being just a little outta tune is ok, right?

i was thinking about this the other day, if being just a little out of tune is ok. . .

we were practicing for a Sunday morning worship and then our two Christmas Eve services. i was assigned keys which basically means that i would play piano on some songs and synth on others. we were doing a lot of traditional carols so the piano would be the instrument of choice for most songs. except that we had a teenie, weenie, little problem - there were about 3 notes on the piano that were slightly out of tune. and because they were spread about evenly in the octaves, chances were good that i could conceivably play around them. so during rehearsal i made note of what notes not to play. and it was all good.

but being in the Chicagoland area with its known weather extremes, we experienced a severe cold front between that rehearsal and Sunday morning. which in turn wrecked havoc with the temperature and dryness of our church sanctuary which did bad things to not only those 3 slightly-out-of-tune notes but encouraged more of the same musical independence from a lot of the other notes. . . do you see where i am going with this?

if i were soloing on the piano, it would have been noticeable - but probably forgivable.
but playing WITH the band, it was more than noticeable, it was painful, really painful.
the other instruments being of one mind and tune only made everything i played sound gross.

i finally gave up trying to figure out what not to play and realized it was easier than i thought - forget the piano and move to the synth for everything.

while not aesthetically pleasing to Christmas carol purists, playing the synth did allow for some creativity and even some pipe organ. . .

but back to the question. . .

being a little out of tune might be ok when you are soloing. . . but it is not ok when you are part of a group.

i think it is kind of like that in life too. i can have a bad attitude, be a little selfish and a teenie, weenie judgmental in my head and not affect anybody because there is no one else in my head but me (most of the time). but when i jump into life with others, it can be painfully obvious that i am in desperate need of an attitude adjustment because i am out of tune/step with them. it may subtle enough that i didn't catch it in my solo living but community living brought it to the surface. and i need to deal with it for the benefit of others and myself.

that is why living in community can be so important for Christ followers; it helps keeps us honest and in tune.

Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron. . ."