3 Essentials for Gospel Living and 7 Pitfalls in Church Music

It has been one of my family’s great blessings to have personally known an Olympian.  She competed in Taekwondo.  She was also a nine-time gold medalist at the PAN AM games…but most notably, she was a believer.  She taught our family important leadership skills, challenged our thinking, and helped us grow.  She would say that to be an Olympian there are certain essentials (like diet, exercise, and practice) that you cannot skip, if you want to win.

The next two verses in our study of Colossians 3 (verses 16 and 17) remind the church of the same truth Olympians understand for their sport.  The truth is, there are certain essentials for every athlete and there are also certain essentials for every believer for effective gospel living.  The church cannot skip over the essentials to be effective in everyday gospel living.

What are the essentials for gospel living? (3:16-17)

1.      The Word of God

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom….”  For God’s Word to dwell IN you would require personal study (II Timothy 2:15), preaching (II Timothy 4:2), and memorizing & meditation of scripture (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2; 119:9-11).

For God’s Word to dwell in you RICHLY would require abundance, not stingy or half-hearted.  This abundance has the impact of producing true wisdom.  So, the word of Christ dwelling in us “richly” is not a side issue, but it is truly THE issue.  As students of the Word, we all recall the profound contrast of the foolish man and wise man throughout the book of Proverbs (Prov. 3:35; 10:1, 8; 12:15)…and we all desire the path and outcome of the wise man’s journey!

This is the last Sunday before our daughters begin the 2021 fall college semester.  When a young person lives in the dorms, there are certain essentials they now need to personally own.  For example, things like an iron and ironing board, bedding, towels, coffee maker, money to wash their clothes are needed to function away from home.

This word “richly” refers to one whole-heartedly embracing God’s Word and soaking it in.  Nothing held back.  All in.  More than enough of the “word of Christ” in your heart and mind.  Is that the description of our heart?  Look at this from a different point of view.  Would our practices change if we were offered $100 for every chapter of the Bible we memorized or for every week we read the Bible 7 days in a row?  Does our love for money motivate us more than our love for Christ motivates us?

On occasion, my wife has made some very rich desserts.  The dessert masterpiece looks amazing!  It looks so amazing that you want a really big piece; however, halfway through eating that large portion you realize the dessert is too rich to eat anymore!

Does the word of Christ dwell in your heart so “richly” that you can barely have room for other things?  Or do other things dwell in you so richly that you barely have room for the word of Christ?

2.      Music

The next phrase of Colossians 3:16 states, “…teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord….”  It is crucial to note that music is regarded as a means to teach and admonish the Word.  Taking the earlier phrase (“the word of Christ dwell in you richly”), we can understand that our hearts ought to be so full of the word of Christ that it flows from our hearts through our voice in song. 

The parallel passage to this teaching is in Ephesians 5:18-20.  This parallel passage is directly connected to the command to be filled (controlled) with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).  So, we can take this as far as saying that singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is the act of a spirit-filled believer.

Music is powerful!  Have you ever seen a video on YouTube where someone removes the soundtrack from a scene, and you get to watch the same scene with the soundtrack and without the soundtrack?  The impact of the music is a game changer!

A man by the name of Dr. Johnson once observed that the ballads written for a nation seemed to carry stronger impact on the citizens than the actual laws did. 

We need to give strong attention to the music in our church.  The music carries strong impact on the life of the individual believer!

This text points out three things regarding our music for the church.  First, our music must be “rich” with the Word!  Second, our music in the church must include psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Third, our music in the church will only be vibrant when spirit-filled believers are present. 

2 SCRIPTURAL EVALUATIONS FOR CHURCH MUSIC:

1.      Is the music a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song?

2.      Does the music teach and admonish sound doctrine?

Please notice something.  Please notice that the Bible does not make mention of whether or not we should sing a song purely based on when it was written.  “Amazing Grace” was written by John Newton in 1772 and first published in 1779.  It was a new song to the masses, but still sung in 1779.  “The Goodness of God” was published in 2019.  This is a newer song that expresses the same doctrine as “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (published in 1923).  The Bible is clear that the standard for our music must be sound doctrine and spirit-filled believers. 

7 Music Pitfalls to Consider:

• MODERN: Do not equate “modern” or “new” with wickedness.  The hymns “It Is Well,” “Redeemed,” and “My Savior First of All” were also modern when they were first written.

