Here’s one fact --- If you want vibrancy in any ministry, employ the help of young people. Before any adult throws his/her protest on me, let me tell everyone that I am not saying that adults can’t have the same effect in ministries like young people do. I have been a witness to the significant contributions of adults in church ministries in the past. Praise the Lord for the adults in our churches! I am saying this fact with the youth’s almost limitless availability in mind. Young people are less tied-up with life-concerns than adults are. And so, if you want to right away mobilize Christians to action, there are always a lot of young people who will be available to enlist in your program, you can always count on that.
I can certainly testify to this. When I was contemplating about two years ago to start an evangelism ministry, my question was, "Who should I tap to help me with this?" Because of my work as an assistant principal in a private school in our province, I’ve known and developed relationships with a lot of young Christian students (past and present) in our school. It only took me one snack date with them to convince them to join me in a ministry with a primary focus on evangelism. And so, the Star Youth Ministries (SYM) was born. Soon enough, we were going to places preaching the gospel, WOTM style, and training others to do so as well. My hopes were high that I can challenge more Christian young people to be more involved in sharing the gospel as we went on. But my experience of easily convincing the core members of SYM to join me in fishing for souls proved to be one of a kind as the ministry of evangelism, I realized, has a competitor ---the music ministry.
A lot of Christians, young and old, have been drawn to music as their primary service to the Lord, leaving very few people available in the ministry of sharing the gospel to unbelievers. I have nothing against the music ministry in churches. I have been a music director of a church for more than 5 years before SYM was conceived. Before that, I was a member of a professional Christian choral group that was quite popular as it regularly holds Christian concerts in major venues not only here in the Philippines, but in other countries as well. Once, I even won first prize in a song writing competition. Music definitely flows in my veins. May God bless the music ministries in churches. What disappoints me about music in churches is that it has been used as a substitute to the direct preaching of the gospel in reaching souls for Christ. I even heard and know of churches that have great music ministries but no evangelism program whatsoever has been set up. Christian groups would stage concerts with really great music (but with very little evangelism elements) to entice unbelievers to join their church. And if people do join their church, they would right away give them the title of a “Christian”. What happens next is that these people would continue going to church and, maybe, join a particular ministry like, say,… the music ministry, and believe that they’ve been converted when in truth, no godly sorrow that worked repentance to salvation (2 Cor. 7:10) really happened. You then see these people living a completely different life when outside the four walls of their church, delivering a rotten testimony to other unbelievers in behalf of the true children of God.
Do we really think that music can truly deliver the complete gospel message and bring people on their knees to repentance and faith on Jesus Christ? I once asked a pastor while in an event he had a hand in organizing that hoped to hook people to Christ with worship music as bate if he had ever heard a Christian give a testimony that says that he got saved because of a Christian song he had listened to. He admitted that he had never heard such a thing. Then I told him that it's because it’s always the preaching of sin, righteousness, judgment and then God’s show of love that will bring people to repent and to put their total faith on Jesus Christ. He agreed with me. No argument whatsoever. And then out of nowhere, he told me that around only 40% of the people that go to his church (a church which likewise places a heavy emphasis on music) he can truly consider as true converts. He must have had a realization of what I was talking about. It’s so sad that this is happening in our present time. There are churches that I know that would even stage what they claim as an “evangelistic concert” but will never have any preaching in any part of their program. They will argue that the songs themselves can serve as the message.
Here’s something to think about --- Can you recall Jesus organizing a choral concert with his disciples as the singers in any of his crusades in place of his preaching? I can assure you this --- You won’t find any. In fact, the Bible mentions only one instance where Jesus took part in some singing, and this was after the Last Supper before they went to Mt. Olives (Matt. 26:30 / Mark 14:26). Jesus spent a big amount of time during His ministry preaching to crowds of people about the need to repent of their sins. He was 90% of the time in the open-air, enduring the heat of the sun during His evangelistic ministry, not singing, but preaching.
