Strike Up the Band (Psalm 150)

When Tammy and I were on our honeymoon, we visited a small church in Sarasota, Florida. (At least by the standards of the South it was small). The congregation was a part of the Church of Christ denomination. Neither Tammy or I had visited a Church of Christ congregation before so we didn't know what to expect. We did immediately notice that some things were different. Chief among those differences was a lack of instruments. In the sanctuary, there was no guitar or organ. Not even a piano could be found. In fact, even the human voice seemed to not be trusted as an instrument of praise. I remember that there was a note of the hymnal that said something to the effect of unison singing only. Singing the harmony or singing in parts would not be permitted.

The Church of Christ is a denomination that does not allow for practices not found in the New Testament. Since instruments are not explicitly mentioned in the New Testament, they are not allowed in church. (Of course, air conditioning isn't mentioned in the New Testament either. But they had air conditioning. I certainly wasn't going to quibble over that point on a hot June day in Florida.)

I am glad that Fellowship Bible Church takes a broader view of Scripture. Instruments may not be mentioned in the New Covenant, but they are a celebrated part of the Old. In Psalm 150, God is praised with many different instruments. (He is even praised with dancing!). It is clear from Psalm 150 that ancient Israel's worship of God was loud and energetic. Enthusiasm was not one thing that Israel's worship lacked. We use instruments of many different types because they help us show how enthusiastic we are for the worship of our Savior and Creator. Piano and guitar and drums help us communicate our joy at how great our God truly is.

I am glad that I don't worship at that church in Sarasota each Sunday. And I am also thankful for our FBC instrumentalists who lead us in praise and worship of our mighty God each Sunday.