Have you ever selected a song for a time of worship that was the right song, but in the wrong place?

By the way, it’s just a  short episode this week, because my daughter is getting married on Saturday!

Let me report on something which happened at church today. I asked one of our worship team to select the songs this week (it’s always good to get different people to select from time to time, but that’s for another episode).

On this occasion it was Wale. One of the songs he picked was, “sanctuary”. A reflective, devotional song.  He placed it just before the sermon – the part of the service when we normally get people to sing more energetically before they sit down to listen for 30 minutes or so. I asked him why he had selected a more reflective song and he said that it was in hopes that it would help the congregation to prepare their hearts to receive the Word of God.

I really liked his thinking. I suggested that he explain this to the congregation when we sing the song. He did this on Sunday saying something along the lines of, 

“We normally sing a more upbeat song before the sermon, but today I thought we would sing this song because it’s about having the right heart with God, and we want to have the right heart as we listen to Ian preach in a few minutes.”

The congregation responded wholeheartedly, and I consider he made a brave and correct choice. It was the right song in the  ‘wrong’ place.

Have you ever selected an upbeat song where you would normally have a reflective song or vice versa? How did it go? What was your thinking, and, on reflection, did it work? Please let us know when you have defied expectation or tradition to good effect. We’d all love to try your ideas.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org.

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

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“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: “An elephant’s swimming pool”, a devotional look at the Gospel of John