There is a story told about the great country music guitarist, Chet Atkins (1924-2001). One day, Atkins was in a recording session with several inexperienced musicians who struggled to keep up with his genius and creativity. Exhausted and exasperated, one of them finally blurted out, “I don’t know what to do here!” To which Atkins responded kindly, “I find the melody usually works.”
This philosophy was core to his musical approach. Atkins believed a good musician should use as few notes as possible to convey thought and feeling, much as a poet uses words economically. He understood that overplaying would cost him the respect of other musicians and wear his audiences out. His listeners needed to be able to hear the melody. (Listen for a moment to this recording and you will hear his philosophy at work, even in—especially in—an “unchained melody.”)
It can be challenging to stick to the melody in a church board meeting these days. There is so much need, so much noise. There are so many agendas—personal and communal—that crowd the docket. Finding the melody and letting it do its work cannot solve all of a board’s dilemmas. But it can reorient. The melody of the gospel’s claim can re-establish a foundation for future work. It can help your board avoid distraction, mission-creep, and ministry exhaustion.
The melody of the gospel includes:
God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Godself.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
When in doubt in these challenging days of ministry, focus on the melody given to us by God. As a board, learn it by heart, so you can sing it from memory.
(Click here to hear Chet Atkins play Amazing Grace.)
What are some of your favorite melodies?
Imagine your latest church board meeting as a musical performance for a moment. What sounds do you hear? Can you find the melody?
What Biblical texts would you add to your understanding of the gospel melody?
How might you let that melody ‘do its work’ in your next church board meeting?
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