I was
reading through an article shared by Rhonda Headley titled “Is
Music the Key to Success?”, in which the author, Joanne Lipman, suggests
that music making helps the average person become a higher achiever. Lipman
says that music promotes such qualities as: collaboration, creativity,
discipline and the capacity to reconcile conflicting ideas. “All are qualities
notably absent from public life. Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or
even a better person. But it helps train you to think differently, to process
different points of view — and most important, to take pleasure in listening.”
Throughout the article Lipman makes
a point of stating that practicing music on a regular basis—despite one’s own
lack of talent on that instrument—can promote other areas of life skills. It is
essential for wind instrumentalists to rehearse their discipline daily in order
to keep up their embouchure much less their ability to play their
instrument well. For a classically trained pianist such as myself, lack of
practice promotes simplistic chording, rounded rhythms, and sloppy playing in
general. While my mind still remembers how
to play, my hands become weaker and lazier without the necessary rehearsal.
Lipman states that if we look
carefully we will find musicians at the top of almost any industry. “Woody
Allen performs weekly with a jazz band. The television broadcaster Paula Zahn
(cello) and the NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd (French horn)
attended college on music scholarships; NBC’s Andrea Mitchell trained to become
a professional violinist. Both Microsoft’s Mr. Allen and the venture capitalist
Roger McNamee have rock bands. Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, played
saxophone in high school. Steven Spielberg is a clarinetist and son of a
pianist. The former World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn has played cello
at Carnegie Hall.” And the list goes on and on.
What if
the same could be said for music within the church?
I would
suggest that the correlation not only exists, but is blatantly obvious.
Christians who spend daily time connecting to God through worship (typically
expressed through music) are much more “successful” Christians than those who
only “practice” the discipline of worship once a week or even less. If you want
to become a more successful Christian, I would suggest that the way to draw
closer to Christ involves rehearsing yourself in the discipline of worship.
Spend at least a half hour a day expressing to God His worth.
As I
reflect on all the “spiritual giants” that have had a profound impact on my
life I remember that each of them had a prayer life that was contagious, a
voice that didn’t sound beautiful in song but was robust in worship, and a
spirit that reflected God’s indwelling Holy Spirit. If I want to become a more
successful Christian then I need to spend time letting music shape my emotional
connection with God on a daily basis. I long to become a worshipper that
resembles St. Augustine who said of worship,
“God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our
shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies
grey and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are
lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, run
our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave
music; give us the sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of
every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to
encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to Your
honour and glory.”
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