Unhindered Expression

The Jubilee Conference, held in Pittsburgh every February, sponsored by the Coalition for Christian Outreach, attended by about two-thousand college students, contains many expressions of beauty. Some of the most revered and experienced Christian professionals devoting to the Jubilee vision weave together arguments and lessons of eye-opening wisdom in the presence of those soon to enter the global marketplace themselves. Worship bands of the highest caliber lead the body before the throne of the Most High with heavenly melodies and Truthful lyrics. Prayer warriors constantly come together in earnest pleading for God's will to be done and for His Kingdom to come around and in and through the college students in attendance. Members of the college fellowships meet and encourage and challenge fellow ambassadors of the Gospel in growthful and glorifying ways too often unavailable in usual college life. Artwork abounds in rooms, on fliers, as movies.

Beautiful worship, life glorifying to the most high, reminiscent of the more-than-once-mentioned Eric Liddell quote: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. " But one expression of worship connected with me more than any other.

I am a musician in the sense of being able to adequately replicate or create certain tunes or melodies with the goal of expressing a certain emotion or enabling others to lift their voices in truthful, heartfelt song. Many are much more skilled at such things than I - at memorizing and playing and creating and tweaking and uniquing and originating and moving and involving and pleasing and entertaining - and those people can create much more beautiful music than I. But the greatest beauty I beheld this weekend wasn't in the form of music, but in expression. Because the best musicians aren't those that know and take advantage of all the theories and influences, but those that can get beyond them to the point that their instruments are a part of themselves and their imaginings of the best expressions are naturally and immediately and emotionally reflected through their instruments.

The Josh Moyer Band led worship on the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions, and both times I was awed by the ability of their drummer's ability to fluidly, imaginatively, naturally, ultimately beautifully beat on drums. It wasn't about correctness or form or appearances, although those things were all present: the priority was just becoming not just a part of the instrument, as hard as that is to understand, but a part of the music, knowing the songs and the instrument and the situation so well that all that remained was to be a part of it, to give everything to God through it. I play a few instruments, not including the drums, which always made me somewhat jealous but very respecting of drummers. It's not an instrument solely dependent upon fingers or hands, but the entire body: everything's involved.

And I found myself just longing to be in a place of being grounded in the Scriptures and understanding of God's vision and connected with His body, but being able to place the focus beyond maintaining or improving any of those to just living a lifesong of worship and praise, expressing beautifully the glory of the Creator and Sustainer and Savior and Ruler of this place, and all the places on this globe, and all the places beyond this globe, seen and unseen, "known" by the human race or unknown. What a joy it would be to play life so giftedly and unhinderedly and glorifyingly not for the appreciation of the community, but as a part of the community that draws it nearer to its holy Husband.