Our Convictions on Worship Music

We are called to worship God in spirit and in truth. This is foundational. At First Baptist Church of Grayson, worship is not something we approach casually. Scripture tells us that God seeks true worshipers, those who worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). Everything on this page flows from that verse. Worship is the highest calling of the church, and because it matters so much, we believe the source of what we sing matters, and how we sing it matters just as much.

Music Is Part of Worship, Not All of It

Music is one expression of worship among many. It is not worship by itself. We want this understood clearly before anything else on this page. Prayer is worship. The preaching of the Word is worship. Fellowship among believers is worship. Giving is worship (Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15-16). Singing is a beautiful and biblical part of that whole, but it is a part, not the sum. A church can sing every song perfectly and still miss worship if prayer is shallow, if the Word is not honored, if fellowship is absent, or if giving is withheld.

We do not use the titles worship team or worship leader. Worship is prayer, preaching, fellowship, giving, and singing together, so attaching the word worship to the people who lead the music is misleading. It suggests that worship is something a few people do on a platform while everyone else watches. Whoever stands at the front to lead the music is there to lead the congregation, not to perform for it.

We say all of this so no one mistakes the length of this page for where we place our priorities. Music is often where a church's convictions are tested in public, one song at a time, every Sunday. That does not make it the whole of worship.

Leading the Congregation, Not Performing for Them

Worship in spirit means the congregation's hearts are engaged, not entertained.

Worship gathers God's people to sing, not to watch. Believers gather to sing together to the Lord, not to watch a select few perform for them (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19). Every choice we make about music, volume, arrangement, and platform starts with one question: does this help the congregation sing, or does it turn them into an audience?

Those who lead the music serve, they don't showcase. They are there to lead, to fade behind the melody so the congregation can find its own voice and lift it to God (Hebrews 13:15).

Songs should be singable by everyone in the room. A song chosen for corporate worship is written to be sung, by children, by grandparents, and by the person hearing the gospel for the first time.

Production should support worship, never compete with it. When production becomes the point, the room has quietly shifted from worship to performance.

Real instruments are the goal. Live musicians can follow the Spirit, follow the room, and follow the pastor, something a track cannot do. As a growing church still raising up musicians, we may lean on some backing tracks in the meantime. That is a season, not the standard.

The goal is a heart that glorifies God, not a stage that showcases man. Songs must be theologically rich, the kind that leave a believer seeing God more clearly and more highly than before. The focus must never rest on a person, whether that person is on our platform or on a screen from somewhere else.

We look for strong theology and a clear focus on Christ. Is what we are singing true, and does it lead our people to see Christ more clearly?

Manufactured emotion is not the same as the Spirit's work. If a song is built to spike adrenaline or manufacture a feeling through volume, build, and repetition rather than through truth rightly sung, we have aimed at the wrong thing. Real response to God can and does stir the emotions, but the emotion should follow truth, not be engineered ahead of it.

Why the Source Matters

Worship in truth means what we sing must line up with sound doctrine.

Some argue that a song can be judged on its lyrics alone, apart from where it came from. We understand that instinct, but we do not believe it holds up under Scripture. Paul warned that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9). When a church regularly platforms music from a ministry, it builds familiarity, trust, and often financial support for that ministry.

That is why, after careful thought and prayer, FBCG has chosen not to use music produced by Hillsong, Bethel Music, Elevation Worship, Jesus Music, or Maverick City, or by similar organizations that share their theological stances or viewpoints. This also covers songs co wrote with someone from these groups, even when the lyrics themselves would otherwise pass.

Why We Still Sing Older Hymns

The difference is not the writer's perfection. It is ongoing influence. A hymn writer who died long ago is no longer shaping the church today. These ministries are living and active, and social media makes living influence far stronger than it was 200 years ago.

Read the full answer

The Elders Shepherd Through Music

The elders choose the songs each week. The elders, our pastors, are the spiritual overseers and shepherds of this church (1 Peter 5:2-3). Just as they shepherd the flock through the preaching of the Word, they shepherd it through music. The elders pick the songs, working together with those who lead the music and welcoming their suggestions. The songs are usually centered on the message for that particular service, so the music and the preaching point the congregation to the same truth.

Not About Style, and Not a Membership Requirement

This is not about musical style or preference. We are not opposed to modern hymn music, and we are grateful for many gifted, doctrinally sound songwriters serving the church well today. We are not policing anyone's personal playlist, and this is not a membership requirement. It is a conviction about what happens in our gathered worship.

Our Commitment

We want FBCG to be a church where what we sing matches what we believe and what we teach from the pulpit, and where how we sing it keeps every eye pointed at God rather than at a stage. Music is never neutral. It shapes theology as much as any sermon does, sometimes more, because we carry it with us and sing it back to ourselves long after the service ends.

Our aim is simple: to be faithful stewards of what happens in our gathered worship, to lead our people into it rather than perform in front of them, and to make sure that when FBCG sings, we are singing truth, about a true God, from sources we can stand behind.

A Living Document

This is a living document. We will be coming back to it to add to it, refine it, and answer the questions that come up along the way. It does not answer every question, and it was never meant to. We would rather sit with you and talk through your questions than pretend a single page could settle everything. People deserve enough clarity to decide, prayerfully, whether FBCG is a church they can call home. This page is our attempt to give you that clarity now, in good conscience, while we keep thinking, keep praying, and keep refining it as the Lord leads.