I keep hearing of some who think that we can really improve our singing in worship if we use microphones to amplify the voices of the best singers in the congregation. While at first this might sound like a good idea, everyone should be aware that in place after place this practice has lead to this group becoming little more than a church choir. We often are blind when we start down roads that seem innocent. However, I have been thinking about just who are the "best singers" in the church. I know how we are using the term, but is it possible that God's view of the "best singers" might be far different from ours? Could the following people be the best singers?
Sitting in an assembly is a lonely widow. The years have not been kind to her voice and it often cracks as she sings. She has served the Lord faithfully for many years. For more than forty years she has taught small children in Bible classes and seen many of them become leaders in the church. Her late husband had been a faithful elder who served even better because of her being a godly helpmeet. She had lifted his burdened spirit so many times. Listen to her sing. "To Christ be loyal and be true…" the melody which comes from her heart must make her one of the best singers in the church. In another part of the same auditorium a teenager sits. He did not grow up in the church and failed music in school. He comes from a broken home, but oh how deep his faith is! He has given up former ungodly friends and stands against the peer pressure that surrounds him. You may not like the "sour notes" but the melody from his soul is so encouraging. "O my God, I trust in Thee. Let me be not ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me…" Is he one of the best signers?
Who else is there? There is a wife of an alcoholic husband who is doing all he can to destroy her faith and that of her children. Listen to her. "Be not dismayed what-e'er betide, God will take care of you." Those who sing off-key and are monotone may be our best singers!
Maybe we should have another look at what we are doing.
"What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also" (1 Corinthians 14:15).-4067 Leo Lane, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410