• LIFESTYLE: Do not look at the composer’s life and declare all his music must never be sung because of a decision he made.  The approach God gives here in Colossians 3 is to consider the sound Bible doctrine of the words of the song.  If we used such a broad-brush approach for music in the church, we would have to remove many composers and their works.  We are all faulted.  The broad-brush approach would remove several classical composers and all their works from our music libraries.  We would also have to remove the works of Robert Robinson (who wrote “Come Thou Fount”), remove the works of James Orr (who wrote “Search Me, O God”), and who knows how many others.

• TRUSTED: Some composers fall into doctrinal error.  Just because it is written by Charles Wesley (And Can It Be), Fanny Crosby (Blessed Assurance), or some modern-day composer, does not mean the song is automatically Biblically sound. Just because it is an overwhelmingly popular hymn like, Away in the Manger, does not mean it is Biblically sound. This is a huge problem, and each believer must listen to what they are singing!  Listening to what you sing verifies the soundness of the Bible doctrine and confirms you mean what you sing when you sing something like, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” or “In Christ Alone.” 

Spiritual discernment is lacking in today’s church.  This must increase!  Measure all things per the standard of God’s Word.

• OLD LYRICS: Modern day English in the lyrics of a hymn or spiritual song ought not be the cause to reject music for the church.  The presence of the words, “Thy” or “Thou” does not indicate spirituality.  These words indicate the text was written at a time when many people used these words in everyday conversation.  These will also indicate the formality of a song…but it does not indicate the spirituality…at least not from a Biblical perspective.

•  CULTURE: Remember that culture has a part in our music choices.  When our culture does not match up with someone else’s culture, we are not necessarily right, and they are wrong. Both may be right…biblically.  In churches of like faith and practice to our church, there are churches in the southern states of the USA that have a different culture and churches in India or Africa that have a different culture – and that is often reflected in their music – but just because they do not have an American culture does not mean they are wrong.  This issue of music does not revolve around the American culture, it revolves around the word of Christ!

• BOUNDARIES: Do not create boundaries for others where the Lord Himself has not created such distinctions (i.e. - regarding what you believe is good or bad music).  God will lead you via His Holy Spirit … and He will never contradict His Word to lead you! He may lead you to something He has not lead someone else (TV, specific haircut, clothing choices, or specific places to visit).  I would never encourage anyone to sin against their conscience; however, I would encourage you to be sure your conscience has been trained biblically.  Adding things to the scriptures, and saying it goes against my conscience, is not what God taught in His Bible (Prov. 30:5-6).

•  This is where we remember soul liberty as taught in Romans 14:5-12. Soul liberty is where every believer decides what his conscience or soul can choose.  This is always in the confines of scripture and soul liberty is never the justification for disobedience.  Every believer is ultimately responsible to God.  “This is biblical freedom within the confines of the will of God.” (Read more on soul liberty and priesthood of the believer here.)

•  DISTINCTION: The music in the church should always have a distinction that it belongs to God and does not sound like war.  Exodus 32:17-18 rehearses the account of Joshua and Moses coming down the mountain after receiving the writings of God on the tablets.  Joshua turns to Moses and says, “there is a noise of war in the camp.”  That is a very loud, specific sound description.  War sounds desperate, confusing, alarming, and very loud.  Moses says that is not war, but that it was the sound of them that sing.  The Israelites made a golden calf in Moses’ absence, and this was their worship of the false god.  We must take care that the music of the church distinctively belongs to God.

3.      Thanks-Filled Surrender

Colossians 3:17 then completes our text today with these words, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”  Two things sum up our text through this verse.  Number one, everything we do must be done for Jesus.  Number two, everything must be surrounded with a thankful heart.

In the years gone by, I have taken teens to summer camps each summer. The things teenagers have brought to camp are quite comical at times. Some years we have so many teens traveling together that I have to say, “Each teen can only bring one suitcase and a sleeping bag.  Only the essentials people!”  There are years I forgot to give that admonishment and teens show up with two suitcases and a bag.  While I am sure they would like all that their suitcases (plural) contain, I know that they for sure cannot do without the essentials.

The essentials for gospel living are the word of Christ, music, and thanks-filled surrender.  People of God, sure up your foundation for gospel living to be Bible centric!