OPTIONAL: ACAPELLA AND/OR INSTRUMENTAL

Raymond Elliott

The God of Israel had this to say regarding the spiritual status of His people, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6).  Is it possible for spiritual Israel (the church of the Lord) to be destroyed because of the lack of the knowledge of the Word of God?  The answer is a resounding yes!  There is always the probability that the church of Jesus Christ can lose its identity because of ignorance of the Holy Scriptures.  When we do not diligently study the Word of God we often fall short of what God would have us to be and to do; and, it is definite that error will occur in our teaching which will lead to multiple innovations in our attempt to worship God as prescribed in the New Testament.  Many are the members who do not search the Scriptures to know the will of the Lord.  While it is honorable that we are daily readers of the Bible it is another thing to study in depth the meaning of the same scriptures.  Where there is a void in the understanding of the Bible there is the potential of being led astray from the teaching of the Lord.  When this occurs an apostasy usually occurs over a period of time.  We must never assume that all Christians have a proper understanding of biblical matters.  Therefore it is of necessity that elders require of their preachers to present lessons and sermons over a broad spectrum of subjects pertaining to the authority of the scriptures, how to rightly divide the Word of God, the identity of the church of our Lord, acceptable worship as well as the grace and love of God.  There is always a great need for a balance in the preaching of the Word of God. 

 The Lord God required His people in ancient times to propagate His Word to the next generation.  We read in Deuteronomy 6:7-9, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”  Paul instructed Timothy in this manner, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (II Timothy 2:2).  The next generation untaught will be unlearned in the ways of the Lord and there will be the ever present danger of drifting away from New Testament Christianity.  There is factual knowledge and experience to prove this last statement.  You only have to read the writings of preachers, youth ministers and others involved in the leadership of the church to know that there is a woeful lack of Bible based convictions regarding the identity of the church, what constitutes scriptural worship, the importance of baptism and scores of other subjects.  It is rather evident that many of our younger men are reading the writings of sectarian and denominational authors rather than studying books written by our own brethren.  One of the areas in which attitudes have changed over the years is in regards to acceptable music in our worship to God.  Our brotherhood of believers has evolved to the point that some congregations no longer care what others might say about the use of the instrument in their assemblies that they can, without hesitation, present the following in their need for a “Student Minister” to work with them.  Among the qualifications mentioned in their preacher’s blog on October 19, 2006 was that the potential candidate should be “Comfortable with both acapella and instrumental form of worship.”  It is indeed later than we think!  This required qualification will not be disturbing to more members than we might imagine.  It will also be greatly alarming to know just how many of our young men will apply for this position with the Garnett Church of Christ in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

 You can know assuredly that when preachers do not preach on the subject as to why we do not use instrumental music in our worship that there will be a generation of Christians who will not possess a conviction regarding this important matter.  Also, when an eldership and/or a preacher proclaim that while they have no conviction regarding this subject but they will not have the instrument in their worship, it will only be a matter of time that the same congregations will eventually introduce the instrument into some of their assemblies. Yes, spiritual Israel can be destroyed today because of the lack of knowledge of the Word of God.  The church can become simply a denomination with a corruption of the worship to God that is not scriptural.  We all need to remember the words of Jesus when he said to a certain religious group, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lip, But their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8, 9).