Where's the Piano!?

FOR THE RECORD: Christians who do not use instrumental music in their worship are not opposed to the recreational use of musical instruments at home or in their work. Many are accomplished musicians.

I don't know why it's such an issue, but we in the churches of Christ get needled all the time about why we don't use instrumental music in our worship services. There's a very concise explanation: Instrumental music was not used in the worship of the first century church. Only vocal music was mentioned:

A. Mk. 14: 26
B. Acts 16: 25
C. Rom. 15: 9
D. 1 Cor. 14: 15
E. Eph. 5: 19
F. Col. 3: 16
G. Heb. 2: 12
H. Jas. 5: 13

I say that the voice is a musical instrument. I'm sure many professional
vocalists would agree. Regardless of how you or those around you think you sound, God thinks your voice is beautiful. He loves to hear you sing His praises.

Now, for the long answer:

While the argument has been made that David used musical instruments to worship God, remember that he was also under the old covenant as far as rites of worship are concerned. We're under a totally different law of worship; although there is no mention of God actually sanctioning instrumental music in the old covenant either. As a matter of fact, while God is condemning the complacent in Amos 6: 5, He accuses them by saying, "You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments."

So just how did instrumental music in worship to God come to exist?

The apostles only sang. They practiced true worship, so we can conclude that the use of instrumental music in worship is not necessary to true worship. In 1 Tim. 4:
1-3, Paul warned Timothy of the coming apostasy. One cannot help but draw parallels between this passage and certain aspects of the Catholic church with regard to not being allowed to marry and dietary restrictions. Please understand that I am not prejudiced against Catholics. I have several non-practicing Catholic friends, but I had to make that comparison to go on to the rest of the explanation.

Following the apostasy at some point after the apostles' lifetimes, instrumental music was introduced into the worship services of the Catholic church. In 666 A.D., Pope Vitale I brought in an organ for the purpose of it being used during worship services. Constantinople gifted an organ to the Byzantine emperor, Pepin, for use in the worship of the Catholic church at Campaigne in 757 A.D. After Charlemagne's lifetime, instrumental music was commonplace in the Catholic church's services.

Re-read the scriptural list of references again at the beginning of this post. Now, do they deal in the general or specific? Each of the passages specifically mentions "sing," rather than "music," which is generic. Because we are New Testament Christians, we are "not to go beyond that which is written" (1 Cor. 4: 6). To do so could fracture our unity and God condemns such (Gal. 1: 8-9; 2 Jno. 9-11).

Love Ya,
God Bless!