I Sold My First Guitar a Long Time Ago

One of the perks to being a Youth Minister is getting free meals. I’m not so much referring to people picking up your tab, but the meals that are prepared at people’s houses.

I really do cherish these times. It’s so nice to sit down in someone’s home and have true fellowship. One thing I’ve noticed that is without fail in the “south” is that dessert is always baked and accompanied with coffee. If you know me, you know that I love coffee, so that is often more enjoyable than the desert.

Recently I had dinner at the Morgan’s house. All of their kids (none being youth) have been incredibly shy towards me, maybe it’s the beard, who knows? But from the moment I stepped into their house they opened up.

Ame took me straight to her incredibly clean room and immediately began to destroy it! Abigail kept trying to pull me into her room to show me her bed and how high she could jump on it, and then Ame would quickly pull me back to her room. Wallace was still pretty shy, but he did manage to keep from tucking behind his dad’s leg the whole night… and anyone who knows Wallace knows that is making headway!

After play time, after dinner, and after dessert, Becky wanted to pull out Wallace’s guitar.

When I first heard that Becky wanted Wallace to learn to play guitar I had two thoughts: First, I flashed back to 1992’ when Acky Breaky Heart hit the airwaves and I was first inspired to play guitar. I was 8, quickly became discouraged, and put the guitar down for four years until I picked it up again. So I wondered if 5 might be too young? Second, I thought about the possibility of Wallace being a youtube sensation… a 5 year old guitar prodigy! And that would be awesome to be able to say, “Yea, we jam together.”

Once the guitar was out I strapped it on (without adjusting the strap… adjusting a guitar players strap is like moving someone’s car seat). I hit the first chord and it sounded out of tune. I tuned it up, and quickly discovered that the guitar was not in tune with itself. I would go into the technical side of things, but let’s just leave it at it doesn’t sound as good as it should.

As far as instruments go, this is all Wallace has ever known… a junior guitar, ran through a mini amplifier, that isn’t in tune with itself. He might think it sounds good, and he might think that this is just the way guitars are, but there is so much more!

I think this is how we so often think of life… we see things as they are and just except them. For example, I’ll give you money on the account that I get the same amount back; or love those who love you and if someone hates you then it’s okay to hate them back, or at least show strong dislike; people strugle with depression, some people are gay, and the list could continue. The point is that, these things are accepted as normal, but in fact, this is not the way God wants it to be.

Here’s the thing, we can live life like an out of tune guitar, and maybe that’s fine because it’s all you’ve ever known; or we can live life straight up like an August Rush Orchestra where every instrument is fine tuned, playing in perfect rhythm, in majestic harmony, in all its glory and splendor.

One path will lead you to destruction and the other will lead to life.

I want to challenge you to explore how Christ modeled for us to live. Take the time to pick through the gospel according to John and take notes on the people Jesus hung out with, the things that he concerned himself with, the things he taught his disciples, and etc. I think you'll find that there is a better way to live life than just excepting the way things are.

What would happen if we loved our enemies... that in the same way we hope that the Holy Spirit conforms our flaws into the image of Christ we had that same hope for people that hated us? What if we served others, even those who have nothing to give in return? What would happen if we actually lived a life that reflected Christ? Maybe if we stopped being a "church" of the world, and started living as the Church in the world, we would truly be light to darkness and people would start to know Christ.