It was Sunday night after church and I was having dinner with a surgeon. My long service leave had just begun, and he asked what my plans were. For one, I told him, I wanted to regain sharpness in playing piano as I had some recording sessions planned and I wanted to be at my best. I had technically lost the edge from lack of practice and wanted – indeed needed – to regain it.
What he said next surprised me a little.
He told me that he feels like he looses his fine edge for surgery if he hasn’t done it for 1 week! That’s a bit scary! He doesn’t forget he needs to do it to stay sharp.
The old adage of “use it or lose it” is absolutely true, and unless you constantly play your instrument, or use your voice, or grow your skills, they will begin to atrophy and you’ll lose that “cutting edge” in your craft.
I know many people who have achieved a level of playing an instrument, and yet don’t play from Sunday to Sunday – in fact the only time they play or sing, is when they are rehearsing for worship on a Sunday. Stagnation has set in, and their ability to play deteriorates with every passing week. Whilst most worship music is not as demanding as concert level or session playing, it still requires constant and consistent work. And if our physical need is not sufficient motivation to practice, perhaps we need to remember that everything we do is ministry to God. Paul reminds us of this in Colossians 3:23 that the ultimate person we are serving is Christ… and that should be enough motivation!
I know that if I haven’t played guitar enough, the calluses I have developed on the ends of my fingers have gone or softened, and I can’t play a full worship set or practice without pain, dead notes or even fingers missing strings. I have to play guitar – even for a few minutes, every single day to maintain even a basic level. My piano technique, even at it’s worst, is way beyond what I need to play worship, but if I want to give of my best, I will practice during the week and be overly familiar with the songs I have to play.
One of the greatest challenges to musicians on rosters, is to practice when you may not play or sing for a couple of weeks, because you’re not rostered on. Or if, like me, you’re a multi-instrumentalist – you have to do the work on more than one instrument. This is a challenge to people whose lives are full of … well life – yet this is the commitment we have made to honour God and minster to others.
In my next post, I will give more practical guidelines about staying sharp and ready, but for this week, the least you can do, is go through the songs for this weekend more than once! Use them as part of your own worship time and be familiar with every chord change, sound and lead line you have to play. If that’s all you do, you will honour God, bless your team, and even feel better about your own playing ability.
Back to the dinner – my surgeon friend was sitting back enjoying a glass of white, and I asked… “Are you working tomorrow?” “Yes” he replied, “I begin with three, two hour operations at 7.30am.” My wife and I left shortly after, realising he had to be well rested to perform at his best the next day. If we were being operated on, we would all want our surgeon to be both skilled and sharp in his craft. You and I need to be that dedicated to playing for worship this Sunday.
You owe it to the Lord, to those you serve, and to your team to give of your best – and that begins at the start of each week.
What do you do to keep sharp and ready for worship? Share your thoughts below and subscribe to this blog.
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