By: Curtis Baker
One of the great imperatives of Christian life is the act of singing together. Have you wondered why this is such an important part of our life together? Why don’t we just come together and read? Or why don’t we just speak to one another? When you think about the action itself it seems strange. Here is a group of people staring at the back of one another’s heads while putting words to melody. What’s the purpose in this? And yet, twice Paul tells us of the importance of singing to one another. (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16)
At least one reason singing is so important is because through singing we speak defiance to the world. This is Paul’s point in Ephesians 5 when he encourages the church at Ephesus to “Be imitators of God.” (Eph 5:1) Imitating God, of course, is in contrast to imitating the world. Throughout the chapter Paul gives an example of the kinds of things we might be drawn to imitating in the world. Chief among them is sexual immortality, impure motives, and greed. But along with this comes obscenity, foolish talking, and course joking. When we are surrounded by such things on a constant basis it is very easy to begin to think that these things are really not all that bad. Sure, we might admit they are not the highest ideals, but at the same time are they really that bad? According to Paul they are, because the immoral, the impure, and the greedy cannot inherit the Kingdom of Christ. (5:5) Instead, Paul says, we should live as children of light. (5:8) Light is not intended to mix with darkness; light exposes the darkness for what it really is. Therefore we should be careful how we live, not as unwise, but as wise. (5:8-16)
All this sounds good on paper, but the question then comes to mind, “How do we live such lives when the world around is so influential?” According to Paul, this is where singing makes a difference. The songs we sing, and the story they tell, help us to defy the evil influence of the world. We can see how this is true by how deeply songs plant the word of God and the story of God in our heart. It may be true that we have never memorized one verse of scripture out of a Bible, but if you have been singing hymns in the church all your life you know far more scripture than you know. For example, finish the following phrases: “Be still and know….” “The Lord is in his holy temple….” Even Paul uses a quote in 5:14 that may have been a part of their ancient hymns: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” With words like these embedded into our hearts through song we build up our defiance to the world.
All of this is a part of living a thankful life. According to what Paul says in 5:4 thanksgiving is what replaces all those things in our heart which are improper for God’s holy people. It is the void in our heart that leads us toward the sexual impurity, greed, obscenity, and drunkenness spoken of in this chapter. But if our hearts are full with thanksgiving, accompanied by the joyful songs we sing of God’s story, then defying the world becomes a real possibility.
Next time you come to the worship assembly keep all this in mind. Through singing you are not just going through some ancient meaningless ritual, you are helping yourself and your fellow brothers and sisters build themselves up for the life we have been called to in Christ. It is a joyful life, and we have much to give thanks over, so let us every week make melody in our hearts, encouraging one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
“Sing the wondrous love of Jesus….”
(Don’t forget to join me for A Message from the Heart radio program Sunday evening at 8:00pm on KJAK 92.7FM, or streaming live at www.kjak.com)
(curtisbaker@hotmail.com)
Write to: P.O. Box 157 Slaton, TX 79364
