Hi,<\/p>\n
With the advent of social media, we hear about these virtual choirs. Do Christians have the authority to do virtual choirs and post them on Facebook? Doesn’t this constitute entertainment because they have an audience?<\/p>\n\t
I can play the card game Solitaire and find it entertaining, even though there is no audience. A congregation jointly singing praises to God is doing so with an audience of themselves. Singing is fun but it is not done for the purpose of entertaining those attending worship but to fulfill a command of God (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Thus, whether there is an audience or not does not get to the root of the question.<\/p>\n
If I sing hymns while putting shingles on my roof, would that be wrong? If my neighbors walked by, I would consider it a form of teaching others about the Bible, just in musical form. A recording of a hymn being sung can serve the same purpose, just without you being present.<\/p>\n
The objection to choirs is in the use of choirs during worship. The music God commanded is for brethren to sing together while teaching each other through the words of the songs. What is found in many denominations is a soloist or choir singing to a passive audience. This is not the type of worship God commanded. It alters the command and, thus, becomes wrong. As a result, groups are chosen to draw crowds. The entertainment is valued far above obedience. The emotions created are valued above what is being taught by the words.<\/p>\n
Virtual choirs among the brethren are Christians getting together to records hymns to teach people through song. It is not a part of a worship service to God. The singing makes the teachings memorable and might increase the likelihood of the hymn being shared with people, but the primary purpose is not entertainment. However, there is nothing wrong with good teaching being entertaining, whether by words or in song.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hi, With the advent of social media, we hear about these virtual choirs. Do Christians have the authority to do virtual choirs and post them on Facebook? Doesn’t this constitute entertainment because they have an audience? Answer: I can play the card game Solitaire and find it entertaining, even though there is no audience.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[759,573],"class_list":["post-23279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-entertainment","tag-singing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20698,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-use-of-parts-justify-the-use-of-choirs-and-solos\/","url_meta":{"origin":23279,"position":0},"title":"Does the use of parts justify the use of choirs and solos?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Choirs and solo supporters say that the entire congregation must sing every word simultaneously. They say \"If we can not have choirs and solos, you can not sing in four-part harmony.\" How can I respond to them? Answer: Given the simple fact that men and women do not sing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15946,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-group-choir-sing-if-it-is-after-the-worship-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":23279,"position":1},"title":"Can a group (choir) sing if it is after the worship service?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the church of Christ and I want to know is group singing OK during a fellowship? Of course, the fellowship service is dismissed and then the group singing begins. Can you please help me with this? Answer: Your terminology is confusing to me because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2845,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/choirs-and-solos\/","url_meta":{"origin":23279,"position":2},"title":"Choirs and Solos","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 13:12-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Satan never stops in his relentless pursuit of God\u2019s people to lead them astray - I Peter 5:8-9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the past, we talked about the introduction of musical instruments into the worship. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We showed from scripture that the practice was not authorized\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67349,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-voice\/","url_meta":{"origin":23279,"position":3},"title":"My Voice","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ\" (Ephesians 5:19-20). Have you ever wondered why God never\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37380,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-a-congregation-using-a-praise-team-to-lead-singing\/","url_meta":{"origin":23279,"position":4},"title":"What do you think about a congregation using a “praise team” to lead singing?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning!! I recently visited a congregation that had a \"Praise Team\".\u00a0 There were 8 adults in front of the congregation (4 males and 4 females). 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After one such visit, I mentioned to someone that the church I visited had communion\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}