Honesty and Truth

The Lord was so very good to me this weekend. Not only were negotiations on my next vehicle successful, God let me play with the worship band ARISE this Sunday. Anyone who serves at the Lord's pleasure will understand what an emotional and joyous thing this was. I thank God that He allowed me to lead others into worship.

Having spent a fair amount of time in the local 'cover band circuit' I understand there are many factors that lead up to a good or bad performance. Preparation, song selection, timeliness of the performance, the make up of the audience. There's so much that goes into it that people make whole careers out of helping performers have successful shows - and rightfully so. What happens after a good show, or a bad one, is as important as what happens before it. There will always be a next performance, even if you're sure at the time you'll never get hired again. It's important to honestly asses the results of all your prep, how the show went, exactly what went right and wrong. It's not a science, but it does need a somewhat scientific approach to picking apart how well the 'art' was carried out.

So I have to say, I didn't perform anywhere near my best this Sunday. The band as a whole failed in the prep time, but that should not have resulted in my performance being less than professional. In an E-Mail to the head of the band I explained everything in detail and offered suggestions to better the next service. I did this with the full expectation of not being able to play with the band again. People, even us Christian types don't often like to be told an other person's opinion.

I was going to post that it would all be worth it even if I wasn't allowed to play with the band again. However, to the band leader's great credit, I received a very positive E-Mail just as I was writing the above paragraph. Laurie is a rare person, someone who can put up with my personal take on things and not be offended. I say my personal take because no matter how much anyone thinks of themselves, or how experienced they are, we all only see what 'we' see.

We can each try to be as honest as possible, but still not tell the 'TRUTH'.

There is a biblical concept in all of this, didn't you know I was going there? The difference between "what is right for you and I" and "TRUTH" is that truth is absolute, unchangeable and not determined by the observer.

The Word of God is Truth because it is beyond the authority of the observer (man). We can't change it. It is what it is because God said so.