Play With Confidence

Article #7 from Ron Bergthold deals with a much misunderstood idea...confidence. Those without a biblical worldview equate confidence with cockiness. This is not the confidence of the follower of Jesus. The confidence we embrace comes from Who we belong to and Who controls us. The Spirit of Jesus fills us with the confidence of Jesus and empowers us to live the life of Jesus out in our daily existence. I Surrender All becomes our theme song. It's then that we can live with God-confidence. Be blessed by this word and my apologies to any bari-sax players. ;) ~Jon


Play With Confidence
by Ron Bergthold

How do you make a chain saw sound like a baritone sax? (Answer: Add vibrato.)

Shaky, wavering, tentative, thin – these are not words we like to hear describing our tone, but they often describe the sound initially produced from beginning students (except maybe from a bari sax). New instrumentalists are usually not confident, simply because they have no reason to be! Though they start badly, they hopefully gain confidence as they improve. A lack of confidence can interfere with a student’s progress, or even plague seasoned players when there is no reason for it.

Thus one of the first and fundamental skills needed to be developed by good musicians is playing with confidence. This involves knowing what you are capable of and believing that you can reproduce this capability in the piece you are about to play. If you know you can do it right, you probably will. If you are not sure, chances are you will not play it well, and certainly not with the desired musicality and passion. Of course, many reasonably believe too much confidence is the gateway drug to pride, and that, given the stern Biblical warnings against this evil, we should only play with meek and humble passivity.

Jesus’ disciples, when confronted with the revelation that one of them would betray Him, reacted with at least two emotions (Luke 22:23-24). The first emotion reflected a lack of personal confidence. Might he be the one capable of such a deed? We are often the very first to question our own abilities. Self-doubts and fear of what others will think of our playing comes naturally. Even the most talented players question whether they have what it takes to give a truly great performance sometimes. Fear of failure rules many lives, producing wide-ranging effects, from the “I won’t even try it” to the “I will not let myself fail” obsession and its accompanying perfectionism.

The second emotion that quickly took over the disciples’ initial thoughts appears much more sinister. A surge of over-confidence quickly overwhelmed their personal self-doubts, creating a full-fledged battle of who among them was the greatest! They went from zero to ninety on the pride scale in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. How could that kind of shift take place? How do we stop that kind of roller-coaster turn of direction?

It was actually not a turn, but rather acceleration in the same wrong direction. Both self-doubt and pride focus on us, when God clearly and jealously desires our entire attention. Even when we are pounded by circumstances that demand our self-preservation and raise our biggest fears and doubts, we must instead completely trust in God and His Word. David wrote Psalm 27 in the midst of extreme life-threatening opposition, but was still able to state in verse 13 that he was “…still confident in this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” The “land of the living” meant right here on earth, not later in heaven.

Every minute of our lives, we choose for whom we will live and play. It is indeed the most important choice we make and continue to make. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to choose wisely: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Confidence in God means He alone is our audience. Play for Him with utmost confidence IN Him!

For the TRBC Orchestra on October 22, 2008

Playing The Rest

Here is the next installment in Ron Bergthold's series (#6) and he continues to challenge us using these metaphors from the orchestra and connecting them to our lives in Christ. This one hits on God's invitation to rest. Here in America, we don't really have a grasp of this. We tend to fill our "days off" with just as much activity as our work days. The idea of Sabbath, commanded by God, seems to be lost on us. For most, rest = leisure. This is not the heart of what God is calling us to. Leisure's focus is entertainment. His rest is a place of ceasing from activity and enjoying Him. A time where we are connected to Him through a radical departure from the noise and kinetic activity of our day to day lives, and lest you try to make this about a specific day of the week or some observance of ritual, check out Hebrews 4:9-11.

"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." (ESV)

He is calling us to cease our activity that is not empowered by Him. He is saying, "Rest in Me, and I will work through you." Lord, we hear You. Help us rest in Your work and fulfill our destiny in You.

~Jon

Playing the Rest

by Ron Bergthold

Did you hear about the violist who bragged she could play a 32nd note? (Answer: The rest of the orchestra did not believe her, so she proved it by playing one).

The climax of a musical piece can actually be marked by a unified silence, a grand pause, when every person plays a deafening rest. Grand pauses can generate a masterfully dramatic effect, unless someone accidentally plays a note within it! As we all know, it can be more difficult at times to not play a rest than to actually play the notes. From the dotted sixteenth rest to the triple-digit bar naps, everyone knows they will need to cease playing at some point.

Although at times some composers mercifully place a few rests for the brass to recover their lips, most do not arrange rests simply to allow alternating players to relax. The main intent is to bring to the listeners’ ears a different sound by eliminating one instrument or another completely, allowing others to rise to the forefront. In order to get just the right effect, the trumpets must be silenced so the flute melody can soar. The simple rest is a vital tool of the best composers, used expertly for balancing instrumentation and providing variety and life to the music we enjoy.

Spiritually when we think of rest, we often think of a Sabbath rest, where we refrain from routine work and focus on God. This is a refreshing gift from God that is as often overlooked today as it was overworked by the Pharisees in the time of Christ. They had defined work in such exacting physical detail that maintaining a “restful” mode was so burdensome that one could not enjoy the true rest which God intended.

The Old Testament hinted at true rest in Exodus 33:14 when God told Moses, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Jesus built on this thought in Mark 6:31 when He told the apostles, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Jesus then explained in much more detail in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” The source of true rest is being in the presence of God.

We must learn to play the rest by ceasing our own performance and instead learn and listen to God’s solo, often coming as a still, small voice that may not be heard while we are playing our own tune. We don’t cease from playing entirely though. God still wants us to produce music, but He intensely wants us to listen to Him and connect to His part so well that the listener will hear a beautiful duet. The overall composition will always have a unique style which is “gentle and humble” in heart and restful to the soul.

I can’t help but note a future rest that will occur. The biggest of all grand pauses is found in Revelation 8:1, “When He (Jesus) opened the seventh seal, there was silence for about half an hour.” Can you imagine complete silence anywhere for 30 minutes and the effect it would have on all who participate? The unifying declaration of all God had done in history to reconcile man unto Himself will be contemplated, and the beginning of a whole new era for creation will be anticipated! And how will this majestic silence be broken? The rather obvious answer can be found in Revelation 8…..

For the TRBC Orchestra on October 1, 2008