Why no music in the church of Christ?

michaelG1949 said:

There was a split in the Church of Christ restoration movement many years ago. Ours does use musical instruments and singing. Piano's and organs were considered of the devil because the only places that first could afford them were dance halls and saloons, so we're not deemed proper for church service. Both groups go back to Alexander Campbell and still follow the bible as the only creed or whatever.

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Interesting how inanimate objects which are basically amoral are of the Devil.

Greetings,

Clearly it is a divisive issue. As such, and reading The Spirit through Paul at 1 Cor. 1:10-17, perhaps the question is how shall a brother act towards a brother?

Regards

JimmyK

I think its a matter of balance. Primarily it should be about praise and worship and if a son or two can be dedicated to praising and worshiping God then thats OK. Music isn't the cause for disagreement in some churches. Just as relevant is the many other worldly ideas that have crept into churches that compromise what coming together is all about in worshiping God, Some are being just Sunday worshipers and living a worldly life for the rest of the week.They turn up in their flash new cars with they brand name cloths and go through the motions. The amount of money I see some churches have with the buildings and trappings seems a contradiction to what Jesus taught. In the time of Jesus people were meeting in dingy rooms or anywhere to worship God. So its a matter of priorities. If a church gets the basics right then the music will a consequence and not the main theme.

I can't condemn the use of mechanical instruments, but acapella worship (in the congregational setting) is the closer option for best worshiping God.
Instruments are mentioned throughout the OT, so I don't think it is a coincidence that instruments are NOT mentioned in the NT. If God really preferred them...we would know about it in scripture clearly.
Col. 3:16/Eph. 5:19 tell us we are to speak to one another in "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs...making melody in our heart". And we know in Deut./Revelation that we are not to add nor take away from scripture, so the BETTER choice would be to not use instruments.

However, I do want to make the point that individuals in acapella groups can still be guilty of breaking Eph. 5:19/Col. 3:16, by not singing from the heart in the first place.
And people sometimes (myself included) can get too worked up about/distracted over keeping time/melody/pitch/all the distinguishing vocal parts, that we lose focus on the words...the meaning of the song.
God doesn't want us to perform a concert for Him, He wants us to genuinely give him thanks in song, as well as genuinely care for our brother/sister or outsider to encourage & admonish them through song.

wrong forum sorry

I'm leaving this here (as even though this is regarding Orthodox Christianity, we don't use instruments in worship either, and I think a lot of the reasoning is likely the same as why the CoC doesn't):
https://www.orthocuban.com/2009/07/why-do-the-orthodox-not-use-instruments-in-worship-part-01/
https://www.orthocuban.com/2009/07/why-do-the-orthodox-not-use-instruments-in-worship-part-02/
https://www.orthocuban.com/2009/07/why-do-the-orthodox-not-use-instruments-in-worship-part-03/
https://www.orthocuban.com/2009/07/why-do-the-orthodox-not-use-instruments-in-worship-part-04/
https://www.orthocuban.com/2009/07/why-do-the-orthodox-not-use-instruments-in-worship-part-05/

^I like this quote from part one:

JEAN CAUVIN (JOHN CALVIN): “Musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting of lamps, the restoration of other shadows of the law.”

Even if instruments (and other ritualistic things) were optional, why would we want to broaden our attention out to more and more things? Why don't we all want to have the most pure & focused form of worship we possibly can?
That's one thing I'll never understand with various denominations (and even some things in the CoC)...other than the obvious fact that people often go to for their own entertainment or to give themselves a pat on the back.

In 1832 Alexander Campbell and his Campbellites joined with Barton Stone and his Stoneites and began a new denomination called the Disciples of Christ. By 1906 a splinter group left the Disciples of Christ and began the Churches of Christ denomination which was registered with the United States Census Bureau as a denomination by this name. Traditionally it is claimed that the new group was formed over an objection to the use of musical instruments. That played a small part, along with a split over whether or not children's orphanages should be supported. The rest of the story is that there remained a north-south division within the Disciples of Christ many years after the Civil War. The northern congregations were larger, more well-to-do, and had more elaborate buildings in which they worshipped. They also allowed the use of musical instruments. A piano would have been a lavish luxury to the poorer, more rural congregations in the south. The southern congregations felt that the northern Disciples congregations were too worldly and allowed things that were not authorized in the Scriptures. Those who felt this way joined together and formed the new denomination, the Churches of Christ.

