Every Christian church, of whatever denomination, uses singing as part of their worship service. It often varies in form, with some churches singing hymns and others using praise choruses, but there is pretty much always some form of singing included in the service.

The question is, why do we sing? Or, maybe better stated, what is the purpose that the singing is supposed to accomplish? After all, if we all do it, it must have some sort of purpose.

The quick answer to that question is that we are worshipping the Lord. After all, people have called it worship for centuries, therefore it must be worship. But, maybe we need to take a closer look at what worship is, and make sure that's what we are doing.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Ps 100:4

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb 4:16

According to the dictionary, the word "praise" means "to applaud, acclaim, pay tribute, and give honor to" and the word "worship" means "to give adoration, love, and respect to." If that's the case, then this should pretty much define what praise and worship songs consist of. But, do they really?

I've heard a lot of people singing songs in church that they were supposedly doing "for the glory and honor of the Lord" that didn't once mention Him. If a praise song, is supposed to applaud, acclaim, pay tribute, and give honor to God, it seems to me that in some way or other, it must talk about Him, who He is, and what He's done to deserve that praise.

According to Psalm 100, verse 4, when we praise (applaud, acclaim, pay tribute, and give honor to) God, we are able to boldly enter into His court, and come before His presence, on His throne. This is the reason we are supposed to be singing in a church service, so that we can enter God's presence, be where He is, hear His voice (through the voice of the preacher, or a prophet), and receive from His power (through His Holy Spirit).

If we don't enter into God's presence, then we aren't going to be in a place where we can receive from Him. Or, at least, we won't be able to receive from Him as well as we can in His presence. I don't mean that we just say we've entered into His presence, either, or that His Spirit is in the church; I mean truly enter into His presence.

Not every Christian song actually accomplishes this objective of entering into the Lord's presence. In fact, many of them are written for the benefit of the singer, or the hearer, and leave God totally out of the picture. They don't glorify God, don't give Him honor, don't express any love or respect to Him, or sometimes don't even mention Him. They just help the people get excited and feel good.

Basically, Christian songs can be broken down into five categories:

• Praise - These are songs which, as we've already seen from the dictionary, applaud, acclaim, pay tribute, or give honor to. To do this, they talk about the great things He has done for us. They are the songs of believers who are telling each other about how great our God is. Generally speaking, most praise songs are fast, lively, and upbeat.

• Warfare - This is actually a sub-category of Praise, but deserves to be mentioned in and of itself. The only real difference here is that these songs talk about how God has given us the victory over the enemy and his works. Again, these are fast-paced, upbeat songs, usually with a heavy beat.

• Worship - These are songs which, according to what we read in the dictionary, are out expression of adoration, love, and respect to God. Instead of talking about God, in worship songs, we are talking to Him. Generally speaking, worship songs are slower, softer songs.

• Encouragement (sometimes known as songs of joy) -These songs don't usually speak to God, and many times don't even speak about what He has done. What they do is encourage the congregation in one way or another, usually encouraging them to serve Him, praise Him, or expect to receive something from Him.

• Entertainment - These are the songs that professional, and semi-professional Christian singers sing in a concert, or when singing a special song during a church service. While they may actually praise the Lord, that isn't their main purpose. Their main purpose is to provide an opportunity so that the singer can perform before the people. In many ways, this category of song is taking glory from God, instead of giving it to Him.

While there is nothing in and of itself wrong with any of these categories of songs, the problem comes in when we mistake one for another. Probably the most common example of this I've seen is churches who sing lots of songs of encouragement, thinking they are praising the Lord. The people get excited, feel good, and think that the Holy Spirit is in their midst. But, in reality, what they've done is closed the door for the Holy Sprit to come be with them.

How did they close the door? By involving themselves in a false form of praise, instead of the real thing. Remember, the purpose of praise is to draw us into the presence of God. So, if we've sung something else, and thought we were praising, we've essentially lied to ourselves, and not entered into His presence, whether we think we have, or not.

Another thing that affects our ability to enter into the Lord's presence is the quality of the music and singing that is being offered to the Lord. While I'm sure that God is big enough to see through our errors, and even hear the right note, when we sing the wrong one; I'm also sure that the people who are in the congregation don't have that ability. Praise and worship is a corporate activity, and what one does affects each and every other person.

