15-5

My Hands: What Do I Practice?

We've all been in worship services where those leading were genuine, but if we are honest, were not very skillful. In fact, they were down right distracting. As a musician this is about as bad as it gets because we start having thoughts like, 'well I would have done it this way' or 'that wasn't a very good transition.' While our attitudes are not right, there is something equally wrong with leading worship that way. What is lacking in those moments is skill. "Rightly understood and pursued, skill can mark the difference between ineffectiveness and fruitfulness in our leading." There are some things that we need to remember about skill. First, that it is a gift from God that is to be used for His glory. It is easy to think that because we work hard at our craft, we should get all the credit when we succeed. But we have to remember that it is God who blessed us with the ability to play and sing in the first place! C.J. Mhaney says, "All gifts from God are intended to direct our attention to God and create fresh affection for God."

Skill must be developed. 1 Chronicles 25:7 says that the musicians who worked at the tabernacle were those "who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skillful." Just because we are 'doing it for God' doesn't mean that we should do it well. In fact, we should be working harder than anyone because we are singing and playing to the God of the universe! Many performance majors are required to practice 3 to 4 hours a day! I'm not suggesting that you have to do that, but if you want to get better at what you do, you have to practice! Even if it is only 15 minutes a day, it will pay off over time. All of that being said, we have to remember that skill doesn't make worship more acceptable before God. "While God values skill, He doesn't accept our worship on the basis of it." So many times we struggle when we miss an intro, forget the words, or play a wrong chord. Other times we think that it was the best service ever when everything goes smoothly. Remember that God isn't judging our worship on the sound of our music, but by the attitudes of our hearts. We will never impress God with our musical abilities, so just get over that now. Psalm 51:17 says that what God is looking for is "a broken and contrite heart" that recognizes our weakness and puts our faith in Jesus.

We should allow our skill to be evaluated by others. Not just by anyone, obviously asking someone who has no clue about music what they thought about the modulation from F to G that occurred in measure 52 will do you absolutely no good! We need the eyes and ears of those on this team to help us. Gracious feedback from each other is invaluable. When you are giving feedback, make sure you do it in a way that encourages people to continue to work on their skill.

Sometimes we value skill too much. When we do this it can become an idol. We should work really hard to make sure that when we play or sing we are doing the best job that we can possibly do. But "God wants us to realize that the point of our practice isn't to receive the praise of others. It's to bring Him glory."

Once we have a right understanding of skill, it can be very helpful. It helps us focus on God. "The more comfortable I am with practical aspects of leading, the more I can think about the One to whom I'm singing. I focus on developing skill so I'll be able to focus more on god. We want to get to the place where, musical, administrative, and leadership issues become second nature as a result of rehearsal, repetition, and careful planning." Again, God can use us even when we are not at our best. However, our lack of skill can be distracting to others and ultimately take the focus off of God. When that happens, we are not doing all we can to help everyone join us in worship, even if we are worshiping God. Skill helps us serve the church. When we get to the point where we do not have to think about every little detail, our faces show it. We are free to express praise to God by the look on our faces because we aren't having to think about the coming key change, and that will serve the people we are leading.

Some might say that we are talking about being perfectionists here, but that is not the case. Our goal (as John Piper puts it) is "undistracting excellence." "It's a proficiency that doesn't draw attention to itself but rather points away from itself."

As we lead others in worship of God, we have to remember that this requires more than a sincere heart and good intentions. It does require skill. Skill requires work, time, and preparation. However, we can not worship the pursuit of skill. God wants us to be skillful, but He wants us to use that skill to produce genuine worship that affects our entire lives.

Enjoy the Journey