DISCLAIMER
Shalon Palmer lives in one of the most churched cities in America, and has had the opportunity to play in just about every kind of church you can imagine. From dead religious churches who worship their traditions (good to know they know how to worship something), to large life filled churches with a passion for people. The views expressed below are from his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of aStepFWD.

Quite often I’m asked my opinion of if it’s OK to hire unsaved musicians to play in a worship service. I’ve heard this topic debated from every angle you can possibly imagine, and I’ve even seen it done a few times. I mean, God can move through anyone, right?

Let’s look to the Bible. I believe this answer can be found In Exodus 25 where we read about this description of the Ark of the Covenant. The construction of the Ark is very descriptive, but for the sake of this post, I want to point out 2 things. 1: The presence of God could be found with the Ark. 2: The Ark had rings on the sides through which the priests slid poles to carry it.

So what exactly does this have to do with unsaved musicians playing in church? Notice that the presence of God could only be carried on the shoulders of the priests. Ok, that seems pretty straight forward.

Now let me ask the question: can unsaved musicians carry the presence of God? David made the mistake of doing this once and it got a man killed. Who you allow to carry the presence of God before the people is serious business! When you’re choosing musicians, make wise biblical decisions, not decisions based on your current need.

My opinion is that no unsaved person should ever be permitted in any position of leadership before the Lord. When I play guitar, I am ministering, leading worship, and prophesying through it. What is the source of inspiration if not the Spirit of God? Who is an unsaved person ministering to if not to God?

God doesn’t place the government and ministry of his church on just anyone. He places it on those that He has called, equipped, qualified, and ordained to that responsibility under Christ. In other words, only priests.

Do you think that we should allow un-saved musicians to play in our services?

Article as published on shalonpalmer.tv