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What Is the Aim of Our Singing in Church?
Worship, Discipling, and Mission
The aim of singing in Scripture is multifaceted. At the very top of that list, singing should be seen as an act of worship unto God. Psalm 96:1 says, “Sing to the Lord.” So, we’re ascribing in our singing who God is, his worth and his wealth, the praises of his name, and who he is.
Singing, first and foremost, should be seen as an act of worship. And when we see it through that lens, it transcends some of the other things that can happen.
Secondly, singing is a means of discipleship. When Paul writes in Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19 that singing helps the Word of God dwell in us richly and helps us admonish one another in this way, it’s building up the faith of the saints. When we gather together to sing, the words we sing and the truths that we tell one another through those songs help build up our faith. They strengthen it. They help us dig down and plant deep roots of faith and then articulate those through songs. So, it’s a means of discipling.
What If I Don't Like My Church's Music?
Matthew Boswell
Pastor and hymn writer Matthew Boswell encourages readers to put aside individual preferences during church worship and offer unified praise that gives glory to God.
It’s also an expression of mission to the world. Sunday by Sunday, as people gather in church to worship God and to make disciples, we don’t ever want to lose sight that our singing is also a witness to the world. Yes, the content we want to be a witness to the world—meaning, the truths that we’re singing and retelling, we want that to be with onlookers and over-hearers in prospect—but also the act of singing together as a local church is itself a witness.
This is John 13:35—the love we have for one another in the unity and harmony of our song is itself an apologetic. It is a witness to the onlooking world that while we may be diverse in many different ways, we’re a people who’ve been united in Christ, and we have something shared to sing of, and that is the greatness of salvation in God.
Matt Boswell is the author of What If I Don’t Like My Church’s Music?.
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