When I began playing the piano in church services as a teenager, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was given the order of service and the music for the hymns, and I trusted the music minister to just proceed as planned.
It’s never that simple. Music ministers and pastors are attuned to the Spirit, and to the congregation. The congregation may like a song and sing so strongly that another verse just has to be sung – after I’ve already turned the pages to the next hymn on the list. Or the pastor asks for a time of prayer between songs, and asks the pianist to “play something softly” in the background.
Right. I had nothing in my pile of music labeled “for playing softly in the background.”
Those first few months, even years, of being a church pianist, I often experienced such adrenaline-filled moments. I was unprepared, and I had no base of experience to draw on to rescue me.
This lack of preparation is a minor issue in a tiny church, where everyone is kind and encouraging to the teenage pianist. But being prepared can be crucial when you have just one chance to tell a depressed stranger about God. Or one chance to explain your beliefs to a hostile audience. We may be confident in our homes, but real life tends to show us just how unprepared we are.
Let us work on being prepared then.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the
reason for the hope that you have.
1 Peter 3:15