So why has music replaced direct preaching as a way of winning souls for Christ in the recent years? I can provide some answers from my personal observation. The first reason is because everyone enjoys music, but the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18). It’s so easy to bring someone to listen to some singing. The same though cannot be said of preaching. But if we focus on making an unbeliever enjoy our church music rather than him realizing the need to repent and to put his trust on Jesus because of how much he has offended God, he will be in church for the wrong reason --- to be entertained. I have talked to several young people who claim to be Christians in the Star Youth Students' Center who are not sure why they are in church. What they are sure though is that they enjoy very much the music that plays in their churches. Then if you ask them how one can become a Christian, they would give you so many ways but the one that would always stands out is that if you always worship God in songs.
Another reason I can give you is that a lot of Christians today are sissies when it comes to one-to-one witnessing. There are even some who will freeze in fear just by the thought of them giving out gospel tracts. But making music in front of people? They could easily handle that. Piece of cake! A walk in the park. They believe that anything that involves dealing the sinfulness of people would put them in a lot of potential rejection and humiliation, and they don't want that to happen. They are so concern about their public reputation. With music, there is less chance of rejection and humiliation. Instead, you can even expect people applauding you after a great rendition of a worship song. And here they are boasting that they are glorifying God every time they sing when in fact, it’s themselves they are lifting up. Let us all remember that in serving the Lord, we should lose ourselves even to the point that people already feel that we’ve lost our minds so that only God will be glorified (2 Cor. 5:13).
Thirdly, some Christians believe that there are people whom God calls to the ministry of evangelism, and some are not. There are those who would say that their calling is to be involved in giving, or in intercessory prayer, or in discipleship, or in music, etc. There are even some who would make a big deal about them serving as ushers during Sunday worship services, thereby excluding them already in serving God in other ministries. I believe that yes, God has called each of us to be involved in specific ministries as evidenced by our differences in terms of the talents He has given us. There are some to whom He gave heavenly voices and there are some that He is content listening to singing to Him silently. But this is the truth. We also have a common calling and that is to share His life-saving gospel. The Great Commission that instructs us to “Go” was given to each and every person that has received His forgiveness. The admonition of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:5 for us "to do the work of an evangelist" is directed to every Christian. I once commented that if you don’t hear this “Call” then probably you are not a true convert yourself. Sometimes I also feel that this reason of us having different callings is just being used as an excuse to not share the Gospel to others.
Finally, I have observed that Christians who have focused on worship, particularly in the area of music, believe that they are already pleasing God in their lives. If you will read the first chapter of the book of Isaiah you will find out that this is totally not true. In the passage, God showed that some things we do for Him like fellowshipping, prayer, offerings, and, yes, worship, can become unpleasant to Him. The reason? Because most of us still do not live a holy life and our hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:15-16). What does He mean about people having blood in their hands? Probably there were those among the Israelites then that have really committed murder. But another reason why a lot of us have blood in our hands is because we have not shared the Gospel to the Lost. Ezekiel 3:18 explains that if we do not warn the workers of iniquity of the danger awaiting them (Hell), they will surely die of their sins but God will someday require their blood in our hands. We see hear that God’s will is that we balance everything that we do for Him. He is also telling us that what we do inside the confines of our churches must be reflected in what we do outside. A lot of Christians would sing worship songs that have lyrics that say "I will give my life to You", or, "You are my everything" but won’t even try to overcome their fear in just giving out tracts to people. What would you make of people who so bravely say these lines in worship songs but couldn’t deliver when called to witness to unbelievers? What else but "Hypocrites!"
The Church has suffered a lot in the last century because of the mistake of embracing a modern gospel message that is more person-centered than God-centered. It is high time that we do things again in the manner that Jesus prescribed that it be done --- us laboriously explaining to them the real issue so that they may be convinced ("…Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled" Luke 14:23). 2 Tim. 4:2 tells us to do it "with all longsuffering and doctrine." We must bring back the mirror of the Law in our message so that we can really show people their sins and convict them of the need to repent and to put their 100% trust on Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation. I admit that any message that will show people’s sins will not be easily accepted. The reality is that with this message, people may start hating us. But we must realize that this is the way that works. This is the way that truly delivers the results.
