The Joy Of Zealous Singing (April 4, 2004)

May I be bold and ask you all to sing louder?

This past week I had the pleasure of participating in a Haitian
worship service in Rogers Park. It was the second time I've heard
Haitian Christians sing, and the second time I've been happy to hear
how loud they are. The roof rattles not because of electric
amplification but because the thronging worshipers like to belt it
out.

Seventeen years ago a Catholic friend of mine came to visit the
Protestant church where I was speaking, and afterward he talked about how different the singing was at our church. "Catholics sing in a
whisper," he said. "You guys sing LOUD." He wasn't complaining - in
fact he wished his fellow Catholics sang as we did. I'm reminded of an
old Reader's Digest anecdote where a Catholic choir director told his
singers, "I'm going to pay you the ultimate compliment. Today you
sounded like Protestants!"

Maybe some day I'll say at Faith Bible Church, "Today you sounded like
Haitians!"

I know that not everybody likes to sing, and some can't sing at all.
And I know that voice volume corresponds less to spirituality and
maturity than it does to simple enthusiasm. I also know that decibel
level will often be dictated by cultural expectations: Asians will
sing softer than Blacks as surely as Episcopalians will stand stiffer
than Charismatics. And I even know that my hero, C. S. Lewis, despised congregational singing and wanted less of it. (I never dismiss anything Lewis wrote without first thinking very hard about why I might be wrong.)

But with all those qualifications duly noted, it is still inescapably
biblical to sing loud to God. See Isaiah 12:6: "Shout aloud and sing
for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among
you," or Psalm 95:1: "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us
sing aloud to the Rock of our salvation." It is more fun to sing loud.
I think it makes visitors more favorably disposed to us. I know it
encourages the song leader. And, I believe, when matched with purity
of heart and zeal of spirit, it brings greater glory to God.