We’ve implemented a new tradition. Once a month at GIFT practices we have a bit of a workshop. This last time we talked about playing with skill.
Why is it important to play with skill? Does it even matter? I find it interesting when reading about building the tabernacle and also the temple how often the word and idea of skill come up. God specifically tells Moses about two guys who are skilled to start with and that He has given His Spirit too so that they can do all the intensely intricate details that God is asking for. Apparently doing something well is something God actually cares about…
Seems opposite of some attitudes that can show up in ministry. I remember a former camp director talking about all kinds of things that got donated to their ministry, including dozens and dozens of empty milk cartons. And they’ll use that for…what? If a ministry does well at a video presentation we are pleasantly surprised. Yet God’s talking about skill and doing things well.
Part of that has to do with loving God. I was thinking about this in terms of marriage. Because I love Josh, if I do something for him I want to do it well because I want him to like whatever I’m giving him or doing for him. Doing well for the one we love. Doing well for the One we love.
That could apply to anything we do as service for God, not just music. With music specifically there’s another aspect that comes into play when we talk skill. Not distracting other people. When we’re in a corporate setting our goal is to point to God, to point to Jesus through the music. Well, we might have great songs and people are thinking about God and then all of a sudden someone plays a B demolished chord (as I heard it called). It’s jolting because it’s really out of place. It grabs our attention away from the truths we’re thinking about and back to the musician.
Now, obviously, mistakes are going to happen from time to time. However, as we grow in skill they should happen less often! One writer put it this way “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.”
So, two great reasons to grow in skill: 1. Doing well for the one we love. 2. Not distracting from Him.
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