An Instrument of Worship

As a musician, I have a deep appreciation for other musicians and I’m especially partial to guitar players. The other night, I saw one of the most talented guitar players I’ve seen in a long time – and this guy is just finishing high school! He did one solo performance on a classical guitar and later performed with a rock band on the electric guitar. It just blew me away how he could play so many notes so quickly and clearly, yet make each one truly musical with life and tone.

Most of the time, our musical instruments sit idle, waiting for someone to play them. They were created for the exclusive purpose of making music, and some, like my acoustic guitar, actually improve their tone the more frequently they are played. But not everyone can play every instrument. If I were to try to play the violin, I would expect you to run for cover and beg me to stop – I would be creating noise, not music. And the quality of the musician is more important than the instrument.

I can remember when I was in high school and I went with a friend who was shopping for an electric guitar. The local music store had a wide variety of guitars for sale, ranging from $100 for a no-name brand to over $2,000 for a high-end Fender. My friend was just learning to play, but his parents had said he could spend up to $750 for his first guitar. The salesman at the store knew a lot about guitars and he also played and gave lessons. In my opinion, he was a very good salesman because his first question was not about price but about ability and ambition. He asked my friend what music style he liked or wanted to play, and whether he planned to become a full-time musician or just a casual player. My friend was like me and just wanted to learn to play well enough to jam with friends and entertain himself. So the salesman grabbed a guitar priced around $175 made by a company I’d never heard of before. He quickly tuned it, plugged it into an amplifier and started to play. He made that cheap guitar sound amazing! After a few minutes, he took down a mid-range Fender priced around $500 and to our ears, it sounded pretty much the same. He even pulled down a high end Gibson, and again, there was not much difference that we could tell. After playing the Gibson, he went back to $175 guitar and played it some more. They all sounded great. But when my friend and I tried each one in turn, they didn’t sound as great. Even when I played that Gibson, I couldn’t make it sound as good as the salesman made that $175 guitar sound. So my friend ended up buying that $175 guitar and was very satisfied with his purchase. I give that salesman a lot of credit – he could have easily sold us a guitar priced much more and made a bigger commission, but instead he demonstrated how a talented musician can make beautiful music even with a mediocre instrument.

God has created us all to be His instruments on earth. Not just to make music, but to be His hands, His feet – to be His ambassadors and demonstrate His love to the world. We may think we are ill-equipped to do this work. But like that cheap guitar, if we allow our supremely talented God to use us – control us, direct us, support us - the results can be beautiful.

At the same time, if we allow others to try to use us (or we try to take control), the results are not so beautiful. Think about the numerous examples of people who have allowed greed, ambition, fame, power, pleasure, insecurity, drugs, alcohol, or other influences to control their lives. Even when I reflect on my own life – the times when I tried to take control and go my own way – those are the times when my life wasn’t the best it could be.

Before I play my guitar, I need to make sure it is still in tune. If it’s not in tune, no matter how well I play, it’s not going to sound right. We are the same way. We need to make sure we are “in tune” with what God wants us to do. If we’re not, and we try to let God work through us, the results won’t be as good as they could be.

So as you go about your week, ask yourself two questions. Am I going to allow God to use His instrument this week? Am I in tune with what He wants me to do?

Jac

“If we are the Body, why aren’t His arms reaching,
why aren’t His hands healing, why aren’t His words teaching?
If we are the Body, why aren’t His feet going,
why is His love not showing them there is a Way?”
Casting Crowns