Follow the Leader

My Grandpa

Our church is blessed to have a multitude of talented musicians who volunteer to lead us in worship each week. They sort of rotate and share the responsibility. 

A few weeks ago, we were being blessed by the talents of a group of them, when the leader skipped a verse. . . Now, I didn't know the song well enough to tell, and I might not have even caught it, except one of the other singers flushed and looked a little embarrassed - oh and the words projected on the screen didn't match. 

However, the rest of the group just fell in behind him and FOLLOWED WHERE HE LED. 

I was impressed by those musicians - even the one who got a little flustered. They did nothing but make their leader look good. 

Can you imagine if they had gone off on their own? Not only wouldn't it have sounded very good, but it would have confused all of us in the congregation, embarrassed many of the performers, and maybe even damaged the trust they had in their leader - or his trust in them. Perhaps irreparably. 

I wonder how often I damage the trust of my leader, and confuse those around us, when I don't FOLLOW WHERE HE LEADS. 

Now, you might think, well he made a mistake, they had every right not to follow him! 

But, if you are like me, this "not following" can happen even when there are no mistakes being made. 

Thanks mostly to my Grandpa, whose own father taught him how to play, my extended family has a lot of musicians in it. I enjoy it when we all get together. Inevitably, Grandpa has learned a new song that no one else knows. He leads and they all play along. It sounds like music because they FOLLOW HIS LEAD. 

Next time I hear or feel discord, I'm gonna take a step back and remember that if I FOLLOW WHERE HE LEADS, the result will be sweet music.  

"Submit yourselves, then, to God." James 4:7