There's nothing in the Scriptures which condemns the use of musical instruments. Jews played musical instruments in the Temple. Of course, the old argument is that pagans also used musical instruments while worshipping. That logic is about to be applied toward guns so they are outlawed in this country. I see a change taking place in the Churches of Christ. There are some who still hate kitchens, pianos, and using more than one communion cup, but they are becoming part of the minority.

If using musical instruments goes against one's personal conscience then I think personal conscience should be followed. But over the years I've seen Churches of Christ folk condemn others to Hell over using musical instruments, the same way they condemn others over having a kitchen in the building. That's just wrong. No one's personal righteousness will be affected one way or another over the use of a piano in worship because our righteousness is imputed to us from Christ.

(I noted that I had commented here in this thread in 2014. After so much time had passed I thought that this was surely a new thread )

I think you cant judge what the early churches said about what we could and couldn't do in worship. There were so many man made rules and regulations according to their own interpretation of what the bible meant that you could feel guilty for belching in church. (another bodily function did come to mind).

I remember the Salvation army band that use to play on the corner of our street as a kid. Years later I ended up being helped by them and fondly remember the church meetings where they would sing good old hymns to some more modern tunes. When I say modern they would use a tune from the 60s or 70s in the 80s and 90s and thats about as far as they went. Some how I cant picture them rapping to nearer my God to thee.

But these simple yet meaningful songs hit home to many young and old and spoke to people just as much as any sermon. What you have to realize is that back in the early times they didn't realize that music was a form of communication just as much as anything. Nowadays music is used to help people with intellectual disabilities. It helps them express themselves when they couldn't through verbal communication. At times people who couldn't speak or who were blind or even deaf it was their only way to communicate. Often their musical ability was enhanced because of their disability and they were gifted.

One example was a blind and autistic boy who amazed his parents by being able to replay songs he had only heard a couple of times on the piano. Back in the time when he was born his mother was told she should be put in a mental ward and there was no hope. But she never gave up on him and prayed and he became a famous piano player. One night while she and her husband were in bed they heard music coming from the living room. They thought they had left the record player on and hear was their son playing classical piano. It was his only form of communication and it changed his life. He went on to learn to song as well and played many concerts. His favorite song was amazing grace and he often played traditional hymns.

and people wonder why church attendance is down

Thankfully God doesn't ask us for numbers, but just to preach truth.

I agree,but the "truth" must be a bed rock gospel essential,i know someone who goes to a church like this,i ask her why they didn't have instruments,she said because the bible doesn't mention them,i said it doesn't mention air conditioning,electricity or PA systems,Music is not an essential,either its presence or absence.

Tull said:

I agree,but the "truth" must be a bed rock gospel essential,i know someone who goes to a church like this,i ask her why they didn't have instruments,she said because the bible doesn't mention them,i said it doesn't mention air conditioning,electricity or PA systems,Music is not an essential,either its presence or absence.

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The difference with things you mentioned and something like mechanical instruments is that instruments directly correlate to the act of worshiping God. All throughout scripture, ever since the beginning, God was very meticulous and serious about how humans were to approach & worship Him (think about Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire)...
Now sure, the coming of Christ stripped away a lot of those external layers so that we could more directly and with a better understanding approach/praise God--however, we should still be careful. It's bad to take the extreme of the pharisees with their additional rules beyond what God said that eventually led to them being hypocrites, however we should not take the opposite extreme...that because of Christ everything is just so relaxed and these items related to worship or salvation are no big deal.
We're still supposed to have a fear of God like the ancient Israelites did. And really it's kind of sad how people gripe over certain things in the modern church...we have it way easier than the Levites did! We should be thankful.

I'm actually one of the very few "conservative" CoC members that would not condemn the use of mechanical instruments in worship. I believe there is evidence for there use--however, I believe there is more evidence for a-cappella worship...that that is a more pure way to worship and actually better for the worshiper as well, not just God.

1 Peter 1:17 "If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth"

Music is sinful