"If a congregation of disciples chooses to use the instrument as an aid I must respect their right to make a choice based upon their study, although I may not personally endorse the choice they make. But they are not answerable to me nor the congregation with which I am affiliated and they enjoy the same autonomy as we do."1
"No congregation of saints which opposes instrumental music is ever obligated to adopt it; no congregation which desires to use it can ever be forced by another to relinquish it. Each congregation must be self governing and self determining under God. Our task is not to get brethren to unite in their opinion about the instrument, but to be united in Christ Jesus. Such unity is not produced by fondness for things but by affection for the brethren."2 "Question: 'How can unity come about while some use the instrument and others cannot?' The answer is simple. It involves two things. First we must cease making the use of the instrument a test of fellowship, and secondly, we must start practicing the local autonomy which we have always proclaimed. We have no right to make anything a condition of fellowship which God has not made a condition of salvation. If brethren are good enough to be accepted by God they are good enough for me to receive. No one is saved because he has the proper understanding of instrumental music at the time he is immersed, and no one will be lost because he is mistaken about it."3 "Some of God's children think they can please our Father by employing instrumental music in his public praise. I think they are mistaken. I think they presume too much. But that mistake does not cancel the relationship which was established by being born into the family. They would not become my brethren by ceasing to use the instrument, they did not cease to become my brethren by beginning to use it. They are my brethren because we have the same spiritual father. This is the basis of brotherhood!"4 "The point at issue with me is not so much whether instrumental music in worship is of God or the devil. I have some brethren who affirm it is of God, others who do not know, and still others who do not care. Those who are interested on both sides quote scriptural passages to sustain their views. Frequently they use the same passages-one to prove it is of God, the other to show it is of the devil. What concerns me primarily as of the present is whether those who use it are brethren. If they are and I refuse to regard them as brethren, or if I do not love them as such, then I am of the devil regardless of where instrumental music originated. 'By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother (1 John 3:10)."5 "If we demand that those who use the instrument, which they regard as a matter of opinion, give it up in behalf of unity, are we not by the same reasoning obligated to give up classes and individual cups, which we regard as matters of opinion, in order to have unity?"6 "I doubt that we will ever settle the problem by one side giving up the instrument, or the other side adopting it. Perhaps such a course would not settle our difficulty anyway. It might actually intensify our trouble for a long time. But we can overcome the sin of schism right now."7 "The truth of it is that, instead of the new covenant scriptures teaching that it (instrumental music) is a sin, they say nothing about it. Those brethren who oppose it do so upon the basis of their deduction. From scriptures in various settings and places they formulate a basis of interpretation and using this as a working postulate they conclude that the introduction or injection of instrumental music would violate the intent of God. Since they believe that their postulate is valid and their logical construction derived therefrom is correct they cannot condone the use of the instrument. I share their view and, therefore, it would be a sin/or me to introduce instrumental music into the praise service of the saints in violation of my conscience. "However, other brethren read the same scriptures and draw from them a divergent conclusion. They are as honest and sincere as I am. They love Jesus as much as I do. How shall I act toward them? I cannot demand that they violate their conscience and confess something to be a sin when they do not believe that it is. But brotherhood and fellowship are not conditioned upon their seeing it like I do. We were not begotten by 'my postulate' but by 'our Father.' I am not told that I must love instrumental music, but I am obligated to love my brethren-all of them-and this I do. "Now if I think more of my reasoning and deduction than I do of my brethren, I'll sacrifice brotherhood to my deduction. The reverse is not true. Through brotherly love I can retain both my brethren and my personal conviction. This I am resolved to do. It is merely a matter of priorities."8