I Chron 25-27 Adventures in Missing the Point: Musical Instruments

May 9th, I Chronicles 25-27

       If you saw the movie Braveheart, there was a scene early on when the leaders of both parties rode to the middle of the battle field to discuss terms of surrender. William Wallace has no desire for surrender and no invitation to the discussion. He begins to ride out to the meeting and his friends ask him where he's going..."To pick a fight" is the reply.

       Every once in a while people get all "Biblical" on you. They defend some longstanding tradition and act like the only way to really be Christian is to do...fill in the blank. The fight today is...wait for it....instruments in the church. For too many American Christians the ONLY instrument through which God's name could be lifted up and praised is an Organ. The first 3000 years of God's people praising was riddled with worthless instrumentation until God was truly worshipped through organ music. (note hyperbolic tone)

       These poor poor musicians in this text were forced (probably by the devil clouding their ability to imagine the organ) to play their music  with harp, lyre, and cymbals. For those who claim some orgainic need to be musically biblical, let's go the whole way and crack out instruments that were actually used in the Bible. 

       To be honest a piano is a lot like a harp, a guitar is most like a lyre and cymbals,well, they're cymbals. 

       Here's another sneak peak into church music history...

       The Doxology that many sing after the offering, was originally suspended from use in it's day. Why, because it was introduced in an age where all song were to be scripture word for word. This song was not a verse in the Bible, how could anyone sing it in church? 

       Music from pop culture is proclaimed to be evil. Funny, John Wesley thought taking popular bar tunes from his day and changing the words was the best way to get people to sing along at church. You know...those song's we sing today that are so separate from the world! That's what we call irony!

       Now the real purpose here isn't to pick a fight. It's too point out the difference between cultural understandings and Biblical ones. We argue over things that don't even make sense sometimes, and forget the heart of the issue. Let's discuss the worship of Jesus Christ and realize instrument choices have almost nothing to do with it. If they do...then harps, lyres and cymbals should be the instrument of choice. I already got my cymbals!!!