Reflections on "The Sing-Off"

This past week my wife and I became engrossed in NBC's new talent competition, "The Sing-Off." What an incredible display of vocal talent by very diverse groups of singers! You don't have to be a musician to appreciate how tough it is for a group to sing a cappella music well, and these groups have nailed it each night!

My two favorite groups are "Nota" (who have given a distinctively urban grit to a cappella music) and "The Beelzebubs" (who combine off-the-wall college-boy antics with superior vocal stylings, and they project the simple fact that music is just plain fun). Going with my gut, I'll predict that "The Beelzebubs" will take the grand prize, but I think "Nota" will give them a tough fight till the end.

Even though I am staying away from theology books until January 1, I've been reminded through my reading of secular books that anything can provoke theological reflection, for God has saturated every inch of His creation with clues to His character and truth. One only needs to seek, and he will find. (I think I read that somewhere...)

With that in mind, here is a nugget of theological wisdom that "The Sing-Off" has helped me to clarify:

The human voice is the only musical instrument that God made without any help from human beings, and it is without a doubt the most beautiful instrument of all. As my wife and I watched "The Sing-Off," we marveled at what those human voices were able to do musically, without any help from man-made pianos, guitars, or drums. And yet it is not so marvelous, when one considers that God specifically designed the human voice for the high and holy purpose of worshipping Him.

Our voices also have more power than any other instrument--for good or evil--to touch us on the deepest levels of our being. But therein lies a profound tragedy, for I believe that part of our rebellion against God is the misuse of our voices. In today's culture, so much of our speech and our singing is focused downward, towards the basest and most sinful elements of life. Ben Folds is one of the judges on "The Sing-Off," a very talented composer, pianist, and singer...and yet his songs are replete with gratuitous profanity, sexuality, and hedonism which make it difficult to respect the serious ideas that his lyrics (sometimes) contain.

Unfortunately, even Christians (including myself) have a way of misusing our voices: communicating anger rather than joy and peace, speaking words of judgment and hostility rather than words of grace and reconciliation. We raise our voices in these improper ways, and yet on Sunday mornings we do not raise our voices with the same level of intensity in our worship to God. That is, in my opinion, sinful, and it reveals the fallenness of the human voice and its need for redemption. If every Christian congregation sang with the same fervency and joy as "Nota" or "The Beelzebubs," I believe the world would be converted in no time.

Indeed, what Christian churches might learn from "Nota," "The Beelzebubs," and the other groups on "The Sing-Off" is how to incarnate an ensemble that resounds with the sonorous harmonies of the Gospel. For I believe if you asked any of those a cappella groups how they got to where they are, they would answer the following (in substance, if not exactly in form):

1 - Ensembles work only when each individual brings forth the best of who he or she is. Slackers, in the long run, will do more harm than good.

2 - Ensembles do not come into existence overnight. When you join a new ensemble, do not be too quick to judge if it does not perform exactly the way you think it should. Perhaps it is you who needs to alter your expectations.

3 - Becoming an ensemble is hard work: you must get to know and appreciate each others' voices, you must commit to learning your part of the score, and you must find a way to blend all the parts harmoniously, knowing when to hold back your own part and when to stand out.

4 - Becoming a good ensemble requires both task-oriented work (learning the music, perfecting the vocals, etc...) and relationship work (encouraging each other, learning to work together in a positive, affirming manner, etc...), and the leadership must be diligent in intuiting which type of work is called for.

5 - Coming together for rehearsal should never be seen as an end in itself. The purpose is always to go out and share the ensembles' gifts with others. If our music is only being heard by our own ensemble, why the heck are we bothering?