A synthesizer can connect parts of a meeting. The Holy Spirit connects us to God and to each other.
One of the common reasons for using synth pads is to improve the flow (i.e., smooth out transitions from one song to another). That can be a good thing. But a Sunday meeting isn’t a seamless performance or production. And we aren’t trying to create a musical mood or atmosphere in which the Holy Spirit feels “more comfortable.” As we meet, God is building us into Christ and into each other (Eph. 4:15-16). He is making us into a temple in which his Spirit dwells (Eph. 2:19-22). And he uses all kinds of means to do that—the preaching of God’s Word, singing, the Lord’s supper, greeting and a variety of spiritual gifts. Music is not what unifies us, the means by which we approach God, nor the means by which God approaches us. All that has been accomplished in Jesus, our perfect Savior and our all-sufficient mediator.
We can thank God for the gift of music and the variety of musical means he’s given us to encourage faith-filled, passionate worship in song. Let’s make the most of them. But let’s also make sure our people don’t assign to music a power it was never meant to have.
