Introduction
Are drums and other instruments okay for corporate worship? Pastor Jim Butler explains the regulative principle of worship, and why simple singing, not entertainment, is the New Covenant pattern.
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Transcript
Keywords: regulative principle of worship, musical instruments, New Covenant worship, Old Covenant worship, drums, a cappella singing, psalms hymns spiritual songs, simple worship, Reformed theology, corporate worship
Speakers: Wim Kerkhoff (host), Pastor Jim Butler
The Question
Wim Kerkhoff: Are drums and other musical instruments okay for corporate worship? For someone raised on organ only, piano only, or psalms-only a cappella worship, if their church has other instruments, how should they think about it?
The Regulative Principle of Worship
Pastor Jim Butler: I’d say no, and the reason is a covenantal argument. The covenant you’re in regulates the way you worship, and the New Covenant is clear that worship is simple. We sing the Word, we pray the Word, we preach the Word, we see the Word in the sacraments. Traditionally in the Reformed world this is called the regulative principle of worship: we do what God commands, and we’re not free to do anything else. In the New Testament you don’t see drums, organs, or pianos. You see simple worship, singing the Word to God in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
The Old Covenant emphasized musical instruments, mandated by God for temple worship, alongside a temple, a priesthood, sacrifices, and incense, all unique to Old Covenant worship. The New Covenant carries the same underlying principle, that we come before the one true and living God and worship him, but based on the covenant we’re in. We are the priesthood now, we are the temple, we have the great High Priest, our Lord Jesus, and so we come to him simply. Older authors explain that Jewish worship under the Old Covenant had a carnality suited to that covenantal age, not necessarily sinful, but in the New Covenant, Christ has come, and we worship in spirit and in truth, which I take to mean Trinitarian worship: to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit. That’s a simple approach, not marked by temple building, sacrifices, incense, or priesthood.
Wim Kerkhoff: Most of those Old Covenant things, the sacrifices, the tabernacle, pointed to Christ and are fulfilled. But a harp or trumpet isn’t a type or shadow of Christ.
Pastor Jim Butler: They were specifically commanded by God for worship, though. If we take the regulative principle as stated, we do what God commands, and there’s no New Testament statement telling us to make a drum or an organ, as beautiful as they may sound, and bring it into worship.
What About the Piano? Element or Circumstance?
Pastor Jim Butler: The big debate is whether instruments are elements of worship or circumstances that help us comply with the element of singing. That’s an intramural debate, which is probably why we have a piano and haven’t sold it at a garage sale yet. There’s a good book on this by a Reformed Baptist pastor called Old Light on New Worship, a case against musical instruments, and the author’s conclusion is: if you have a piano, don’t sell it, but if you’re persuaded by the argument, don’t add more instruments. The better part of wisdom.
Wim Kerkhoff: It’s worth asking why you’d want to add more instruments. Is it for a better, more subjective, emotional experience, or is it really supporting the singing better?
Why We’re Singing A Cappella
Pastor Jim Butler: I’ll go on record, I hope to communicate this to our church more formally soon. People have asked why we’re singing a cappella now, whether it’s my preference. No, we did it at the conference, it was great, and people asked if we could do it more often. The more we do it, the more people say they really like it. It’s not me smuggling in an attempt to get rid of the piano, nothing nefarious. It’s that our church sings well. If we didn’t sing well, we’d fill it up with more piano. Even with just ten people at a Bible study, it’s great singing, so let’s utilize that.
Not Bongos and Guitars: Avoiding Entertainment Worship
Pastor Jim Butler: For our church, at least on our watch, there won’t be bongos and guitars. Reformed churches might have an organ or piano, maybe a violin, but out in the evangelical world you’ve got very talented musicians and it becomes more of an entertainment session or a rock concert than it does true worship of God. We’re not there to see a guy shred on a Les Paul guitar. You can watch better shredding on YouTube than you’ll see on a Sunday morning, but that’s not why we’re at church.
Music’s Power to Shape You
Pastor Jim Butler: Augustine warned that music has great potential to lead you toward God or away from him. John Price’s book Old Light on New Worship makes that psychological point too, that music really does have power. I had the radio on once, an older song came on, and I started getting stirred up emotionally, and it verified that principle. You put horrible things in a nice package, and people receive horrible things. Some songs are genuinely terrible, putting horrible things in a good-sounding package, and people are shaped by that medium. What people watch and listen to shapes their mind and their philosophy. It’s the same with music: you could be singing the worst possible things, but if it’s melodic and sounds nice, people don’t notice. That’s why there’s more emphasis on singing psalms: you’re not going to go wrong with them, because God wrote them.
Wim Kerkhoff: Some of them are paraphrases, a fair number, but they’re still pretty good.
Pastor Jim Butler: That’s certainly something to be cautious and careful about, but yes.
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