by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
Have you ever heard musicians practice?<\/p>\n
There’s usually a period of tuning and warming up before they start playing. Every instrument is being plinked and plucked, tapped and tweaked in order to be in tune with the others. But goodness, what a racket that is! With a variety of instruments all being calibrated to different degrees, it sounds just like what it is, a hodge-podge of noise. And if one or more of the instruments is just slightly “off” when they begin playing, it’s quickly noticeable. But what sweet music they make when they’re all in tune and in sync!<\/p>\n
Our singing to God is like that. Sometimes we can be out of tune; that is, there may be some distraction, sin, or stumbling block that keeps us from being completely in line with God’s will. And when one Christian is out of whack with the rest of the group, it has an effect on everyone. The results of our concerted efforts aren’t what they could, or should, be.<\/p>\n
So, Spirit-inspired Paul reminds us that our offering to God is done with dual instruments: the voice with which we make our praise heard, and the heart from which our devotion springs. That’s why God’s people today don’t use mechanical instruments in their worship of God. He’s not looking for an artificial orchestra, but a sincere symphony of hearts and voices in tune with His will. So, tune up and let’s make some music.<\/p>\n
“Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:18-20).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores Have you ever heard musicians practice? There’s usually a period of tuning and warming up before they start playing. Every instrument is being plinked and plucked, tapped and tweaked in order to be in tune with the others. But goodness, what a racket that is! With a variety of instruments all being…<\/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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[456],"class_list":["post-90674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-unity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92731,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/make-melody-in-your-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":90674,"position":0},"title":"Make Melody in Your Heart","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Text: Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16 These two familiar scriptures on singing spiritual songs are set in a context of a \"time of reformation,\" in which the carnal and earthly temple and instruments are given their spiritual fulfillment in Christ. In contrast to the Old Testament or\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":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":90674,"position":1},"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":40869,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-sing-and-play-with-unbelievers\/","url_meta":{"origin":90674,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to sing and play with unbelievers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My friend studied music in a university, graduated, and joined the state music band, which means he will always play in state events. However, He was disfellowshiped by the church on the grounds of playing instruments and singing with unbelievers. Is this right or wrong? In addition to this,\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":18047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/instruments-of-music-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":90674,"position":3},"title":"Instruments of Music in Worship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford I think the use of musical instruments in our assemblies is a worthwhile subject for a couple of different reasons. First, it\u2019s something that stands out about our services as compared to church services elsewhere. Visitors to our assemblies are nearly guaranteed to notice that we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/organ-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39088,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/revelation-14-and-the-harps\/","url_meta":{"origin":90674,"position":4},"title":"Revelation 14 and the Harps","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer I'm dealing here with a very narrow aspect of the question of instruments in worship. In support of the use of instruments in worship, we often hear Revelation 14 brought up. Because this passage is used positively, and because it involves the use of instruments, then this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Harp-219x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45241,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/psalmois-cant-be-understood-figuratively-it-has-to-refer-to-its-classical-meaning\/","url_meta":{"origin":90674,"position":5},"title":"Psalmois can’t be understood figuratively. It has to refer to its classical meaning.","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question is regarding the use of instrumental music to worship God in relation to Ephesians 5:19. \"speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord\". The view presented on your website is that the noun \"psalmois\"\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\/90674","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=90674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}