3-way communication is the sort of thing that happens in a meeting of three people.  Perhaps one person speaks, the other two listen.  Views are challenged and modified perhaps, or reinforced.  Then a second person speaks and a response is now out there for the two new hearers to take on board.  A third participant may do the same.

Will the conversation lead to modification or reinforcement of views?  Will it lead to consensus, unity, and maybe growth of relationship?  Or will it lead to frustration, disagreement, or possibly even alienation?

The kind of 3-way communication that happens in a church meeting has some of the same outcomes: growth, unity, life transformations, as well as negative responses.  And when one of those in the conversation is the infinite and invisible Sovereign Lord God, it takes a slightly different shape from anything else we know.

His speech is through his word.  So I guess we need to make sure he gets a hearing.  Although his word is eternal and unchanging, we have the choice every Sunday to allow him to open his mouth or not.  Of course he may speak to peoples’ hearts independently of our willingness to put his word in our gatherings.  But even to them it will be through his word that he speaks.  Kind of obvious when you think about it.

There are many bits of our services through which his voice may be heard.  Probably the most important of these is a Bible reading.  It doesn’t have to be long, or from a lectern.  It must be understandable, and must be done with respect for the speaker, and awareness of the desperate need the hearer has to hear it.

Preaching is another part of the service through which the voice of God is heard.  If a preacher is not preaching the word of God, then what exactly is being preached?

And of course, singing is another key part of the service in which we can hear the voice of God.  As Paul says in Colossians 3:16, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

So it’s not automatic.  It will be out of obedience to God’s word here that we make our singing a means by which the congregation can dwell on the gospel of Jesus.

This is really important for anyone planning music for a service… don’t just assume because you’re singing that you are allowing God to speak.  And it should also be said, don’t feel that while we’re singing together you need God’s voice to be heard separately from the song.  The point is, when the people read the words of our message on the screen and then sing them together, God is speaking.

Now in applying this, perhaps we may choose songs that are loaded full of gospel content, and neglect to provide for people’s response.  The best songs are those that contain “revelation” and “response”.  These should be seamlessly woven together.

This is what the ancient hymns often do exceptionally well.  I believe that this is one of the reasons why we are still singing so many songs from 200 years ago and more… that they combine the wonderful truths of the gospel with a personal response.

For example,

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died

My richest gain I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride.

This wonderful verse tells us of a cross on which Christ died.  It tells us that he was the prince of glory, which is a bitter irony: why would the Prince of Glory die on a cross?  That is a BIG question.  It DEMANDS an honest answer (if you are someone who believes that this death was for you).

The appropriate answer is to admit that I live a life of pride and that I have a distorted view of what is truly valuable in the world.  I must re-evaluate, and I must hate that pride that dwells within my flesh.

Isaac Watt’s lyrics say the same thing as these 2 paragraphs, but in a much more concise, poetic, captivating manner.  And that’s why we love to sing it.  The lyrics are not just objectively good.  They are subjectively powerful. That is, when the members of our congregations sing them, they will hopefully be impacted.  They will step into the verse.  “I” in the verse will be owned personally by all of those he’s and she’s before us in the gathering.

What happens when you sing a song in which God speaks and the people respond is that those around us are impacted.  When we sing a moving song in the congregation, we are impacted by the gospel content through which we exhort one another.  But we are also impacted by the response of our brothers and sisters around us.  When people adopt the “I” or the “we” in the song as their own, and do so with conviction and personal response, we are drawn into it.

And so we’re having a 3-way conversation.

God speaks, we respond to him, and we minister to one another.  If you look back carefully at Colossians 3:16, you’ll see that this is what Paul is saying.  This is how our singing should work: with the message of the gospel dwelling richly, as we’re blessing one another with our songs and expressing a response of gratitude to God.

So, in choosing songs:

1. Ask in what way a song will be proclaiming the message of Christ
2. Ask how well it enables the congregation to teach and admonish one another
3. Ask whether it enables the congregation to respond to God gratefully.

If you keep this 3-way conversation in mind, your congregational singing should be a  vehicle for God’s rich blessing.