T. David Gordon on Praise Teams and Biblical Worship...

Are praise bands biblical?  What constitutes biblical worship when it comes to congregational singing and music?  T. David Gordon weighs in on these questions with insight and command of Scripture in an article titled The Problem With Praise Teams at Second Nature Journal.  A few snippets...

There has been a good deal of discussion recently about the Praise Team/Praise Band phenomenon, a phenomenon that has become a liturgical commonplace. Most of that discussion has centered around the practical issues of the expense, the placement of the instruments (front, side, back?), the adjusting of the volume, etc. Many of us regard that cost/benefit analysis of the matter to fall heavily on the “cost” side, and do not regard the practice as being worthy of the effort, expense, and other logistical headaches involved. If a student or former student were planting a church today, and if he asked me whether he should have a Praise Team/Praise Band, I would advise against it on practical grounds. Recently, however, someone asked me if I regarded the practice as biblical or unbiblical, and this provoked me to think about the matter differently. When one asks whether the practice fulfills the biblical duty, the question is framed quite differently, and I now have a provisional opinion on the question of whether the practice is biblical....

... For example, if Justin Bieber showed up and sang several songs for the congregation, would this fulfill what the Scriptures require the congregation to do? Do the Scriptures merely require some musical act of any sort, or do they require a particular musical act? If the entire congregation stood up and hummed “Amazing Grace,” would this satisfy what the Scriptures teach? I suggest that the Scriptures teach three audible things about the singing of praise in the Christian assemblies: that the singing be congregational, that it be together (not necessarily unison, but together), and that it be vigorous (loud or robust)...

... So when I talk about what “the Scriptures teach” about the singing of praise in the Christian assemblies, I do not narrowly mean “what the Gospels teach,” or “what the book of Acts teaches,” or “what the Pauline letters teach,” but what the whole of Scripture teaches about singing God’s praise in Christian assemblies. It is entirely possible that some would disagree with me here, and say that we can settle the matter only by the Acts of the apostles, or only by the canonical Gospels, or only by the epistles, or only by the canonical psalms, etc. I would entertain such an argument reasonably and, I trust, charitably, but I do not embrace such a view. My understanding of tota Scriptura is that we are to account for what the entirety of Scripture teaches on a given matter. When I say that “the Scriptures” teach that congregational praise is congregational, together, and vigorous, I derive those three traits from the whole of Scripture.

Read the entire article Here!