Would you let talented non members play at your church?

[Furious Styles]

Kudos for to all who have expressed their concerns in respectful tone. This is defintely an discussion to sharpen your irons. I'm in a situation where I am playing for a church and I'm not a member. I work in retail sales so my time is very limited. Some Sundays I leave early due to my schedule. The Sunday's I'm not scheduled I stay the entire service out of respect for the people of God.. Most of you know that I'm an not a fan of tradition. Nor am I a fan of people practicing withcraft with anyone that comes through the doors of a fellowship. The one thing that stood out in the thread was when the brother eloquently pointed out the differences in scripture. It is a personal choice of the ministry on whom they decide to hire. It is up the other party to accept those terms. I have an understanding with the ministry that I help out that I ain't joining. My buddy who recruited me invited me on this basis. The ONLY reason I did it because we were childhood buddies.

I have grown to appreciate certain things about this ministry but it hasn't changed my intent when I first agreed to help out. I played there a few months before they offered to "pay me". I initially refused it but they insisted. The Lord had to show me not to walk in pride when someone wants to be a blessing to you. So when I'm available I play. They ain't calling me sweatin' me about every little event they got going on. My buddy profusely thanks me every time I come through and play. This is something that has to be handled on a case by case basis. Siutations like this shows why Jesus hated the traditions of men. They always hinder the flow of the spirit. Good mature discussion guys and gals...

[diverse379]

thank you for your kind and thoughtful words.

and when you mentioned the brother who spoke on the scriptures

I looked for them and I couldnt find them

and I said to myself wait a minute

didnt I write and research scriptures to help us get to the core of this debate

and they are gone

now mind you we members dont have the ability to delete a post we can erase our content but the post still remains

I cant understand why actual biblical references were deleted

as a gospel site we should endeavor to learn more about the bible I will post it back up here again because it is needed

we need to get out of our flesh and into the spirit of God and the word will help us get there

[diverse379]

this post contains bible verses and information that can help us get to the heart of this debate


Please do not delete this step up if you disagreee and lets get theological on this


i wanted to make sure I was right about the levites

the levites were a separate tribe

so if we musicians are functioning as levites then we should not have to be members we are supposed to be separate

the levites were able to minister to all the tribes because they were set apart and separate

also your scripture that you quoted stated that it was to be done until the temple was c ompleted
Levites are the descendants of Levi, one of the Tribes Of Israel, the Children Of Jacob (Genesis 29:34). The term is generally used, from the perspective of The Bible, to identify the part of the tribe that was set apart for the secondary duties of the sanctuary service (1 Kings 8:4, Ezra 2:70), as assistants to the priests, who were also Levites. Although all priests were Levites, not all Levites were priests.
"For the service of The Lord"

Prior to the Exodus, when the Israelites escaped the slavery of the Pharaoh of Egypt (see Who Was The Exodus Pharaoh?), the ancient way of worship was yet observed, with the firstborn son of each household inheriting the priest's office. That was changed at Sinai (see Wilderness Journey) when a hereditary priesthood from the family of Aaron was established (Exodus 28:1).

 The Levites were formally set apart after the now-infamous incident with the golden calf idol that the Israelites made while Moses was away receiving The Ten Commandments from The Lord (Exodus chapter 32). The Levites did not take part in the idolatry, and actually killed 3,000 of those who were running wild, as ordered by Moses (Exodus 32:25-29).

After the incident was over, Moses said of the Levites, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of The Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day." (Exodus 32:29). The Levites were natural allies of Moses because Moses himself was of the tribe of Levi (Exodus 2:1-2,10).

Levi had 3 sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. From those branches of the family, the Levites were organized into 3 levels of service:


The first level was composed of Aaron and his offspring, who were descended from Levi's son Kohath. They formed the priesthood.

The second level was made up of all of the other descendants of Kohath who were not descendants of Aaron. They were in charge of the most sacred parts of the Tabernacle (Numbers 3:27-32, 4:4-15, 7:9).

The third level consisted of all of the descendants of Gershon and Merari, who were given lesser duties (Numbers 3:21-26,33-37).
The Levites served at the Tabernacle from age 30 to 50 (Numbers 4:3,23,30). They were not counted for military service in the armies of Israel, but were set apart for service to God (Numbers 1:45-50, 2:33, 26:62).

