Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Colossians 3:16
I love music. Although I’m not sure how old I was when I got my first record player, I do know I spent hours at a time through elementary, middle, and high school splayed out on my bedroom floor (alone or with friends) playing records. At that time, album sleeves had all the lyrics, so in addition to appreciating the instrumentation, part of my focus was to learn each word of every beloved song.
As a Christian, music is still very important to me—a different genre than before, to be sure. As is the purpose of worship music, these songs can transport us to the very throne of God. And, as the Apostle Paul notes in Colossians 3:16, music (psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs) can effectively teach and admonish (caution) us.
Well, it can. But, sadly, much of today’s “Christian” music is far from what Paul (and many of the Bible’s inspired writers) had in mind.
First, let’s go back to the first part of this packed verse: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom.” Speaking about God’s Word, this term, “to richly dwell” is to permeate—to have every thought, word, and action aligned with the Truth of the Bible. Just like Paul spoke of in Ephesians about the Holy Spirit, we must be controlled by (filled) by the Word. (In fact, being controlled—filled—by the Holy Spirit comes from being controlled—filled—by God’s Word!) Throughout Christian history, preachers were pretty straightforward: They taught the Bible. Not stories focused on themselves with a Bible verse thrown in for good measure. Not pop psychology or cultural activism based on out-of-context Scriptural references.
So, back to music. Those lyrics from the old hymns and songs were solidly based on God’s Word…because the songwriters knew God’s Word. (Because preachers were preaching the Word.) Lyrics were either literally pulled from the Bible (Psalms put to tunes, for instance), or they gave praise and worship to our Holy God for who He is—not touting what we get from Him or any “me-ness” of the relationship. (Well, I take that back…those Truth-filled songs did talk of “me-ness” in the fact that we are wretches and worms without the righteousness of Christ.)
Christian hymns and songs should teach Scriptural Truth to encourage and caution. But if the songwriters—like so many today—are not permeated, filled, and controlled by God’s Word, they cannot accomplish this. What’s worse, in not knowing the Truth of God’s Word, they become heretics—believing and teaching others false doctrine! It’s so heartbreaking to watch those concert videos of tens of thousands of people (mostly youth) singing these “Christian” songs with a sense of rapture, thinking they are accurately worshipping our precious Lord. All too often, they are not only being misled and singing false doctrine, they are simply worshipping at the altar of self.
Lord, keep me permeated with Your Word, so I can worship you in accurate spiritual songs and discern the Truth from lies from the singing mouths of wolves.
encouraged by grace 