There is a common misconception in the church that music is nothing more than a "means to an end," and, though nothing could be further from the truth, it has become the well-accepted battle cry for both sides in the wars fought by churches over the issues of style and worship.
Unfortunately, even pastors have often fallen prey to the belief that music is a "tool" for congregational manipulation and "mood setting." By God's grace, however, popularity doesn't mean biblical. When we take the time to crack the spines of our Bibles, we are greeted with a far more developed theology of music. Music is worship. It is not a means to worship; it is worship in itself. Of course we are talking here about sacred music, but, even secular artists approach music as an end in itself, not just a means to a paycheck. The scriptures bombard us with scenes of singers and instrumentalists (not to mention other types of artists like gold-smiths and dancers) whose artistic expression is an act of worship before the Almighty God. Never, at least as far as I know, do we find music used in the Scriptures as a means to worship. In his Church Dogmatics, Karl Bart writes that "the Christian Church sings. It is not a choral society. Its singing is not a concert. But from inner, material necessity it sings. Singing is the highest form of human expression" (Vol. IV, Part 3, Chapter 16, Par. 72. #4). Similarly, the Commission on Christian Worship for the Reformed Church in America writes that "human music making participates in the music of creation and reflects the order, beauty, and diversity of God's creation" (The Theology and Place of Music in Worship, 1996). Those who know me well, know that I dabble in the art of music composition. Though most of what I write is for solo voice and piano, I have put pen to paper in the styles of "traditional" hymnody and "contemporary" chorus. Every note and lyric is carefully chosen, and though few bother to think about it, even style is more than an arbitrary choice on the part of the composer. The process of composition is a mysterious one. A piece of music, whether for solo performance or for congregational singing is both the result of worship and an act of worship. Music, when sung by a performer or a congregation, is an expression of our souls - it is the intimate communication between humanity and divinity. To treat it as a means to worship is to ignore the fullness of what God has created it to be. Of course, there are other dimensions to sacred music. It can be pedagogical; it can be theological; it can even be, at times, prophetic. Sacred music can (and ought to) communicate our word to God and God's Word to us. It is not arbitrary; it is not entertainment, and, it is definitely not a tool for congregational manipulation.