Have you heard of the band Pentatonix? They are an a cappella group and they are pretty amazing. When you hear them it’s hard to believe that there are no instruments accompanying them. I was watching a Christmas special last night, I have never watched them create their music, just listened to them, so it was fascinating to see them do their thing. Each vocalist has an important part to play in the creation of the music you hear. It starts with the beat, that rhythm that sets everything else in motion, then they add bass for the depth and fullness of the song, overlaid with harmony and words – Wow! It was cool to see how it all comes to life. Each part so important to the whole of the song…and that got me thinking!
Each part is so important!
We can get so sidetracked focusing on another’s part that we miss the importance of our own part to play in this Earth song. It’s hard to stay focused on our own unique parts.
I noticed that each vocalist had ear buds in both ears that completely covered their ears. Not sure about the “science” as to why but I have seen other musicians and noticed they usually have one in and one out when they sing with a band – it’s not uncommon for a singer to pull the ear bud out when focusing on their part. I asked a worship leader friend of mine – why do you do this? Her response, “We take one ear out to hear the mix in the house. Basically, to hear the sound that the audience hears, so we are hearing a mix of what we hear in our ear buds and what the audience hears.”
This doesn’t seem to be the case with the Pentatonix vocalists. Now, again, I am not 
positive about this, but this is my speculation – they have to stay so focused on their part that they must tune out each other and listen in to only their own voices otherwise they get caught up in the next guy’s part and the song goes awry.
Hhhmmmm…sounds a lot like what happens to us doesn’t it?!
We lose our focus and it all goes awry!
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 reminds us about the importance of doing our part, of staying focused on what each was made to do:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[a] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Romans 12:4-8 also reminds us the importance of our unique parts:
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Stay focused on your part – it’s important! It’s necessary! It’s a vital part of this Earth song! Without your part the song is incomplete, it doesn’t sound right.
So put in those earbuds and block out the rest of the world concerning your part. Tune into the Holy Spirit’s resonance to guide and get you through. Stay focused on your part and run your race. Don’t allow the sound of another to interfere, to distract, to take over and blur your part of the song.
Stay focused friend, we need your part!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=furPhaTJWCg
