Ridgell's Originals

Thanks for the insight and comments (posted and verbal). I want to respond to some of the other issues I hear discussed in regards to instrumental worship. I do not believe that instrumental music is the key to holding on to the next generation. If it were that simple, we would have already solved the problem. I do think we are in a world that expects worship to be much more experiential. I am not sure adding instruments really speaks to that issue.

I don't believe that remaining non-instrumental insures faithful churches. Churches that do not preach and practice grace, love, forgiveness, and commitment have much greater issues than how they worship. After all, instrumental music still is not a matter of heart, but mechanics. Non instrumental worship can be Spirit filled, uplifting and God honoring. It can also be stale, rote, boring, and dead.

I just can't buy the arguement that going instrumental is a key to reaching the lost. If it were, Jesus would have made sure to let us know about it. The lost of our world are not concerned with the mechanics of worship, but the spirit. And they come because of relationships. I have never had a non believer ask about instrumental worship. I have had many visitors looking to place membership ask about our worship policy. And I have had visitors from instrumental backgrounds ask about it. But even then it doesn't seem to be a big deal. Keeping the instrument out of worship is not going to inspire non believers to beat down our door. It is a non issue to them. Seekers are looking for community, not theology. I am sure they even care that much about theology until they see authentic lives lived in close community.

I do think non instrumental worshippers typically sing more. The more instruments involved, the more difficult it is to get a sense of "singing to each other". However, that is an opinion. It is not theology. It may speak to the wisdom of how we worship, but not to the correctness of how we worship. It also reminds me there is another debate waiting to happen over worship styles: instead of praise teams and contemporary songs, we can argue over guitar versus bands.

Well, these are thoughts, not conclusions. And maybe next time, I'll share where I am personally on this whole issue. Until then, what do you think about these things?