The first handful of Bible verses I memorized as a young child were set to music. I can still sing those simple melodies that serve to bring scriptures to mind when I need them most.
When I was living and doing mission work in a particularly dangerous city, God used songs from my childhood to bring his Word to mind to comfort and still me. Music is and always has been arguably the most effective tool for learning and remembering truths about God. If we look at the Old Testament, we see people singing and expressing their hearts to the Lord with voices and instruments.
Gordon Fee famously said, “Show me a church’s songs and I’ll show you their theology.†Our theology is truly formed by the songs we sing and the truths that are, in turn, set in our hearts. But what about the theology of our children? Are children’s beliefs about God just as important as the adults’? Of course! I don’t know many people who would say otherwise; however, our strongest tool for getting Scripture into the hearts of children has unfortunately gotten lost over recent years.
Music is perhaps the most effective method for teaching Scripture, so why aren’t we using it? There seems to be a widespread view that music and discipleship are at odds with each other – that if we spend time teaching music in the church, we are taking children away from discipleship.
However, I believe the opposite is true! Music is discipleship! In fact, I would argue it’s one of the strongest forms of discipleship. When we involve children in music and worship in the church, we are allowing them to express their hearts to the Lord and to let His Word become so engrained in them that they are singing his truths throughout the week.
Going back to my time on the mission field – it wasn’t written activities, crafts or Bible lessons that came to my mind when I was afraid (even though all these things are great!). It was a children’s choir anthem I had learned 20 years earlier that reminded me “The Lord is my Shepherd, and I am His lamb. He leads me and keeps me wherever I am†(from “I Am His Lamb†–J. Paul Williams, Lloyd Larson).
Let’s bring music back into the lives of our children in the church! Let’s give them opportunities to worship, sing and play instruments! I can’t think of anything more important than putting Scripture into the hearts of children, so 20 years from now, when they are afraid or unsure, doubting or lonely, Scripture can sing.
Whitney Head teaches K-5 music at Elizabeth Elementary School in Shelby, North Carolina. She served as a teacher during the recent Mix Worship Arts Camp conducted by your State Board of Missions at Shocco Springs. This article was originally written for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and is used by permission.
For more information abut worship resources available to your Alabama Baptist church, please contact State Missionary Karen Gosselin at 1-800-264-1225, ext. 2318, or (334) 613-2318, [email protected].
