PRAISE TEAMS FOR WORSHIP: ARE THEY WRONG?

To determine whether or not a practice is wrong it is necessary to carefully analyze the matter in the light of Scripture. Some of our churches have recently begun the practice of having a team of good singers sit together near the front of the auditorium, with individual microphones, to help in leading the song worship. Consider the following observations concerning “praise teams.”

It is no more wrong to have two or more song leaders than to have the one we are use to.  Having someone stand before us to lead us in singing cannot be found in Scripture, it is an expedient to help us sing in a coordinated way.

	It is not wrong that good singers sit together.  Such has been done in days past in many congregations, although they were not called praise teams.
	It is not wrong that they sit together near the front of the auditorium.
	It is not wrong for them to sing into microphones. The same principle that would allow our solitary song leader to sing before a microphone would allow them to do so.
	It is not wrong to project the words of hymns on a screen so worshipers can see them.  Such has been done in the past but not with the sophisticated technology we now enjoy. The same scripture that authorizes our use of hymnals would authorize the use of projectors and screens.
	It is not wrong for a church to sing new hymns.  Every hymn in our book was once a new song.
	It is not wrong to sing hymns that are created in a different style or with a different meter than we are accustomed to. The hymns we are presently use to are quite different in form and style to the hymns sung in the middle ages and in Biblical times.  The earliest Christians would have chanted the Psalms or other portions of Scripture. We do little or none of that type of singing.  But God did not specify a specific style of music. As long as we are singing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19).

There are however, some other important considerations regarding the use of praise teams:  If the introduction of praise teams creates conflict and confusion in a congregation, leaders should consider Paul’s words, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace...” (I Cor. 14:34).  “Let all things be done unto edifying” (vs. 26). To those who insisted on using their gift of speaking in foreign tongues in the assembly, Paul said, “thou verily giveth thanks well, but the other is not edified” (vs. 17). Even if a praise team sings well and with good intentions but their presence causes confusion, the church is certainly not edified. Again Paul said, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor.  10:31). To cause confusion among brethren is not to the glory of God.

Those who are obsessed with having praise teams seem to be the preachers and churches that have embraced the broader program of those we know as agents of change. Introducing praise teams is usually part of a package of changes, some of which are clearly contrary to God’s revealed will for his church.  Some of these changes are a willingness to tolerate the use of instrumental music in worship, the use of women in leadership roles in the church, essential changes in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, etc.  Given this reality we should be very cautious when someone proposes that we have a praise team, lest they also want to change other vital aspects of our faith, worship and practice.

Many of those promoting praise teams are also saying it would be acceptable for us to use soloists, singing groups and choirs in our worship assemblies.  Such changes would go contrary to the congregational singing that Christ has authorized, “Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms....” (Col. 3:16).

Shrewd deceivers who wish to introduce major changes into the worship of the church know that such cannot be successfully done in one giant step.  The people will rebel and throw them out. But they can reach their goal by leading the group in a series of small, seemingly innocuous, incremental steps. Then one day they have them just where they wanted them.  The innovation will have been introduced and the people never realized what was happening. Given the prevailing problems facing the church, and given the fact that the promoters of sinful changes are often the promoters of the use of praise teams, we should be skeptical of those doing so. In the current climate, the use of such teams strikes me as unwise and inexpedient. No scriptural criticism can be leveled against the way we have sung God’s praise for centuries past. To continue that practice will do a congregation good and no harm at all.