Levites had custody of The Tabernacle (as illustrated above, see also What Happened To The Tabernacle?) (Numbers 1:51, 18:22-24). The Gershonites camped on the west of the Tabernacle (Numbers 3:23), the Kohathites on the south (Numbers 3:29), the Merarites on the north (Numbers 3:35), and the priests on the east (Numbers 3:38).



here is what I found on the levites

[sjonathan02]

It's on page three, playa. 

Ain't nobody tryin' to sabotoge the discussion. 

[momuzik]

... i wanted to make sure I was right about the levites

the levites were a separate tribe...so if we musicians are functioning as levites then we should not have to be members we are supposed to be separate....

I can't say that this scripture is valid to make your point about musicians not being members. Seems if this is the case, the choir, praise team, worship leaders, etc... shouldn't be members either.

But I can see both sides - a church wanting some stability or consistency vs. musicians not wanting to be exploited and having their own liberty.
But I still don't think it's right to join just to be a musician there; I not sure why a church would want someone to join just for the sake of being a musician.

[sjonathan02]

I can't say that this scripture is valid to make your point about musicians not being members. Seems if this is the case, the choir, praise team, worship leaders, etc... shouldn't be members either.

But I can see both sides - a church wanting some stability or consistency vs. musicians not wanting to be exploited and having their own liberty.
But I still don't think it's right to join just to be a musician there; I not sure why a church would want someone to join just for the sake of being a musician.

Exactly.

[diverse379]

It's on page three, playa. 

Ain't nobody tryin' to sabotoge the discussion. 

My Bad

I was truly tripping whe I couldnt find it

I was like the devil must be busy

I was ready to put holy oil all up on my computer

I can't say that this scripture is valid to make your point about musicians not being members. Seems if this is the case, the choir, praise team, worship leaders, etc... shouldn't be members either.

But I can see both sides - a church wanting some stability or consistency vs. musicians not wanting to be exploited and having their own liberty.
But I still don't think it's right to join just to be a musician there; I not sure why a church would want someone to join just for the sake of being a musician.

I think it makes a good case for why musicians shouldnt be forced to be musicians
and why pastors shouldnt necessarrily demand that their singers be members

as far as the other side of the coin that is something for us to look into

Would it be unfair to say the following

the scriptures dont rule out the possibility of being a member
it just speaks about the levites being set aside

those that make this their calling there only calling

for example professional singers like yolanda Adams
should not have to feel pressured to join a church that she sings in

or if a small choir gospel group wants to minister at a church for a season

as long as the pastor has met with them and ordains their limited tenure

I think this is what the Levites were
they were full time music praisers

so if a singer fell into this category then they too should be treated just as the levites were
with the ability to minister freely and not be called a prostitute for singing in another church.

(I was accused of prostituting my gift Because I used to play drums at another church when they had afternoon programs)

the pastor had a doctorate degree
yet she said many things that were not accurately scriptural

Which is why it is important that we discern and understand the word


sorry for bugging out
but I take the word seriously I guess I should have asked first right?

[momuzik]

...I was accused of prostituting my gift Because I used to play drums at another church when they had afternoon programs...

Now this right here is the reason I could understand why a musicians wouldn't want to join church. As long as you were at your home church, it wasn't prostitution. But when you play at another church (in the evening even) there's a problem. That's control.

My take is: if the church wants some stability or security with musicians that aren't members (because some musicians do have a reputation of being "flighty") they ought to have a written legal contract in place - and it's a done deal! That way both sides are protected.

Me personally, I'm a member where I play but I was a member long before I even started learning to play.

[sjonathan02]

Now this right here is the reason I could understand why a musicians wouldn't want to join church. As long as you were at your home church, it wasn't prostitution. But when you play at another church (in the evening even) there's a problem. That's control.

My take is: if the church wants some stability or security with musicians that aren't members (because some musicians do have a reputation of being "flighty") they ought to have a written legal contract in place - and it's a done deal! That way both sides are protected.

Me personally, I'm a member where I play but I was a member long before I even started learning to play.

Cosign to ALL of it, especially the part in bold.