1. You don't have to have choir programs to get good singing. I grew up in an Old Order/ Ultra Conservative setting that had a good program for teaching music from grade 1-10.
2. There is something wrong when a family or culture will faithfully spend many hours to participate in or travel to hear a choir program, but tends to minimize or neglect things like: meetings put on by the local church, preaching the Gospel to the poor, befriending the foreigner and stranger, visiting the fatherless and widows, etc. It is almost certain that such a culture is in transition and will only last a generation.
3. The best art is that which is accessible/inspirational to a wide range of people. Winnie-the-Pooh would be an example of this. Most choir programs I've heard tend to target a narrow audience. Those whose programs target a narrow audience tend to minimize this problem by quoting people who appreciated the program which does not really address the problem at all but it sounds good.
4. Jesus blessed the woman who lavished him luxuriously with ointment so we can't say that someone who lavishes someone else with their best gifts are bad people. If a gifted singer(s) used his gift to bless the rank and file and spent the rest of his life doing the kinds of things Jesus did with his life, I would have no problem with it. I just can't get on board with people who mostly hang out with their peers, and salve their conscience by thinking they are "ministering" to others and spreading the Gospel with their choir programs. The occasional good story can be told that seems to justify it, but then ultra-conservatives can tell a few good stories too about how someone came to believe that their particular package of ultra-conservative church standards is the perfect solution to the world's problems.
A few good stories do not justify anything.
5. If performing arts coupled with a Christian theme is a good thing, than it would be justifiable for a painter to travel in his motor coach displaying his paintings in our churches. And if that is ok, then a drama team could do the same.
6. I like when a group of local people get together and do a local singing program. I think that is justifiable. Driving some distance to give a singing program to the unchurched may also be justifiable as long as there is follow up conversations with the audience in the succeeding days and weeks. Anything more than that doesn't seem to fit the tenor of New Testament teaching, IMO.
Thanks for these thoughts Ernie - Mostly I would be sympathetic to them.
#1 - Definitely don't have to have a choir program for good singing. (It may provide an avenue for more regular singing though.)
#2 - I agree with your point here also, if it is the case. Though I know quite a few folks that do sing in choirs and that do make it to local events.
#3 - This one I probably wouldn't quite be in the same place. Art, like many other things, needs to be studied to be fully appreciated. It is true, if one is unfamiliar with art, then Mona Lisa becomes just and odd looking woman with a half smile. And the rather corny nostalgic landscape's, are often the most easily admired artistic works by the masses. However, I wouldn't quite be ready to give up on the "finer things." Having said that, if the purpose is leading a mostly "uneducated in the arts" congregation in worship, then certainly the more simpler songs would likely be more inspiring. (And personally I don't care for singing songs in Mennonite Churches that most of the attendees "don't get." 1 or 2 songs is ok (if they are broken down and explained/made accessible)...but not the whole program. A choir should keep the audience in mind to whom they are singing.
#4 - I do think your comparison here is appropriate. The woman, in an act of worship "wasted" something very valuable. In a similar way I think in some cases it is ok to "waste" value on worship/art. Say perhaps a nice grand piano to aid in worship...or an orchestra of expensive instruments...to accompany a choir or congregation.
#5 - Your comparison with a Christian themed art...is spot on. I would be in favor of art shows in our circles. The problem is music is pretty much the only artistically acceptable outlet for Moderate Conservatives. They can't go to university and study any other art form and "get away with it." For this reason I am at least thankful we had that. Another confusing thing here is mistaking an artistic performance for the "assembly of the saints" which we often do. It would be better in my view, to call it what it is, an artistic concert for whom God is getting the glory hopefully. Don't confuse it with the gathering of the saints.
#6 - I am with you - though I probably would allow that "using" one's gifts for the glory of God, could be beneficial, but not a church service. That is, if one has a strong voice, let them lift it up, being an art form though it be, as an act of worship, though not confusing said program with the assembly of the saints.
My biggest concern with choirs and the current expression of music in moderate settings, is making sure that elitism and pride don't accompany it - which I fear happens to often. When I hear folks reference their type of music as "good music" or "good singing" it bothers me. Music in my view isn't "good" and that word, which also conveys a moral and "worth" connotation, isn't ideal to use for any musical genre. We should label genre's as "not good" or people as "not good" singers. Other musical genres that are just as meaningful (in my view) are too often discouraged, derided, or even worse, made fun of. And people that would like to sing and get better at singing, aren't "invited" or permitted to sing with certain groups...not sure that I am saying that anybody should be able to sing with any group...but I do feel bad for folks who may feel left out.