Disciple-making through singing

Sunday is coming. Again. This is the joyful and often stressful reality for the music minister. When is the band rehearsing this week? Did I remember to send out those schedules and pieces of music? Who is doing the special music? Are there enough creative elements to support the sermon? Is the volume too soft, too loud, or just right?

If Tony Payne and Colin Marshall have it right, and the heart of disciple-making (vine work) is prayerfully speaking God's word to one another, then many of us music ministers have some work to do. In a day when music in the church is both highly influential and highly volatile, how in the world can music pastors and leaders make time for discipleship? Shouldn't we be focusing on other important matters like rehearsing the band, upgrading technology, learning new music, recruiting volunteers, and practising face-melting guitar leads?

While these activities aren't evil in themselves, I do think it's possible to have all of these things and more without having a disciple-making music ministry. What is it that defines a disciple-making music ministry? I suppose it's the same thing that defines any kind of disciple-making ministry. That is, it must be centered on growth toward Christian maturity through a deepening relationship with God's word and God's people. While this is nothing revolutionary, I think those of us in music ministry, with all of its glories and dangers, must work extra hard to keep first things first. I'll propose a couple of simple ideas and tactics that have helped our music ministry (and hopefully our church) stay on track toward maturity in Christ.

 

1. Care more about your team's maturity in Christ than their musical contributions

Let me first say that I am very familiar with the unspoken expectations of having "great music" at a corporate gathering. I also know that great music can be highly subjective, adding to the difficulty and pressure of your job. While I am in no way advocating for lazy or sloppy musicianship, we as music ministers must care more about our people than their performance.

This is not an easy proposition, as the CCM movement and mega churches around the world continue to pump out studio quality music. This is the same music that many of the folks in your congregation are listening to at home, in the car, at the office, and during their workouts. While my intent is not to analyze the positive or negative effects of the CCM movement, one undeniable reality is that it has put a lot of pressure on local churches to produce music at the same level. In the face of this pressure, we music ministers need to maintain the priority of disciple-making among our musicians, vocalists, and choirs.

Paul boasted over the Thessalonians and God's work among them. Why? It was not because of their excellent musicianship. Rather, Paul says, "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers." (1 Thess. 2:13) This should be our same hope and joy, that our team members would readily embrace the word of God and respond to it appropriately.

2. Infuse your necessary musical trellises with as much vine work as possible

Is rehearsing with your team a necessary part of music ministry? While it might be a debatable question, let's for now accept it as a reality. There are, however, ways that you can harness rehearsal times as an opportunity for vine work. Read and discuss a piece of Scripture, perhaps even something you plan to use in the primary  gathering. Are you working on a call to worship from Psalm 30? Open it up at your weekly rehearsal and ask your team what stands out about that particular passage.

Another powerful vine growing activity you can exercise at rehearsals is prayer. Take a few minutes to get to know your team by asking how you can pray for them. Talk about the needs of someone in the congregation and present those requests to God with thanksgiving. Ask God's Spirit to work through his word in the upcoming corporate gathering.

A final word about rehearsals and other standing ministry trellises. Don't be afraid to change things up for a time to build more devoted followers of Christ. For the last three summers, we have canceled our mid-week rehearsals and met exclusively for Bible study and prayer. Is there some impact on the music when Sunday rolls around? Sure. However, I think the exchange is well worth it. While I'm not sure it would be wise to eliminate rehearsals on a permanent basis, we can easily make some changes over the short term that facilitate a disciple-making music ministry.

3. Spend some time with your pastor in and around the text that he'll be preaching

I suspect that most of you meet on a regular basis with the preaching pastor at your church. I also suspect, if you're like me, that much of that time is spent talking about themes, transitions, personnel, and service elements. Again, these are not bad topics to discuss. However, the idea here is to spend time interacting with the Spirit-inspired text.

Open the Bible together. Ask your preaching pastor about his exegetical and sermonic ideas. Talk about the author's original intent. Identify how the passage connects to the broader storyline of the Bible. Examine what the passage means in light of the gospel. I'm convinced that planning a service should be an expository exercise. In other words, build your gathering on and around the meaning of the text.

Sometimes this kind of interaction will tip you off to a song that will support the preached word. Sometimes it will inspire a creative call to worship. Sometimes it will connect you to a responsive reading. Sometimes it won't do any of these things. Regardless of the effect on our service planning, if we believe that God's Spirit speaks through his word, then we'll do well to prioritize our time to accommodate an open Bible. Start small. Ask your preaching pastor for the first 15 minutes of your planning meeting. I think you'll find it well worth the effort.

4. Choose songs for your gatherings that are saturated with God's word

We could spend a lot of time discussing the nuances of song selection. Tempo, key, style, instrumentation, melody, and volume are all important to song selection. None, however, are as important as singing songs that are rich with the character and works of God. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul clearly makes a connection between singing and allowing the word of Christ to dwell richly in the church (Colossians 3:16). As music ministers, this is an opportunity to harness the influence of music to teach our congregations the word of God.

Want to know if you're choosing songs that are rich with God's word? Imagine you're an unbeliever or new Christian. Now take a look at all the songs you've sung in your church over the last six weeks. What have you learned about the character and works of God? If the only theology you learned was through the content of the songs, what would you learn?

Corporate singing is certainly offered to God as a response to his work of redemption. Corporate singing, however, is not one dimensional. Paul makes it clear that we are to address "one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs," as well as making melody to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19). When we sing the word of God to each other, we are encouraging, challenging, and teaching each other. When we sing the gospel, we are offering hope to the lost and reminding the church of God's incredible work of redemption in Christ. When we sing of the character and works of God, we are calling the church to a response of joyful praise to their Redeemer King.

5. Commit to building a theological platform of music for your church

This tactic may be the most difficult, primarily because it can take the most time. While you can easily schedule a meeting with your preaching pastor next Wednesday, shaping (and especially reshaping) a congregation's theology of music is not that cut and dried. You will face stylistic preferences and cultural presuppositions. The background and age of your congregation will also dictate the pace of reshaping a theological foundation.

That said, stick with it. Ask yourself the tough questions. Ask your most trusted team members the tough questions. And yes, even ask the "anonymous" complainer the tough questions. Why do you think it's important for us to sing at church? What should we be singing about? What are we teaching people about the character and works of God in our singing? Establishing a theological platform of church music will help make your lower-level decisions like style and method a little easier.

You might also consider teaching a mid-week training class on music in the church. Matthias Media's small group study "Sing for Joy" is an excellent place to start. The idea is to get people thinking biblically about church music. Get them to places like Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5. Walk them through the songs of the Old Testament. Open the Psalms. Not only will this help to shape the theological platform of music in your congregation, it will also get folks gathering around and growing in God's word.

 

Our leaders and I have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks talking about musical style, arrangements, volume levels, lighting, and technology in our church gatherings. These aren't inconsequential matters. They are important. They also have the potential to choke out the vine growing opportunities in your week. I wish I could tell you that we nail each of these ideas and tactics every week. We don't. However, reflecting on this piece for GoThereFor.com has been a good reminder to keep the main thing the main thing, ensuring that our music ministry is centered on the work of disciple-making.