Creating An Atmosphere Of Grace - Part 1
"A grace-filled atmosphere within our church is such an important aspect. This is especially true as we work through nervousness, fear, making mistakes, and trying not to be distracted by issues that can produce anxiety in us - rather than being able to find joy as we serve the Lord in this way."
How does grace play into our role as church piano players?
Well, in the next two posts, we'll be looking at the subject of creating an atmosphere of grace.
A grace-filled atmosphere within our church is such an important aspect. This is especially true as we work through nervousness, fear, making mistakes, and trying not to be distracted by issues that can produce anxiety in us - rather than being able to find joy as we serve the Lord in this way.
The point of this post then, is not so you can go and show it to others so they will be gracious to you, but rather to encourage you to model, and seek to create, the kind of atmosphere of grace that you would like to experience yourself.
This may be particularly helpful if you are part of, or leading, a team of musicians, but it still applies in the way you respond to others when they make mistakes, fall short, or fail to meet your expectations. The more you show grace, the more you are doing your part to create that atmosphere of grace within your church.
And let’s face it - we all want that, don’t we? We all want to be in a church where when we mess up unintentionally, people are gracious and merciful towards us or when we fall short in an area, failing to meet an expectation that someone had of us, we are treated with compassion.
Well, while we can’t make other people be like that, we can model it.
So how do we do this then, practically speaking?
I'm going to give 5 characteristics that will contribute towards an atmosphere of grace in your church. Here goes…
Think the best rather than assume the worst
When we consider others better than ourselves, this becomes easier to do as we treat them like we would want to be treated. Everyone wants people to think the best rather than judge motives and jump to conclusions.
In Philippians 2:3 it says…
...3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Let your love cover a multitude of sins
In 1 Peter 4:8, we read…
...8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
Love doesn’t excuse sin, and this verse is not saying love covers all sins. However, there are minor sins that occur that don’t require us to jump on and address, but rather, we can show love and overlook such things when they are not harmful to anyone else.
If this is true with some sins, then how much more true it should be of mistakes and faults that aren't even sin - like playing a wrong note on the piano during worship!
In the next post, we'll be looking at the last three points on this subject of creating an atmosphere of grace.
[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]
This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.
Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.
📧WANT TO RECEIVE NEW BLOG POSTS DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX?📧
SIGN UP BELOW
