I recently ventured into the world of “sound technician” at my church. I have a passion for music, have enjoyed playing instruments and singing throughout my life. So after a few visits to Texas churches with incredible sound, I half-jokingly suggested to our worship leader that we needed a sub-woofer. To a leader responsible for a team of musical volunteers, this was a floated balloon she could not ignore. Two months later I was sitting in service behind the big scary sound console (not so scary after some great training)!
I committed to making this a labor of love and worship. “Start each service with a prayer to offer it up to God, to use my time to serve the preacher and the praise team, and ultimately to help use sound and music to touch others”. Halfway into my first solo service I realized that plan had already been scrapped: I was in “Martha” mode: worrying about the sound performance had me so engaged in the ‘tasks’ to be performed that I had lost sight of why I was performing the tasks. I was in God’s presence yet the mix and the knobs had taken control.
Anyone following the George Behr twit feed knows this is a recurring theme. The early writings of the author in CS Lewis’s book “The Great Divorce” reflect God’s presence in his life. As he matures the words take center stage, eclipsing God. Even though I’ve spent years in Christ’s presence, the tasks I’m performing, often for Him, can easily overshadow Him.
While Screwtape may have gotten me that first time, it is a great lesson for the next time. At the end of those volume, equalizer and gain knobs is a child of God worshiping through performance. At the end of their musical notes is a child of God worshiping to the sound. “The one thing that keeps us from the possibility of worrying is bringing God in as the greatest factor in all our calculations.”