solo or symphony? can you stand alone?  

as the auditorium lights dimned and the curtain began to rise, the concert goers ended their conversations and turned their attention to the stage. the conductor strode to the podium and bowed in response to enthusiastic applause

then the conductor turned to face the orchestra. he raised his baton and began the concert with a dramatic gesture. what followed was one of the strangest concerts imaginable.

after the harmonius first minutes, only a few musicians continued to follow the conductor's lead. the others seemed to plany only when they felt like it, or thay played a completely different tune. a violinist sauntered out in front and tried to perform a piece he had written himself. a trombonist broke into a jazz number. chaos reigned. the audience sat for several minutes in stunned silence, then walked out in disbelief...

fortunately, the situation described above is fictitious. skilled musicians who agree to play in an orchestra simply do not behave that way. they sign on with the agreement that they will follow the conductor's lead. they are part of a symphony, not soloist who just happened to be playing at the same time.

unfortunately, we who have been declared ourselves to be followers of Christ can behave as the members of the imaginary orchestra did. we may not like to think so, but we all have a tendency to want to direct our own lives. we tend to focus on self-survival and self promotion, and we think we are wise enough and strong enough to take care of ourselves. our goals take on greater importance and urgency than God's goals for us. and again, though we could be reluctant to admit it to anyone, we act as if God is supposed to help us get what we want out of life. this can happen even when we know the truths expressed in the Bible. ..

although we are thankful for what Christ did for us on the cross, we gladly accepted His offer of forgiveness and eternal life, we may have gotten distracted. we mahe forgotten that as part of His "symphony"- subjects of His kingdom and members of His church- we are to submit to His direction of our lives. He is the Conductor, the Head, the King whom we serve. doing what He wants us to do is what our new life is all about. He longs to lead us through a life that will demonstrate to a watching "audience", the unbelieving world around us, that we know what it means to be His people. He wanst us to demonstrate the validity of our profession of faith, not as a soloist but in symphony.

mind you, you cannot stand alone!