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