MUSIC
The music distinctives of Faith Baptist Church are intended to guide the congregation in corporate worship in our specific local church context. These distinctives are not intended to be used for application to musical listening or enjoyment outside the church. Colossians 3:16-17 gives us a good biblical foundation for church music.
God-centered – “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
In the spirit of John the Baptist’s words in John 3:30, the church ought to strive to lift high the name of the Lord. In a culture that increasingly lifts man up, we must strive to make God the focus of our worship. In this way, we guard against man-centered Christianity. Songs sung at Faith Baptist Church seek to emphasize God’s work and not our own.
Doctrinal Accuracy – “teaching and admonishing…”
Sound doctrine is emphasized throughout the New Testament (2 Timothy 1:13, 2:2, Titus 2:1). Indeed the church is the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Musical lyrics teach, often times far more effectively than words that are merely spoken. Since we are commanded to teach one another “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” we ought to take special notice of the doctrinal accuracy of our musical lyrics.
Doctrinal Richness –“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…”
A song can be doctrinally accurate, but lack spiritual depth. At Faith Baptist Church, we look past shallow repetition and vague nuances and aim for lyrics of substance and clear biblical truth.
Conservative Relevance – “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”
As a church we recognize the biblical command both to “hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and to “sing to the LORD a new song” (Psalm 96:1). We recognize the richness, beauty, and congregational sing-ability of many of the traditional hymns. We also recognize the same qualities in many modern hymns and contemporary worship songs. We make it our aim to sing songs that are both in keeping with our FBC distinctives and that are sufficiently intelligible to our community. However, we strive to resist calibrating the music of the church solely in attempt to draw a crowd or fit a vogue.
Deferential Love – “…one another…”
We sing to the Lord for the purpose of magnifying His glory, but we also sing with the secondary purpose of edifying one another. In light of the reality of various musical backgrounds and interest dispersed across multiple generations, we aim to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). A healthy church does not gather as individuals seeking to be entertained by their preferred music style, but as Christ’s body seeking to build one another up and give “preference to one another” (Romans 12:10).
Congregational Orientation – “called in one body”
When the congregation sings, it is a foretaste of what is to come in eternity (Revelation 19:1). The voices of saints together in unity is a powerful display of Christ’s redemption of the church. This, along with our God-centered distinctive, gives us great caution against spotlighting solo performances in the assembly. In the same vein, our aim is that the instrumentation accompany the voices of the congregation, not overwhelm or marginalize congregational participation. Our aim is for vocal leaders to lead the congregation in unity, not showcase their talents.