Thoughts: Of course a church can exist without a choir. But the tendency is when the church gets big enough to form a choir of people who are talented- with good voice and a good sense of music to lead the congregation in singing praise to God. The purpose of the choir is not to entertain or perform, but to sing on behalf of the people to the glory of God. In this passage in Nehemiah the choirs were appointed to give thanks in an harmonious fashion on behalf of the people.
When choirs develop egos- and they begin to wonder among themselves who is the greatest- the best voice- and who has the worst- it gets mighty messy in a hurry. Harmony does not happen when everyone wants to sing solos. But when a choir member is both talented, humble, and has a listening ear to others- beautiful harmony to the glory of God can be achieved.
In one of my churches the choir had dwindled down from twenty to six. These six were super talented with great voices- semi-professional. But when an amateur wanted to join to sing a joyful noise to the Lord they were not welcomed. Hurt feelings ensued, and people left the church because the choir had no room for a missed note. I might say that without a missed note there can be no harmony! In the end, the best thing the session did was to abolish that choir- or just limit that six-person choir to sing once a month- and start a men's choir, a women's choir, and a mixed choir of just regular voices. In the end it set that music program on fire for awhile.
A choir is not a place to show off a beautiful voice- but a place to sing to the glory of God. It is God's glory not our own that is important. It is the same way with more contemporary bands- we are not meant to show off our pride but to sing on behalf of the people to God. Sometimes that song is a lament; sometimes it is praise; sometimes it raises questions- but we sing to God.
Prayer: May the song in my heart and in my mouth glorify you, O Lord. Keep me from singing only for myself.
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