The Music Exchange

‘And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him’ (Colossians 3.17, ESV).

I’ve just had one of the most humbling experiences of my life. On the day before the operation to remove our son’s liver tumour, the surgeon said, ‘I will treat him as if he were my own son’. Though he’d never met Ollie, he said that he knew every detail of the inside of his body back-to-front from studying the various scans. Complete mastery of the profession, and dedication for someone he had never met and may never see again.

Negative feedback

In comparison, last week we sang, ‘Before the throne of God above’ to the tune ‘Jerusalem’. It’s organ or bust (unless you’re equipped with a double brass section and a box of fireworks). Here’s a conversation I had with someone the following day:

Opening question: ‘You know when we had the organ for “Before the throne” yesterday?’

Me: ‘Yes?’

Expected reply: ‘It was awesome — so great to raise the roof singing great words to a great tune.’

Actual reply: ‘It was a total mess — no one around me knew what they were doing.’

I’m always disappointed to get negative feedback, but, if I’m honest, it’s my own complacency and lack of dedication to serving Jesus that is the root of the problem. As evangelicals, we can get very careless about the work we do. We know that we can never be perfect, and we also know that our Christian brothers and sisters are very forgiving. What we often forget is that whatever we do, in word or deed, we do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Professionalism

Imagine if Ollie’s surgeon had said, ‘Well, I nicked a few blood vessels on the way in, and I’m not sure where I left my scalpel, but other than that, the job’s a good’n. Pinch these bits together for a couple of hours, I’m off for a coffee. Cheerio.’

It sounds terribly arrogant to compare the work of a Christian musician with a surgeon, and please believe that I certainly don’t have an elevated view of my own importance, but there are a few similarities. Both professions involve highly-skilled manual labour, both require years and years of dedicated practice, and it’s painfully obvious if either of you messes up (apologies if you feel that’s an inappropriate pun). I’ll admit it: people’s lives aren’t at risk if musicians play a wrong note (I’d have wiped out a small continent by now), but we are still expected by our Lord to give of our absolute best, and we’ll still be held accountable by him for every note we play and sing. Our work, in that sense, is as valuable to Jesus as the work of the Christian surgeon. The Lord Jesus cares about every tiny detail of everything we do. Therefore, we need to work as diligently to please him.

New attitude

We need to start with a change of attitude. Often, musicians who are keen to play in church will say, ‘I’d love to play — it will be a good way of keeping my skill up’. Hardly anyone says, ‘I want to practise hard so that I’ll be able to serve in church.’ Two very different attitudes — one using the church to serve the skill, the other using the skill to serve the church.

Of course, the more we play in public, the more confidence we get, but if we’re using our ‘service’ as an excuse for advancing our own skill, our motives are misplaced. There’s no alternative to hard work.

Get extra lessons if that would help. There are plenty of organisations offering help to church musicians. We may struggle with some of the theology, but there will always be things to learn from a purely practical standpoint. It may feel like a step-down in pride to get extra help, but it may help us take our service of God’s people seriously.

If you are a very able musician, why not help out the less able? We often learn by teaching others too.

I say this every month, but don’t neglect to pray that your attitude will be one that seeks to serve rather than be served.

Take rehearsals very seriously — and be on time!

Take negative feedback and use it positively to spur you on to be diligent in serving the Lord.

Remember that every hemi-demi-semi-quaver is important to Jesus — value each one as much as the surgeon values each blood vessel. Finally, remember that all our shortcomings and wrong notes will be more than covered by his immeasurable grace.

Music practice

Negative feedback

Me: ‘Yes?’

Professionalism

New attitude

Richard Simpkin

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