Let us not substitute music for the direct preaching of the Word for doing so may make us miss the target by a mile. Let us sing to the Lord to worship Him and to remind ourselves of His goodness to us. Sing songs to encourage and challenge other Christians to go on living for God. Only those who have already been forgiven by God deserve to sing. Let us therefore share the gospel to others so that soon, they will also have all the right in the world to sing their hearts out to the Lord!
I can certainly testify to this. When I was contemplating about two years ago to start an evangelism ministry, my question was, "Who should I tap to help me with this?" Because of my work as an assistant principal in a private school in our province, I’ve known and developed relationships with a lot of young Christian students (past and present) in our school. It only took me one snack date with them to convince them to join me in a ministry with a primary focus on evangelism. And so, the Star Youth Ministries (SYM) was born. Soon enough, we were going to places preaching the gospel, WOTM style, and training others to do so as well. My hopes were high that I can challenge more Christian young people to be more involved in sharing the gospel as we went on. But my experience of easily convincing the core members of SYM to join me in fishing for souls proved to be one of a kind as the ministry of evangelism, I realized, has a competitor ---the music ministry.
A lot of Christians, young and old, have been drawn to music as their primary service to the Lord, leaving very few people available in the ministry of sharing the gospel to unbelievers. I have nothing against the music ministry in churches. I have been a music director of a church for more than 5 years before SYM was conceived. Before that, I was a member of a professional Christian choral group that was quite popular as it regularly holds Christian concerts in major venues not only here in the Philippines, but in other countries as well. Once, I even won first prize in a song writing competition. Music definitely flows in my veins. May God bless the music ministries in churches. What disappoints me about music in churches is that it has been used as a substitute to the direct preaching of the gospel in reaching souls for Christ. I even heard and know of churches that have great music ministries but no evangelism program whatsoever has been set up. Christian groups would stage concerts with really great music (but with very little evangelism elements) to entice unbelievers to join their church. And if people do join their church, they would right away give them the title of a “Christian”. What happens next is that these people would continue going to church and, maybe, join a particular ministry like, say,… the music ministry, and believe that they’ve been converted when in truth, no godly sorrow that worked repentance to salvation (2 Cor. 7:10) really happened. You then see these people living a completely different life when outside the four walls of their church, delivering a rotten testimony to other unbelievers in behalf of the true children of God.
Do we really think that music can truly deliver the complete gospel message and bring people on their knees to repentance and faith on Jesus Christ? I once asked a pastor while in an event he had a hand in organizing that hoped to hook people to Christ with worship music as bate if he had ever heard a Christian give a testimony that says that he got saved because of a Christian song he had listened to. He admitted that he had never heard such a thing. Then I told him that it's because it’s always the preaching of sin, righteousness, judgment and then God’s show of love that will bring people to repent and to put their total faith on Jesus Christ. He agreed with me. No argument whatsoever. And then out of nowhere, he told me that around only 40% of the people that go to his church (a church which likewise places a heavy emphasis on music) he can truly consider as true converts. He must have had a realization of what I was talking about. It’s so sad that this is happening in our present time. There are churches that I know that would even stage what they claim as an “evangelistic concert” but will never have any preaching in any part of their program. They will argue that the songs themselves can serve as the message.
Here’s something to think about --- Can you recall Jesus organizing a choral concert with his disciples as the singers in any of his crusades in place of his preaching? I can assure you this --- You won’t find any. In fact, the Bible mentions only one instance where Jesus took part in some singing, and this was after the Last Supper before they went to Mt. Olives (Matt. 26:30 / Mark 14:26). Jesus spent a big amount of time during His ministry preaching to crowds of people about the need to repent of their sins. He was 90% of the time in the open-air, enduring the heat of the sun during His evangelistic ministry, not singing, but preaching.
So why has music replaced direct preaching as a way of winning souls for Christ in the recent years? I can provide some answers from my personal observation. The first reason is because everyone enjoys music, but the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18). It’s so easy to bring someone to listen to some singing. The same though cannot be said of preaching. But if we focus on making an unbeliever enjoy our church music rather than him realizing the need to repent and to put his trust on Jesus because of how much he has offended God, he will be in church for the wrong reason --- to be entertained. I have talked to several young people who claim to be Christians in the Star Youth Students' Center who are not sure why they are in church. What they are sure though is that they enjoy very much the music that plays in their churches. Then if you ask them how one can become a Christian, they would give you so many ways but the one that would always stands out is that if you always worship God in songs.
