Being Admired Right In Church

We got a good little discussion going yesterday about wanting to be admired, motivations for playing at church, etc., so let's see where this takes us:

I admired Phil Keaggy for about twenty years, and then I got a chance to play with him. Hmm…that sounded bad. I still admire him, but this is the story of how I figured something out about the nature of performing, and being admired. How I got to play with Phil is a really good story, but not to my point, so I’ll pick that up later – maybe tomorrow. Let’s just say that Mr. Keaggy sort of got coerced into using a bunch of us locals to be his back up band at a particular concert.

The concert took place in the auditorium of a large church, and I stood around in the foyer (narthex?) before it started, watching the place fill up. As I did, I talked with several people who’d come to see me play. Some were family, some friends, some were also musicians. All were excited to watch, and I had mixed emotions about it. I started to feel a little unworthy of the attention (even though I’d cultivated it). I was also struggling with feeling, I don’t know…a little ‘better’ than my musician friends who’d shown up. I think I was actually embarrassed that I played good enough to do this gig, and that by getting up onstage I’d be somehow flaunting it.

But as we talked, it dawned on me – my friends, family and fellow players were enjoying this! It was fun watching someone who could do something they never could. This was as close as they would ever get. It was almost like I was representing them. One of their own – onstage with Keaggy! Just as I was going to enjoy Phil’s playing that night (and had already, at rehearsal), so they would be enjoying my playing. In fact, they were a lot more mature about it than I would have been. I have a history of just getting mad when someone I know plays a really great gig and I don’t. (I really have a lot of growing up to do…)

I thought about it more in the coming days and came to this conclusion; people want the musicians at church to play well. When a guitarist steps up to the front of the stage during worship and takes a solo, people don’t think, “Ahh, look at that showoff.” They’re thinking, “Isn’t God something? Look at how he made that musician, with all that talent. Wow it’s fun to watch him play.”

If you're not a musician, this probably all sounds like it should be obvious - I assure you it's not.  I've spoken several times with musicians - especially guitar players - who think they should NOT be taking solos, should NOT be walking up front for their solo, etc.  Although...these are usually the guys that should be doing it.  The ones who want to - they probably shouldn't.

So:  of course we should offer our talents to the church with humility, but it does no good to stand back and pretend we’re not good players, or to deprive the audience of the God-ordained pleasure of watching a gifted player or singer. I say, if God gave you the talent – whatever it is – let’s have it!

Just for fun, here's Phil Keaggy with Glass Harp in 1972, somehow getting by without me on keyboards.