Pic: Long Beach High School Concert Choir 1983
I sang in the Concert Choir when I was in high school. Our teacher was well-known through out the state and we were able to win awards under her leadership. The thing I remember most about being in the choir is the effort it took to be a part of the whole and do it well.
When you join the choir, your vocal range is tested. This determines whether you are a soprano, alto, tenor, or bass. While some people have an exceptionally large vocal range, you can only sing one part at a time. To sing in well-blended harmony with others, you can neither sing too softly nor too loudly. Most importantly, you must remember that you are not a solo performer. If the choir does well at a performance it is because everyone performed their part well in synchronicity with all of the other parts.
A good choir follows the direction of the choir director. To become a good choir, you must show up to repeated rehearsals. You sing wrong notes and then try again. Through repetition and learning to listen to each other, you grow in your ability to sing in harmony. This takes consistency, determination, and a willingness to be led and corrected when necessary. This also requires practice, the process of maturing, and learning the necessary skill.
Modern American Christianity could benefit from thinking of the church as a choir. Because American culture is very individualistic, we tend to read the Bible incorrectly. When we read the New Testament and Paul says “you are God’s workmanship” (Eph 2:10), we read that as I, me, the individual is God’s workmanship. When Peter writes “you yourselves are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5), we think of our individual self being trained as a priest. In the original Greek New Testament, many of the instances of the English word “you” are plural, written to entire groups of people. Paul is saying that everyone reading his words together as a community is God’s workmanship. In the South, we would say, “all ya’ll” are being built up as a holy priesthood.
The church is a collective like a choir. Individuals in a choir tend to lean one of two ways. Either they believe their purpose in Christ is to be a solo performance that needs a spotlight and a stage or they don’t want to learn a specific part and work at making harmony. They would rather just sing along with the melody because it is easier.
It is hard to walk into a diverse group of people, find your place, and learn your part. It is hard to occasionally sing the wrong note or not sing so loud that you drown out others. Learning to be in harmony with others requires intentionality, grace, and persistence. You have to keep showing up, keep trying.
Any endeavor involving human beings bumping into each other will have drama. You’ve got to love the choir director. You have to believe in the beautiful music that will result if we all follow the leader and do our part the best we can. There will always be tension between the ideal and the real, the desired end goal and the work in progress. This is where Paul tells the collective choir to walk in “faith, hope, and love” (1 Cor 13:13).
With Jesus conducting the church like a choir, the beautiful music he makes will change the world. What a privilege it is to have a part. Show up, learn your part, work at creating harmony. Be a part of the beautiful music going out into the world.
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6).
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