Musical Worship in teh Christian Church

Musical Worship

Throughout history, music has been used as a form of worship in the Christian church. From David playing his harp and writing poetry in fields to electric guitars being played in church buildings, we have explored almost every style of music. There are many views on how musical worship should be carried out in the church. So much so that style of musical worship has become a church splitting controversy. People draw lines in the sand and choose not to sway far from what they believe is pleasing to God, but this has led to more division than unity. Through music, these lines can be smoothed over, allowing Christ’s bride to come together as one body to worship Him.

Over the centuries, styles of music have come and gone, not only in the secular world, but also in the church environment. “In the ancient world, the normal way to praise a deity was through melodic words or chant.” (CHI). In 1 Kings chapter 18, we see prophets of Baal chanting to him and although it is never recorded before the time of David, we can assume that Christian prophets and teachers also had their own form of musical worship. The book of Psalm is completely comprised of songs written from David to God. He would often play his harp while tending the sheep. Jumping forward 2840 years to the beginning of the 19th century, we see the use of instruments become much more precedent in worship. Churches have become more locally based and organs are being played on Sunday mornings in almost every sanctuary across the nation.

With the spread of instruments and accessible church buildings, styles between churches became more distinct. While, most churches stayed with the traditional form of worship where an organ player and choir led the congreg...

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