FALLACIES ABOUT SINGING

When it comes to singing songs of praise to the Lord God, our concepts of such need to be based on the teaching of the New Testament. Sometimes, though, when it comes to singing in worship, Christians accept ideas that simply are not true. Since such fallacies often influence the mindset and actions of others, we need to be aware of their danger.

A common fallacy about spiritual songs is that it does not matter what we sing, as long as we are sincere when we sing it. While it is true that our worship must come from a sincere heart (John 4:23,24), the Bible also says that when we sing, we teach others (Colossians 3:16). It is just as wrong to sing a falsehood as it is to preach one. The content of every song that we sing needs to harmonize with the Bible.

A second fallacy about singing is that if I am convinced that I do not have what humans would count as “a good singing voice,” then I am relieved of my responsibility to sing. The message of Ephesians 5:19 is for every child of God “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Those members of the church who refuse to sing should seriously consider what the Master said: “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

A third fallacy which some have is that it is cool to sing without using a songbook, even if you do not know the words of the song. All saints of God are instructed to sing, and by such singing we admonish one another (Colossians 3:16). When I do not sing along because I do not know the words, obviously I am not doing any admonishing, am I? What if everyone in the entire congregation followed the same practice of not looking at the songbook during the singing? We would surely have some “dead time” in the middle of certain songs - that would not be much admonition, would it? If one thinks it is childish to use a songbook, he needs to be reminded that singing praises is a spiritual activity that is supposed to come from a heart that wants to honor the Creator, not look macho in the eyes of our peers.

A fourth fallacy about singing is that if the song leader leads more than one verse of a closing song (or all the verses of a “regular” song), that makes worship too long and is an infringement on my personal free time. Bless your heart, unless the elders decide otherwise, it is the song leader’s prerogative to decide how many verses of each song will be sung. I personally love singing the “extra” verses.

- Roger D. Campbell