When the technical quality of the music and singing is poor, it is a distraction to the people. Instead of easily entering into what is being sung, they are thinking of what beat to sing, or what note is the right one, or maybe they just don't care, which means they are helping cause that problem for someone else.

How many times have you been in a church service, and some of the musicians showed up late? Then, to add insult to injury, they connect their cables, to the accompaniment of loud popping noises in the speakers, test their microphones, and tune their instruments, while everyone else is trying to praise and worship the Lord. Is that a help to the congregation, or a hinderance?

As far as I'm concerned, if a musician isn't on time, and hasn't practiced, he isn't there to praise and worship the Lord, he's there so that people see him, and give him glory. He has no right to be part of any worship team.

Or, how about this one? How may times have you seen someone take the microphone to sing a song "for the glory and honor of the Lord" saying that they haven't practiced, don't really know the song, but are going to do it anyway? Or, how about someone who sings, even though they don't have any singing ability? I ask you, where is the glory and honor for God in that?

I know I can't carry a tune. Therefore, even though I love to sing, I don't call myself a singer. I don't go to church to sing a special. If I want to sing to the Lord, I do it when I'm alone. That way, the Lord and I can enjoy it, and I'm not causing anyone else to suffer.

If someone is going to hold a banquet on your behalf, to honor you for something you've done, wouldn't you want it to be done well? How would you feel if you arrived at the banquet, and everyone else was late? Would you feel honored? Or, how would you feel if the food that was prepared wasn't fit to feed your dog? Would you feel honored? Or, how would you feel if the guest speaker, who was supposed to extol your virtues, didn't say anything about you? Would you feel honored? Or, how would you feel if all the gifts people gave you were old, broken, and dirty? Would you feel honored?

You wouldn't feel honored by any of that, would you? Well, if that's the case, how can we say that we expect God to feel honored, when we do it for Him?

If we want to give glory and honor to God, we must do it with excellence. Otherwise, He isn't glorified, and he isn't honored, all we've done is what we think our "religious duty" is. That isn't going to get anyone into heaven.

One more point I'd like to bring up. That is, sometimes the songs we sing are scripturally incorrect, or just plain lies. We need to be sure that what we are singing is what we want to be saying. It doesn't matter how good the song sounds, or how famous the singer who first sung that song, if it isn't saying what we need to be saying, it doesn't do us any good.

There are many songs which are scripturally incorrect. I don't want to make a list of them here, which some could consider slanderous, but I want you to be aware of the problem. Some of these songs take things which are symbolic, and equate them with God. This makes God out to be less than He is. Some, make the Christian life out to be something it isn't. This can be misleading to the believer, and hurt his walk with the Lord. Even others go against scripture by diminishing God's power and ability to help us in times of trouble.

One of the most common examples of this I can think of when it comes to singing something that isn't true are the various songs which talk about the presence of the Lord, or the Spirit of the Lord being in the service. While that is something we want, if we don't know that He's there when we sing it, we're lying. Maybe when the author of that song was writing it, he really felt the presence of the Lord, and wrote it because of that encounter, that 's great. But, it doesn't mean that He's with us just because we sing the song.

Each and every church has to decide for themselves what is scripturally correct and what isn't. Due to doctrinal differences, what may seem correct for one, may be very wrong for another. I can't tell you what to believe, I only ask you to take the time to read the words of the song, and make sure that you agree with them.

To me, personally, the time of praise and worship is the most important part of the service. If we don't enter into the presence of God, it doesn't matter what else we do. Personally, when I'm in a church that doesn't have good praise and worship, I have trouble ministering the Word of God. I depend upon the Holy Spirit to minister through me, and if I can't enter into God's presence, it's harder to hear His voice.

The pastor, as the spiritual head of the church must take the time to periodically insure that what the worship team, and the church is singing is true praise and worship. He is the one whom God has given the authority to teach, direct, and guide his congregation into a fuller relationship with the Lord. It's not the worship leader's responsibility, it's the pastors. The worship leader's responsibility is to help and support the pastor in that area of responsibility.

Let's truly praise our Lord, giving Him all the applause, acclaim, tribute, and honor He deserves. Then, once we've entered into His presence, let's worship Him with all our hearts, expressing all the adoration, love, and respect that we have. Let's lift up our voices, and let the world know who our God is.

Note to our English Readers: This was originally written to the Spanish speaking church in Mexico. Although we don't se all of these errors in the church in the United States, I can assure you that they are common in the church in Mexico.