When Music Hinders Worship

We are a music-driven generation. We have the ability to have music playing 24-7. We have ipods, podcasts, radios, i-tunes, and etc. In church we have praise teams. At conferences and retreats we have worship bands with lights and big speakers. God honoring music played with excellence is an awesome thing. But have you ever wondered if sometimes the music takes the spotlight when in reality it should actually be the spotlot pointing to something greater? Here are a few questions posted by Gilbert Greg on the 9Marks blog that every Christian should read and consider. Let us always strive to put Christ and his Word in the spotlight, and everything else in its proper place in relation to Him.

Questions to consider:

- Do you get bored when someone reads a longish passage of Scripture in your church? Do you start wishing they’d get on with the music?

- Do you need music playing in the background for the reading of Scripture to affect your emotions?

- Does a prayer seem too “plain” or “stark” to you if it doesn’t have music playing behind it?

- Do you feel depressed a few weeks after a worship conference because you haven’t felt close to God in a long time?

- Do you desperately look forward to the next conference you’re going to attend because you know that, finally, you’ll be able to feel close to God again?

- If you’re in a big church with great music, are you able to worship when you visit your parents’ small rural church?

- Do you ever feel worshipful in the middle of the week, at work, at school, etc. just because of thinking about God and his grace? Or does that only happen when the music’s playing?

- Do you tend to feel closer to God when you’re alone with your iPOD than you do when you’re gathered with God’s people in your church?

- Do you feel like you just can’t connect with other believers who haven’t had the same “worship experiences” that you have? Can you only connect with other believers who “know what it feels like to really worship?”

- Is your sense of spiritual well-being based more on feeling close to God, or knowing that you are close to God because of Jesus Christ?