2. To mandate a cappella worship is to violate the Regulative Principle of Worship

In 1983, Crown & Covenant Publications published a brochure by Robert B. McCracken – What About Instruments In Worship? What Place, If Any, Do Musical Instruments Have In The Worship of God? This well-written tract has had a great deal of influence in convincing people that it is a sin¹⁶ to accompany singing in worship with any musical instrument. While I myself once held to that position in my early twenties, and while this position has had a long and distinguished history,¹⁷ I have come to the conclusion that this viewpoint is unbiblical. Indeed, imposing his thesis upon the church would not only involve the church in legalism (adding to God’s law the mandate of a cappella singing – a commandment nowhere to be found in Scripture¹⁸), but it would also involve the church in antinomianism (disobeying many direct commands from God to use musical instruments¹⁹). History tells us that any time we subtract from God’s law (antinomianism) we will inevitably add man-made laws (legalism).²⁰ The two are not opposites; they necessitate each other. It is in the interest of preserving the church from both legalism and antinomianism that this book has been written.

I should point out that both McCracken and I believe in the Regulative Principle of Worship.²¹ This principle correctly teaches that we may not introduce anything into worship that is not explicitly authorized in the Bible. Deuteronomy 12:31-32 summarizes the Regulative Principle of Worship quite well when it says,

You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way…Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

It is important to realize that both sides of that commandment are equally important – it is just as sinful to take away from God’s commands relative to worship as it is to add to God’s commands. Thus, the Regulative Principle of Worship should cause us to avoid both a minimalistic approach to worship (failing to implement all God’s commands) as well as a lax approach to worship (adding novel elements to worship that are not found in the Bible). It is my contention that McCracken and all others who speak of the use of instrumentation in worship as sin are in reality the violators of both sides of the Regulative Principle of Worship.

Nevertheless, because many men whom I respect have held to this position, and because this is a sincerely held conscience issue for many people, I want to give a Biblical response. Though the literature already cited contains many subsidiary arguments against instruments, they can all be boiled down to three main arguments:

1. The use of instrumental music was strictly Levitical in the Old Testament, tied to the temple, and passed away with the rest of the ceremonial law.
2. The use of instruments in worship is foreign to “New Testament church worship.”
3. Since neither synagogue nor early church used musical instruments, any other understanding of the Biblical material is impossible.

If these three main pillars can be shown to be wrong, the rest of the subsidiary arguments will automatically fall to the ground. It is my hope that this book will liberate the consciences of friends who have been troubled by the legalism of instrument-abolitionists.