Dealing with Demonic Praise Choruses (Part 2)
In the late 1980’s a young man offered to lead Maranatha Praise choruses with a guitar, adding them to the hymns in our service. Thinking it was no big deal, I said yes – and then got serious blowback from people who felt the syncopated music was demonic and dangerous, even if the lyrics were from the Bible. Ironically, nearly all who complained owned the albums and listened to the praise choruses at home! They simply felt such ‘demonic’ music wasn’t fit for a church service.
To shepherd our little church through that problem, I asked the men of the church join me on a given Saturday for a discussion of the biblical issues surrounding the praise chorus question. We worked our way, verse-by-verse, through Romans 14 which teaches that in “matters of indifference” (things not explicitly commanded or prohibited by God’s Word) we are supposed to operate in love toward one another. If something “offends” a weaker brother, i.e. if it causes him to commit sin, the stronger brother, for the sake of the weaker, should refrain from that thing, even though that thing is not in and of itself wrong.
Applied to praise choruses in the church, I pointed out that neither musical instruments, nor notes, chord patterns, or rhythms are in and of themselves evil or demonic. They are just things. But if a weaker brother believes they are evil and if singing those songs will lead him into truly sinful behaviors, then the stronger brothers must refrain from using such music in the church service.
I applied Romans 14 through several questions. First: Regarding praise choruses in the church, who are the stronger brothers and who are the weaker brothers? (Those opposed to the praise choruses were NOT happy to discover that they were the “weak” brothers!)
Second: Those who oppose the praise choruses – what sin will you be led into by singing them in the church service?
Third: If you are led into sin singing the choruses in church, how is it that you can listen to them everywhere else WITHOUT being led into sin?
It didn’t take long to see we didn’t have any weaker brothers regarding the praise choruses. Just strong brothers with differing opinions on what music should be used in a church service.
After prayer together, I instructed each man to share Romans 14 with his family. If there were weak consciences in their homes that would be led into sin by praise choruses, I told them to let me know about it, and we would refrain for the sake of those weak consciences.
No weak consciences came forward, so we reintroduced the praise choruses – and much to my surprise, families began to leave the church. I visited those who left and asked how they could oppose the choruses in church but could listen to them at home. The answer was always the same: “I want my pastor and my church to be stricter than I am – to stand for what’s right, even if I don’t.” They felt I was too liberal.
Oddly enough, we lost one family who felt that there was something wrong with a church that had to go through a biblical exercise to show that praise choruses were acceptable. They felt I was too conservative.
I was young – not yet thirty years old – working hard to lead back to health a little church that had been on life support. Losing people over such a silly, trivial issue shocked, hurt, and angered me. I spent several years angry at people who refused to accept change.
One day it dawned on me that I struggled with accepting change! I held expectations for how OTHERS should change – and I refused to change those expectations! When the eyes of my heart grasped this, I had to laugh at myself – and I could almost hear the Lord laughing with me and at me!
The praise chorus issue was an early step in that process of change for ME – learning to be more patient, open to more gradual change, accepting that change can take time. The Lord shepherded ME through my own changes so that I could better shepherd others through change.
To shepherd our little church through that problem, I asked the men of the church join me on a given Saturday for a discussion of the biblical issues surrounding the praise chorus question. We worked our way, verse-by-verse, through Romans 14 which teaches that in “matters of indifference” (things not explicitly commanded or prohibited by God’s Word) we are supposed to operate in love toward one another. If something “offends” a weaker brother, i.e. if it causes him to commit sin, the stronger brother, for the sake of the weaker, should refrain from that thing, even though that thing is not in and of itself wrong.
Applied to praise choruses in the church, I pointed out that neither musical instruments, nor notes, chord patterns, or rhythms are in and of themselves evil or demonic. They are just things. But if a weaker brother believes they are evil and if singing those songs will lead him into truly sinful behaviors, then the stronger brothers must refrain from using such music in the church service.
I applied Romans 14 through several questions. First: Regarding praise choruses in the church, who are the stronger brothers and who are the weaker brothers? (Those opposed to the praise choruses were NOT happy to discover that they were the “weak” brothers!)
Second: Those who oppose the praise choruses – what sin will you be led into by singing them in the church service?
Third: If you are led into sin singing the choruses in church, how is it that you can listen to them everywhere else WITHOUT being led into sin?
It didn’t take long to see we didn’t have any weaker brothers regarding the praise choruses. Just strong brothers with differing opinions on what music should be used in a church service.
After prayer together, I instructed each man to share Romans 14 with his family. If there were weak consciences in their homes that would be led into sin by praise choruses, I told them to let me know about it, and we would refrain for the sake of those weak consciences.
No weak consciences came forward, so we reintroduced the praise choruses – and much to my surprise, families began to leave the church. I visited those who left and asked how they could oppose the choruses in church but could listen to them at home. The answer was always the same: “I want my pastor and my church to be stricter than I am – to stand for what’s right, even if I don’t.” They felt I was too liberal.
Oddly enough, we lost one family who felt that there was something wrong with a church that had to go through a biblical exercise to show that praise choruses were acceptable. They felt I was too conservative.
I was young – not yet thirty years old – working hard to lead back to health a little church that had been on life support. Losing people over such a silly, trivial issue shocked, hurt, and angered me. I spent several years angry at people who refused to accept change.
One day it dawned on me that I struggled with accepting change! I held expectations for how OTHERS should change – and I refused to change those expectations! When the eyes of my heart grasped this, I had to laugh at myself – and I could almost hear the Lord laughing with me and at me!
The praise chorus issue was an early step in that process of change for ME – learning to be more patient, open to more gradual change, accepting that change can take time. The Lord shepherded ME through my own changes so that I could better shepherd others through change.