Articles
Harmony in the Lord's Church
I love listening to good, two- or four-part harmony singing. I was raised listening to bluegrass music, with the familiar "high lonesome" sound and frequent harmonized choruses. I have always worshiped with the Lord's church, too, where vocal singing with the four-part harmony songs were the totality of what we sang in our worship to the Lord and as we were “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16). A well-written song [words and music], sung well together, is a pleasure to hear!
But there is a different kind of harmony in the Lord's church that is just as pleasing to hear, if not more so! Hear the psalmist as he writes of this harmony: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psa. 133:1). Amen! Unity among brethren is a wonderful thing to see and hear, and is pleasant not just to us, but also to God.
The apostle Paul tells us that Christ established within the church “some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13), and that we might “grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:15, 16). There are some important points here about harmony in the Lord's church that should be noted and emulated.
We Have Help Achieving Harmony. It should be noted that Christ “Himself gave” these positions to be in His church that all members might be equipped to do the work we should be doing and to build one another up in the faith that we might achieve that harmony in the faith. If Christ Himself gave these positions, does it not make sense, then, that we use them to achieve the very things He intended?
The apostles and prophets were the ones to whom the Holy Spirit came to reveal His will (cf. Eph. 3:5), and that will was then revealed to men and women of the first century by the direct preaching and teaching of God's word by those same apostles and prophets. (See Eph. 3:3, 4 and 1 Cor. 2:10-13.) Today, the words written down by the inspiration of that same Holy Spirit is here for you and me to read and understand, just as they did when they were first written and delivered to the early disciples.
Those words written down by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit — what we call the Scriptures — are “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). Remember what Paul said to the Ephesians about these offices being given “for the equipping of the saints”? It was through God's word being spoken in the first century, and through the written word now that we may be properly equipped to do “every good work” — including the effort to achieve and maintain harmony amongst fellow believers.
Harmony's Requirement for Each Part. This harmony will be achieved when brethren “all speak the same thing,…no divisions among you,…perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10), but not unless and until that is done. It will be when they all speak God's will, and God's will only; it will be when they are united on God's revealed word; and it will be when they all have the same mind and judgment based on God's written and revealed will that this harmony will be achieved, and without all of these things, we will fail or, at best, have harmony only temporarily.
In music, harmony is achieved when every individual is singing the same song, singing the exact notes they are supposed to sing, singing at the same tempo, and [for songs with multiple parts] each one singing the notes for their part. If just one person is singing a different song, there will be no harmony; if one person is a little slower than the rest, there will be no harmony; if one person is not singing his or her part, there will be no harmony. All it takes is one to be "off" and harmony will not exist.
In the Lord's church, harmony is achieved much the same way: All members are following the same "song book" [The Bible], following those words exactly, and with each part doing what it is supposed to do. There will be no divisions because all are joined together — harmony! And, like with music, all it takes is one to be "off" and harmony will not exist. All it takes is one to decide "their way" is better, or that he doesn't have to follow every commandment, or that he should be doing something God's word does not allow or teach, and harmony will be destroyed. Discord will be the result, and God will not be pleased (cf. Prov. 6:16, 19).
The Results of Harmony. Harmony in music is not an end to itself, and neither is harmony in the Lord church. Do we want harmony? Of course! But harmony itself is not the end goal; it is the means to achieving something else — something even more important. To understand this, let's go back to Paul's words to the Ephesian brethren once more, now telling us why Christ wants harmony in the body of believers: “the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:16).
Look at that phrase again: “the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies”; the Greek word translated as “joined” is derived from another Greek term sometimes used to describe the building of a house and to describe a marriage union. The implication is that these "parts" of the church are closely and indivisibly joined together in doing the work together and holding it together. That is the kind of harmony every church needs to have!
And what happens when each part is joined together and each part is doing its share? This then “causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” Harmony in the Lord's church causes growth of that body, gaining spiritual strength and will and, in turn, builds itself up in one of the most important attributes: love.
It is when a church is in harmony that every member feels like he or she is really a part of it, each member is truly loved and respected, and every member contributes to the success and strength of that same church. Much work will be accomplished, others will know we are truly disciples and followers of Jesus Christ (cf. John 13:34, 35), and God will be well pleased. I concur heartily with the psalmist when he said, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Again, Amen!
Harmony can be achieved, and must be achieved if we are to be pleasing to our Lord. Unlike music, though, this is something we can all do. [Some people are tone deaf and cannot sing in tune.] All it takes is a willing heart, hard work, and humility.
Ready? Sing! —— Steven Harper
