Daniel Hope

You may have thought it was settled. Perhaps you thought that the churches of Christ would not have to deal with this issue again. But, if you’ve read the article on the front page of this month’s Christian Chronicle, then you understand that the instrumental music issue is anything but settled for some within the churches of Christ. The article in the Christian Chronicle mentions five large urban congregations that have recently implemented instrumental music in their worship services. According to John Ellas, this change is not merely cosmetic but reflects the "theological shift that has taken place."

So now we must be ready to answer the questions concerning the instrument not only from without, but also from within. Not only will we continue to be asked the question, "Why don’t you worship with instruments?" but we likely will also be asked the question, "Why don’t we worship with instruments?" Here’s my question for you: are you ready to respond to these questions?

I’m afraid that some of us are not ready, and therefore may give people reasons for refusing to use the instrument that are anything but legitimate. For example, the reason we choose to worship without instruments is not that we are opposed to change. Our reason for not worshiping with the instrument doesn’t find its strength in tradition or the Restoration Movement. If it did, then one would be justified in asking, "Who’s to say that your heritage is any better than mine?"

Furthermore, let’s not leave the impression that we worship without instruments simply because we think it sounds better without them. Whether or not we think it sounds better without the instrument is not the issue. Our decision to worship without the instrument is not a preference but a conviction. It is not a matter of taste but a matter of truth.

Let’s also remember that the reason we worship without instruments is not that we just want to be different. We’re not worried about losing our identity. We’re not concerned with losing a good marketing strategy. The reason we worship without instruments is not because other religious groups do use them, but because the early church that we read about in the New Testament did not use them.

If you want to discover the practice of the first-century church on this matter, simply read these five passages: Acts 16:25, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16, and James 5:13. Go ahead—look them up and read them! Now that you’ve read them, answer this question: does the pattern that we have been given in the New Testament include instruments? I’m confident that we both agree that the answer is a very clear "No." Therefore, we do not include instruments in our worship to God. It’s that simple. Our commitment to restore New Testament Christianity demands that we not use the instrument in our worship to God. All denominations agree that God would be pleased with singing only—that instruments are not necessary in worship. This is common ground on which we all can stand…and on which we choose to stand.

Advocates for the instrument will often say, "But the New Testament doesn’t say not to use them." That statement, although it doesn’t prove their point, is nevertheless true. To take their statement even a step further, the New Testament doesn’t say anything about instruments in worship to God. And since it doesn’t, we do not have authority from God to use the instrument. It is an extremely dangerous practice to assume that God will be pleased with something for which he did not ask.

Charles Hodge expresses this point well in the February 1998 issue of Gospel Advocate: "The issue is God. The issue is authority. The issue is truth. The issue is not instrumental music….God left the instrument out; we ought to leave it out." Everett Ferguson, in A Cappella Music in the Public Worship of the Church, emphasizes the authority issue in these words: "It [the instrument of music] introduces into the human relationship to God an act lacking specific apostolic authorization" (97).

The bottom line is simply this: we worship without instruments because we do not have any authority to worship with them.