The Hardest Part of My Job
I'm a music teacher at a Christian school. This means the performances that my students are getting ready for are also worship services. In fact, most of the time I help my students get ready to sing for offertory or to lead the music on Sunday morning in church. Currently, I am getting the choir ready to go on tour where we will share God's story through music.
It is a blessing to work on sacred music with my students, but for me, songs can get lost in the mechanics. That means, I can get so focused on how to help them sound good that I forget to help them worship. In fact, I can often forget to worship myself.
In a community like ours, everyone knows everyone else, which means when I am in the congregation for Sunday service everyone knows I'm the choir teacher. It can be hard to worship because people around me are worried about how they sound. "No one wants to sound bad while they are singing next to the choir teacher." You can laugh, it's funny, but the reality is, sometimes "being the choir teacher" makes it hard for me to worship. The opposite is also true. I can get stuck in my head during the songs thinking about how the musicians sound or how I sound, and forget to worship.
This past Sunday was one to remember. A group of the senior girls were leading the service with their dorm mom. During their set they led, "Behold our God." I had to smile because my Junior High Choir was planning to sing the same song for offertory the following week. My first thought was, "we've been scooped." Since there was nothing I could do about it, I was able to enjoy the song I new well, singing the words in praise to God.
Then, all of the sudden, the power went out in the building. The screen shut off, the mics went out and the instruments were no longer coming through the speakers, and everyone just kept singing. I couldn't help but thing, "yes God, You get all the glory in this moment." It wasn't about us, it was about Him. He was going to take the glory, it didn't matter if the power point was perfect, if the musicians were together or if the voices sounded good. God was being worshiped.
As a musician I have always struggled with giving God the glory for my music. In fact, there were several times where I begged God to let me lead worship. He always said "no" because we both knew I would take all the credit for myself. When I became a teacher it got easier because I could teach the students and let them get up there and lead. I would stand with my back to the audience, which meant I didn't take too much credit. I gave up singing in front of people because it was too hard for me to give God the glory He deserved, which is really sad.
Over the years I have learned to point the kids towards God so that they don't make the same mistake I made, but I have to say it's the hardest part of my job. I know that if the kids do well people will tell me what a good job they did, and I can easily take all the credit all over again. So, what am I to do?
God has given me the gift of music and the gift of teaching. I can't help be paraphrase Eric Liddle, from "Chariots of Fire." When I teach and hear my students singing, I feel God's pleasure. I have learned that, when I give the glory to God and help the kids do the same, we get to glory with Him. Did you get that? We can be a part of His glory when it's all about Him. Wow.
So, the hardest part of my job is really the best part of my job. When I make the sacrifice of giving God the credit for the gifts He gave me in the first place, I get to join in His blessings. How humbling. Soli Deo Gloria - as Bach always wrote on his compositions, "Glory to God Alone."
Amen.
It is a blessing to work on sacred music with my students, but for me, songs can get lost in the mechanics. That means, I can get so focused on how to help them sound good that I forget to help them worship. In fact, I can often forget to worship myself.
In a community like ours, everyone knows everyone else, which means when I am in the congregation for Sunday service everyone knows I'm the choir teacher. It can be hard to worship because people around me are worried about how they sound. "No one wants to sound bad while they are singing next to the choir teacher." You can laugh, it's funny, but the reality is, sometimes "being the choir teacher" makes it hard for me to worship. The opposite is also true. I can get stuck in my head during the songs thinking about how the musicians sound or how I sound, and forget to worship.
This past Sunday was one to remember. A group of the senior girls were leading the service with their dorm mom. During their set they led, "Behold our God." I had to smile because my Junior High Choir was planning to sing the same song for offertory the following week. My first thought was, "we've been scooped." Since there was nothing I could do about it, I was able to enjoy the song I new well, singing the words in praise to God.
Then, all of the sudden, the power went out in the building. The screen shut off, the mics went out and the instruments were no longer coming through the speakers, and everyone just kept singing. I couldn't help but thing, "yes God, You get all the glory in this moment." It wasn't about us, it was about Him. He was going to take the glory, it didn't matter if the power point was perfect, if the musicians were together or if the voices sounded good. God was being worshiped.
As a musician I have always struggled with giving God the glory for my music. In fact, there were several times where I begged God to let me lead worship. He always said "no" because we both knew I would take all the credit for myself. When I became a teacher it got easier because I could teach the students and let them get up there and lead. I would stand with my back to the audience, which meant I didn't take too much credit. I gave up singing in front of people because it was too hard for me to give God the glory He deserved, which is really sad.
Over the years I have learned to point the kids towards God so that they don't make the same mistake I made, but I have to say it's the hardest part of my job. I know that if the kids do well people will tell me what a good job they did, and I can easily take all the credit all over again. So, what am I to do?
God has given me the gift of music and the gift of teaching. I can't help be paraphrase Eric Liddle, from "Chariots of Fire." When I teach and hear my students singing, I feel God's pleasure. I have learned that, when I give the glory to God and help the kids do the same, we get to glory with Him. Did you get that? We can be a part of His glory when it's all about Him. Wow.
So, the hardest part of my job is really the best part of my job. When I make the sacrifice of giving God the credit for the gifts He gave me in the first place, I get to join in His blessings. How humbling. Soli Deo Gloria - as Bach always wrote on his compositions, "Glory to God Alone."
Amen.
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