A distinguishing mark of Christians is how we sing. We express our joy through musical praise, and our gatherings rightly involve singing. Many world religions don’t involve singing. Some use repetitive chants, while in others only the clergy sing. The reason is simple: Other religions don’t have the good news of the gospel.
The liberated people of God are a singing people. Oppression and works-based righteousness don’t fuel praise, but grace does.
So we, as Christians, write songs, hymns, and spiritual songs; we sing them in good times and bad times; we sing them to God and to one another; our songs have theological depth and artistic beauty. We even sing songs at funerals and at gravesides, because when we grieve, we don’t grieve as those without hope.
For years the liberated people of God have filled the earth with song, and one day we will fill heaven with song. And the Bible—from Genesis to Revelation—contains many expressions of musical worship. In fact, as you get to Revelation, you’ll find about 14 hymns recorded in that final book of the Bible.
I love what Martin Luther said about music: “Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the word of God through music.”
So we have Matt Boswell on the podcast today to talk about music and singing. Matt is a noted worship pastor and church planter. He’s been leading worship and involved in church planting since 1995. Matt is a gifted writer of theologically rich songs, and is a most encouraging brother.
You can listen to this episode of Churches Planting Churches here.
Free eBook by Tim Keller: ‘The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness’
Imagine a life where you don’t feel inadequate, easily offended, desperate to prove yourself, or endlessly preoccupied with how you look to others. Imagine relishing, not resenting, the success of others. Living this way isn’t far-fetched. It’s actually guaranteed to believers, as they learn to receive God’s approval, rather than striving to earn it.
In Tim Keller’s short ebook, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness: The Path To True Christian Joy, he explains how to overcome the toxic tendencies of our age一not by diluting biblical truth or denying our differences一but by rooting our identity in Christ.
TGC is offering this Keller resource for free, so you can discover the “blessed rest” that only self-forgetfulness brings.
