Using a Kitchen in a Rented Hall<\/a>” for additional details relevant to this question.<\/p>\nNow let’s examine the issue. First, a wedding ceremony is not an act of worship. Acts of worship may take place during the ceremony, such as prayers or singing, but the ceremony itself is not an act of worship. God has indicated that He desires to be worshiped with vocal (a cappella) music (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Thus songs offered up in worship to God need to be done in the way God has authorized. If someone wished to play a tune while praising God, I would have an objection to it whether it was in the building or not. But if it is “Here Comes the Bride,” then it doesn’t violate what God has stated.<\/p>\n
Second, the building was purchased with the Lord’s money and so it should be used for the Lord’s work. Some object to weddings being conducted in the building because it is not a work of the church. Others see weddings as something approved by God and have no objection to the building being used for additional purposes that God approves. We must be careful, however, not to fall into the mindset that the building is holy. A church is composed of the people, not the building. It is the people who are to be holy, not the building. When the wedding takes place, it is not when the church has been called out to assemble. A wedding does not take place in the church, that is in the church’s worship service. If we are to say instrumental music is wrong in a wedding ceremony, we must defend the position based on the ceremony, not based on the location of the ceremony.<\/p>\n
Third, a few approach the problem by arguing that the reputation of the church must be considered when the building owned by the church is being used. Instrumental music in the past creep in little-by-little, such as only being used for practice, and then eventually ending up with “well, while it is here, we might as well use it.” There is some credence to this argument. Though instrumental music is not wrong in a wedding, those who use it will have to face the inevitable question of “but you used it then, why not now?” I can understand that some would rather avoid the issue than debate it.<\/p>\n
Finally, even though I can state that instrumental music is not wrong in a wedding, I must recognize that others haven’t reached that particular understanding. Romans 14, I Corinthians 8, and I Corinthians 10 all tell us that we should avoid offending a weaker (less knowledgeable) brother. Since a wedding can take place without instrumental music and doing so will avoid offending those who believe its use is wrong in a church building, then the best route is either to not use instrumental music in the building or find another building to use for the wedding. It is the kindest way to handle the sensibilities of people who might not clearly understand what God has taught on the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I have searched your website and didn’t find any information on this so I am submitting this question: Is it scriptural to have recorded music (not vocal) in a wedding ceremony that is held in the church building? There is a young Christian couple that has asked to have recorded music played only as…<\/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":[292,566],"class_list":["post-7669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-instrumental-music","tag-weddings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50350,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-record-your-own-music-with-instruments\/","url_meta":{"origin":7669,"position":0},"title":"Can you record your own music with instruments?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the Lord's church (Acts 2:41) and am fully aware and fine with the fact that instruments in worship toward God are unauthorized by Scripture (Acts 17:25), and thereby unacceptable (II John 9). However, I read your article Is playing an instrument for a person's\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":15081,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-command-the-use-of-instrumental-music-under-the-old-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":7669,"position":1},"title":"Did God command the use of instrumental music under the Old Law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you think there was a time in the old law that God did command the use of instruments in worship to Him? Such as II Chronicles 29:25-28. Seems like there are split thoughts on this idea. Just wondering about your thoughts. There is no doubt that instruments were\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":38696,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-use-instrumental-music-during-a-talent-show-at-the-building\/","url_meta":{"origin":7669,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to use instrumental music during a talent show at the building?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know musical instruments are not to be used in the\u00a0worship\u00a0setting. But our leadership is too biblical at times. Some are so biblical that they rather call an event a Gospel meeting and not a revival. I know that we must obey those who rule over us, but you\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":16846,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-go-to-a-show-and-sing-along-with-the-hymns-that-are-being-sung-with-instrumental-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":7669,"position":3},"title":"Can I go to a show and sing along with the hymns that are being sung with instrumental music?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can I go to a bluegrass show and sing along with hymns that are being sung with instrumental music? Can I play and sing hymns at home with instruments? Answer: When something is offered up to God, then it ought to be done in the manner in which God\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":19369,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-have-meals-in-the-building-since-eating-together-is-an-expression-of-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":7669,"position":4},"title":"Can we have meals in the building since eating together is an expression of fellowship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone has been arguing with me about fellowship and they say it is okay to have meals together in the building because eating together is an expression of fellowship. He says, \"If eating together and having fun together is not an expression of fellowship, then what is it?\" He\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":15061,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-have-something-on-the-use-of-instrumental-music-under-the-old-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":7669,"position":5},"title":"Do you have something on the use of instrumental music under the Old Law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you have any articles or sermons on the instrumental music used to worship under the Old Law? I understand that the Old Law has been done away with and we don't use instruments in today's worship, but I am just curious about the use of instrumental music in\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\/7669","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=7669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7669\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}