Another reason I can give you is that a lot of Christians today are sissies when it comes to one-to-one witnessing. There are even some who will freeze in fear just by the thought of them giving out gospel tracts. But making music in front of people? They could easily handle that. Piece of cake! A walk in the park. They believe that anything that involves dealing the sinfulness of people would put them in a lot of potential rejection and humiliation, and they don't want that to happen. They are so concern about their public reputation. With music, there is less chance of rejection and humiliation. Instead, you can even expect people applauding you after a great rendition of a worship song. And here they are boasting that they are glorifying God every time they sing when in fact, it’s themselves they are lifting up. Let us all remember that in serving the Lord, we should lose ourselves even to the point that people already feel that we’ve lost our minds so that only God will be glorified (2 Cor. 5:13).
Thirdly, some Christians believe that there are people whom God calls to the ministry of evangelism, and some are not. There are those who would say that their calling is to be involved in giving, or in intercessory prayer, or in discipleship, or in music, etc. There are even some who would make a big deal about them serving as ushers during Sunday worship services, thereby excluding them already in serving God in other ministries. I believe that yes, God has called each of us to be involved in specific ministries as evidenced by our differences in terms of the talents He has given us. There are some to whom He gave heavenly voices and there are some that He is content listening to singing to Him silently. But this is the truth. We also have a common calling and that is to share His life-saving gospel. The Great Commission that instructs us to “Go” was given to each and every person that has received His forgiveness. The admonition of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:5 for us "to do the work of an evangelist" is directed to every Christian. I once commented that if you don’t hear this “Call” then probably you are not a true convert yourself. Sometimes I also feel that this reason of us having different callings is just being used as an excuse to not share the Gospel to others.
Finally, I have observed that Christians who have focused on worship, particularly in the area of music, believe that they are already pleasing God in their lives. If you will read the first chapter of the book of Isaiah you will find out that this is totally not true. In the passage, God showed that some things we do for Him like fellowshipping, prayer, offerings, and, yes, worship, can become unpleasant to Him. The reason? Because most of us still do not live a holy life and our hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:15-16). What does He mean about people having blood in their hands? Probably there were those among the Israelites then that have really committed murder. But another reason why a lot of us have blood in our hands is because we have not shared the Gospel to the Lost. Ezekiel 3:18 explains that if we do not warn the workers of iniquity of the danger awaiting them (Hell), they will surely die of their sins but God will someday require their blood in our hands. We see hear that God’s will is that we balance everything that we do for Him. He is also telling us that what we do inside the confines of our churches must be reflected in what we do outside. A lot of Christians would sing worship songs that have lyrics that say "I will give my life to You", or, "You are my everything" but won’t even try to overcome their fear in just giving out tracts to people. What would you make of people who so bravely say these lines in worship songs but couldn’t deliver when called to witness to unbelievers? What else but "Hypocrites!"
The Church has suffered a lot in the last century because of the mistake of embracing a modern gospel message that is more person-centered than God-centered. It is high time that we do things again in the manner that Jesus prescribed that it be done --- us laboriously explaining to them the real issue so that they may be convinced ("…Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled" Luke 14:23). 2 Tim. 4:2 tells us to do it "with all longsuffering and doctrine." We must bring back the mirror of the Law in our message so that we can really show people their sins and convict them of the need to repent and to put their 100% trust on Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation. I admit that any message that will show people’s sins will not be easily accepted. The reality is that with this message, people may start hating us. But we must realize that this is the way that works. This is the way that truly delivers the results.
Let us not substitute music for the direct preaching of the Word for doing so may make us miss the target by a mile. Let us sing to the Lord to worship Him and to remind ourselves of His goodness to us. Sing songs to encourage and challenge other Christians to go on living for God. Only those who have already been forgiven by God deserve to sing. Let us therefore share the gospel to others so that soon, they will also have all the right in the world to sing their hearts out to the Lord!
