It Is Good to… Learn an Instrument!

One problem I am noticing in churches today is the lack of people striving for music ministry.

David was a remarkable man. He was a shepherd, a warrior, and a king. But he was also a musician. This was a vital part of his faith going back to his days tending the sheep. Without his musical prowess, we might not have this excellent book of Psalms, prayers set to music. David’s encouragement here is: “It is good to give praise to God, accompanied by musical instruments.”

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp, and the melody of a lyre.” –Psalms‬ ‭92‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Our fellowship was birthed in the Jesus People movement of the late 60s and early 70s. There were many challenges in discipling young hippies, but one challenge they did not have was in music. Everyone seemed to have an acoustic guitar on their back and a tambourine in their purse. So when they were born again, they could immediately put their skills to use on the worship stage.

Fast forward to 2022, I see very few people with a heart to learn instruments or to improve their singing abilities, even fewer young people. Maybe it’s because so much of today’s music is produced and polished by computer programs that when someone does pick up an instrument, it doesn’t sound good at first, and they are discouraged from pursuing it further. I see many churches with “legacy” song-service workers, people who have been in their post faithfully for 15, 20, or 40 years. While it is terrific to have long-term faithfulness, we must also encourage newbies to rise up and take their places in the church.

Worship ministry is so critical to the life of the church. It can cause a service to soar or sink. For this reason, I challenge all of you aged 25 and younger to pick up an instrument or a microphone and allow God to use your life to be a blessing to your congregation.

In my own life, I was always a music lover, but I never seriously tried to play or sing before I was saved. As a new convert, I picked up a bass guitar for the first time when I wandered into a choir practice at church. It was never something I considered until that moment. But learning that instrument led to singing in bands and groups and, later on, picking up an acoustic guitar and learning how to hack some chords into a halfway decent presentation. Today, I play guitar in every song service in our church. What if I had never picked up that instrument?

Don’t let the fear of failure or the initial disappointment of bad-sounding music discourage you from pursuing musical proficiency for the Kingdom. If you are musical, invest in your God-given talent by taking lessons or committing to YouTube instructions. There are far more opportunities now than at any other point in human history. Bless your church, bless your pastor, and bless the Kingdom by becoming a good musician and living right.