Speaking When God Has Not Spoken

In his third speech to the children of Israel Moses stated this great truth in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” In short, there are some things that God has revealed to us through the Holy Scriptures for us to know and to do while He has chosen not to make known all of His infinite wisdom. The apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:11, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” The only way we can know what God wants us to know of the things that pertain to life and godliness is through the word that the Holy Spirit has given us (II Timothy 3:16,17; II Peter 1:3). Yet it is very common to hear denominational preachers assert that God has spoken to them directly and that their hearers should accept that as a matter of fact. I suppose that we can expect this of men who are not satisfied with the Holy Scriptures. But it is very disappointing to read where a brother in Christ has spoken when God has not spoken on some subjects.

This brother, like so many brethren of the liberal persuasion, has been very critical of the slogan that we have used over the years and that is to speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent. In particular he has reference to the use of instrumental music in our worship assemblies. He wrote, “Most of the old arguments were lame, built on shoddy hermeneutics.” He would declare that our argument on the silence of the Scriptures regarding instrumental music would indeed be faulty. Yet he has the audacity to speak where the Bible is silent on this matter of the use of instruments in our worship assembly. He writes, “So here’s my take on instrumental music: GOD DOESN’T MUCH CARE” (Emphasis mine, RE). Now how does he know that? Where in the Bible is it written that God said He doesn’t care if we use instrumental music in our worship assemblies? Furthermore this brother wrote, “So God bless the drums/guitars/saxophones that are played for the glory of God.” Well if God doesn’t care, why not use an entire orchestra when we are singing during our worship. My brethren it is no wonder that so many of our young men and women have no problem with the use of instruments in our worship assemblies when this brother who is a preacher/educator and editor writes in this manner in his daily blog on the Internet.

This brother speaks of the church as having a “heritage of being a cappella” and our being in “the a cappella tradition.” In other words he is saying that the church is simply a denomination and that we have a heritage and tradition of singing chapel style, that is, without the addition of instrumental music. And that we “don’t need to be ashamed of it.” This brother would assert that “Preserving this a cappella heritage isn’t as important to me as it is to others.” He would also write of the nonuse of the instrument, "That doesn’t mark us as being the REAL people of God or as being RIGHT” (Emphasis, his).The word tradition(s) is used in at least two different ways in the New Testament. In Mark 7:12, 13, Jesus said, “then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.” The traditions of men are handed down from generation to generation. The tradition that Jesus spoke of in this context violated he word of God. The use of instrumental music in the worship assembly did not originate with the first century church nor was it condoned in the word of God. It was a tradition that began in the Roman Catholic Church and it was centuries later that the protestant churches began using it in their worship assemblies. Since this tradition is an addition to the worship of the church that has not been ordained of God it is a violation of his word. Jesus condemned such when he used the words of Isaiah (29:13) in Matthew 15:8, 9, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with they lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

There is another use of the word ’traditions’ in the New Testament that relates to the truths spoken orally by men who were inspired of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote in II Thessalonians 2:15, “Therefore brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” These were ordinances that were given by Paul and were to be obeyed by Christians because they were in actuality requirements from the Lord. So the ‘tradition’ of singing without the addition of musical instruments is one sanctioned by an inspired man as found in Ephesians 5:19, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” This is the scriptural tradition of the church, which is, singing a cappella (chapel style) without the addition of musical instruments.

Brethren it may be that we have been affirming a negative too long, that is, why churches of Christ do not use instrumental music in our worship assemblies. While we may need to approach the study of this subject in this manner, it should be understood that those brethren who advocate and use the instrument have the burden to prove why they use the instruments. In other words it is their responsibility to justify by the New Testament the addition of instruments of music in the worship assembly. While this brother makes light of our arguments against the use of the instrument he does not make effort to prove that instrumental music is scriptural. Let us remember that our worship must be in “truth” as well as in “spirit” (John 4:24).

Works Cited
PreacherMike (Mike Cope’s blog), Inorganic Music, May 10, 2006

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