we are unable to communicate with each other the way we could before God confused our language.<\/p>\n
Even those of us speaking the same language aren’t speaking the same language. \u00a0Our experiences and context color the meanings of each word we use. \u00a0Usually those of us speaking the same language get close to the meanings intended by the person we are speaking with, but it is only an approximate meaning, not a complete understanding. \u00a0In a way, we each speak our own language, a dialect unique to ourselves. \u00a0Those around us are constantly interpreting what we say through their own dialect and occasionally arriving at meanings we never intended.<\/p>\n
I long for the day when I can say what my heart feels and know that your heart hears and responds in kind. \u00a0The ability to communicate in unity is a precious treasure that we lost in Genesis 11.<\/p>\n
God created this barrier in communication and is certainly aware of it. \u00a0I think that is a part of the reason why singing as a community has persisted through the generations.<\/p>\n
When we sing together, the music becomes a translator and an amplifier. \u00a0The music facilitates our heart to heart connection, translating moods and somewhat abstract ideas into something we feel, something we experience. \u00a0It transforms a line such as “Holy Holy Holy is our Lord God Almighty’ from a sentence that is somewhat mysterious and inaccessible, to an experience that we can begin to understand together and share. \u00a0It amplifies the meaning of the words…making them mean more than they do on their own without the music.<\/p>\n
Explaining God’s holiness is like trying to explain a flower to a man born blind. \u00a0They can touch the flower and listen to you describe it’s color, but they still can’t understand it’s beauty. \u00a0Music is like allowing the blind man to smell the flower. \u00a0They still don’t understand it’s full beauty, but they begin to get an idea of what a flower is. \u00a0We are all blind men when it comes to understanding God in his enormity, but music can be the smell of the flower…it doesn’t explain everything, but it brings us much closer to reality.<\/span><\/p>\n You can tell me that God is holy all day long, but when we sing about it together, I begin to get a glimpse of what God being holy truly means. \u00a0 I begin to feel the gravity of the words we are repeating when the scent of the music washes over the black and white words that slip from our mouths. \u00a0Suddenly the verses in Revelation and Ezekiel talking about creatures surrounding the throne of God day and night singing of His holiness begin to make a certain sort of sense.<\/p>\n In music, a community can be drawn together in a way that can not be achieved through just words. \u00a0My heart and yours can finally speak together. \u00a0We become a community, communicating in a way we couldn’t before. \u00a0Thank you God for providing this translator to show us more of you. \u00a0Thank you for accepting our lack of understanding, and our feeble attempts at describing you to each other. \u00a0Bless your Kingdom here on earth with people who will write songs that bring new meaning to what you reveal about yourself in scripture.<\/p>\n Feel free to add your thoughts on the subject in the comments below…they will show up after I approve them.<\/p>\n Edit 12:24 am. \u00a0It suddenly occurs to me that I didn’t talk about God’s presence and how that is truly where the power of church music comes from. \u00a0Secular music can have a similar effect, but when Christ’s presence is involved, something truly supernatural happens. \u00a0Music isn’t to be held above the work Christ does through it. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nDid you enjoy what you just read? Consider sharing it with your friends!<\/h3>