Singing in Church

I'm pretty old-fashioned with regards to music in church, and am thankful that the one i attend only has a very limited (relatively speaking) repertoire in praise of God, comprising psalms, and hymns. Limited in the sense that we're not very adventurous and would baulk at say, Christian Rock, Christian Jazz or whatever. But still, it's better than singing some three-line thing and repeating it over and over, which in this day passes for devotional music in not a few churches.

But let me leave church music proper for a future post; its importance warrants exlusive treatment. Here, i should just like to comment on the singing. I don't know if many Christians realise this, but singing in church is an act of sacrifice/service to God. It is a part of worship. As the heathen offer incense, meats, etc., to their particular gods and deities, Christians offer up our voices to God in worship.

What does this entail? For me, several things. The singing is not about us, but God; so any egoism should be purged. We should not be carried away with technique, flair and polish of execution; but rather, focus on devotion. In singing too loud, too fast, or too slow, we sing for ourselves. So i would urge to sing in harmony. And i notice that there are people who sing half-heartedly, just going through motion while their minds are elsewhere (we cannot see thought bubbles but it's not impossible to tell when someone is distracted; and have we not been guilty of this at some time ourselves?), and there are also others who cross their legs when singing in church. Do we cross our legs when we talk to our superior at work, or at job interviews? We don't. All the more then, that when worshiping God, we should be a little more mindful about our posture.

Of course, these are my personal views; just that taking singing in church for devotion and worship requires that it be done in seriousness, sobriety. I don't think worshipping God is a thing of levity, and so the same applies to the singing.