Growing up, the religious circle I was part of heavily emphasized music as a line in the sand when choosing a church. Certain music was said to be acceptable in God’s sight and certain music anything but. While the verses and arguments used never fully convinced me, nevertheless, throughout my forty plus years of church-going I have always landed in a church with music basically aligning with what I had been taught was acceptable. Until now.

Due to an unlikely but definitely providential series of events, I am at a church which would have been unequivocally condemned based on the music alone.

You know what I have surprisingly discovered behind these forbidden walls? These people deeply love Jesus and genuinely love others. Actually, I have never experienced anything like it on such a widespread scale and it has repeatedly filled my heart with tremendous joy. The Bible is elevated, holiness pursued, believers equipped, evangelism encouraged, and building meaningful relationships within the body of Christ prioritized.

This post may change absolutely no one’s opinion about whether to judge a church based on music alone, but after what I have witnessed firsthand, I want to publicly testify that if we do judge solely on style of music, we are most assuredly missing out on fellowship with some amazing people who love Jesus and will be singing next to us for all eternity.

Psalm 47:6, “Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.”

Isaiah 12:5, “Praise the LORD in song, for He has done excellent things; let this be known throughout the earth.”

With God’s heavy emphasis on singing throughout the Bible, isn’t it just like Satan to divide Christians over music? I cannot wait till Heaven when all voices will rise in unity, whatever the styles that make the cut, and we will forever praise our Savior. Till then, I cannot wait till Sunday when I will be able to lift my voice in praise once again with those who love Jesus in the here and now.