Recently, I heard a lecture by a worship leader in Britain. He was talking about his home church. He said, “In the last several years the Lord has provided the worship ministry with some remarkable musicians…and guitarists.” I had to laugh, being a guitarist and all. You’ve probably heard this joke before, but what gives? How do you get a guitarist to stop playing? Answer: Put sheet music in front of him. How do you get a pianist to stop playing? Answer: Take the sheet music away.
Whenever someone in our group plays a bad note we say, “He was playing outside.” Others, call it ‘jazz.’ The fact is we all mess up from time to time. We sing a bad note. We play an accidental in a place where the music doesn’t call for it. Or better yet, the entire group decides to go a different musical direction, simultaneously. That’s what we call a train wreck. Those are always fun and memorable!
That reminds me of a story I heard from Stuart Townend. He was on keys for Graham Kendrick (writer of “Shine Jesus, Shine). This was early in Townend’s career. They were playing at some big conference in England. Thousands of people showed up. He doesn’t recall the song they were doing, but the Spirit of God was present. Young worshipers blanketed the streets and the hillsides singing praises to God. Graham Kendrick looked back at Townend and gave him the ‘thumbs up.’ Naturally, Townend returned the gesture with a wink and a smile. After all, he was playing well. Then came the key change. Oops! Yikes! It wasn’t long before Townend realized the thumbs up meant, “modulate.” It’s hard to forget moments like that one.
The fact is, in life, as in music, there are bad notes (a little more skill and it would have never happened), accidentals (even though it was supposed to happen it didn’t quite seem right), and train wrecks (even if you tried you couldn’t stop it). Hopefully, you see the metaphor.
We shouldn’t be surprised by any of this. Bad notes, accidentals, and train wrecks make up the fabric of our world. Bad things happen. Right things don’t always seem quite right. We can make a real mess of just about anything. What should we do? “Be still, and know that [he] is God” (Ps. 46:10).
Some things in life you just have to roll with. At times, I’ll bet God simply laughs at us. Beads of sweat are collecting on our foreheads, our hearts are palpitating uncontrollably, and we’re biting our bottom lip. Why? Who are we trying to impress? Perhaps Churchill said it best, "Nothing is more dangerous than to live in the temperamental atmosphere of a Gallup Poll-always feeling one's pulse and taking one's temperature."
When we play outside let's do it for an Audience of One…
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