The Symphony

This past Saturday evening Kellee and I attended the San Diego Symphony for their performance of Gustov Mahler's 9th Symphony written from 1909-1910. It was our first symphony and our experience was rather memorable. Kellee sat first chair in high school band as a clarinetist and was thoroughly engaged in the production, knowing each instrument, each movement, and each distinct sound. It was amazing for me to watch her as she was seemingly taken to another place in the music. I enjoyed the evening for many reasons, but primarily because of her complete rapture!

One thing I was not prepared for was the way God would speak to me through the experience. About half-way through the intermissionless, ninety-minute performance, I began to receive a download from the Holy Spirit about what I was experiencing that night in Copley Hall, and how it was a metaphor for the church.

The first thing capturing my attention was that each of the 103 members of the production were dressed all the same and yet each was unique. While each wore the standard white shirt and black suit with dress tails, each had their own unique hair color, facial hair (mostly men!), eye wear, and body structure. Each of these precision musicians had a unique way in which they "felt" the music and swayed and moved to the sound. Each of the 44 violinist played the same notes and engaged the strings with the bow at precisely the same time, and yet they were all perfectly unique. Each of the violins and the cellos were a unique color and texture and yet made the perfect, unified sound.

The conductor was masterful in his command of the production and each musician, each of them in turn responding succinctly to the dabs and swirls of his right hand. Each section of instruments, from the 9 upright basses, to the 12 cellos; the 6 clarinets and the 2 trombones instinctively responded as this man turned toward them and passed his baton through the air in their direction.

The conductor, as brilliant as he was, would be nothing without the members of the symphony to conduct. The musicians, as gifted as they were, without the direction of the conductor are only able to strum or sound out a small part of Mahler's beautiful 9th. As solo acts they may sound good, but nothing can compare to the combined sound of all 103 musicians playing in perfect unity as they are guided and directed by the master conductor.

In the Body of Christ, none of us are a soloist. God intentionally designed the church to be a unified team of unique individuals who depend on the others. We are each fearfully and wonderfully made in His image to reflect His glory, but we are not to do it alone. Together we make beautiful music for the King, but if we are out of tune or playing our own notes it can throw the entire balance off. As a Master Conductor, God has called us to join His beautiful symphony in the world. The piece we are together performing is the wondrous work called the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and our audience: A lost and dying world.

Will you play in unison with the Master?