Don’t forget the chorus

Don’t forget the chorus

It was a gorgeous summer evening at the outdoor concert venue with a vast crowd, fine orchestra and an impressive cast of soloists singing a selection of opera favourites. After an especially fine duet, the host introduced a choral item and reminded the audience ‘don’t forget the chorus’.

That’s a good word. What is an orchestra without the lesser players in the string section? What is a choir without the singers who could never carry a solo but who add to the rich depth of the group?

We live in an age of soloists. The politician whose charisma beams from every screen and who carries the team of lesser faces to victory.  The sportsperson who consistently scores the winning points. The business leader who is more demi-god than CEO. The preacher who has the congregation in the palm of his hand.

Thank God for these people whose singular talent wins the day. Where would the story of God’s grand plan be without the soloists of his kingdom … Moses, Joshua, David, Paul and the rest? The Bible tells the stories of God’s heroes in ways that encourage us to be thankful.

Of course, the great hero of the Bible’s story from start to end is God himself. He chose to love fallen humanity, he was patient in the waiting time, he provided the great hero who won our greatest battles and he will see this through to the new creation. He provides Moses, Joshua, David Peter, Paul and such like to be the little heroes of his story.

However, where would these little heroes be without the named and unnamed people who surrounded them, complemented their weaknesses, picked up the pieces and kept them moving? Where was Moses without the elders whom he appointed? David without his generals and foot soldiers? Paul without the men and women whom he so often mentions with such warm thanks (eg Rom 16)?

Without the helpers the task is incomplete. Without the helpers, the hero is apt to fade from exhaustion. Even worse, the hero may be overwhelmed with unchecked pride. Somehow, heads swell larger and feet become more claylike when there is no one at hand to remind the little hero that he is just that and no more.

The Bible uses two powerful images to give us a handle on this. Paul compares the church to a human body (1 Cor 12). As he says, the body has many parts. All are different and all are necessary. Some parts are prominent, but most are not. Some are so dishonourable that we keep them hidden. But all are needed and a body is incomplete without them. Peter compares the church to a building (2 Pet 2). Christ is the cornerstone on whom the whole structure rests and the rest of us are the living stones that fill out the building. Consider a dry stone wall. The big rocks are held in place by myriad carefully places small stones and pebbles.

Most of us are like one of the many hairs on a head rather than being the head itself. We are like pebbles tucked in some unseen corner of a building. Like the most junior chorister we play our part barely noticed by anyone and perhaps feeling that our contribution doesn’t matter. However, if we start removing the hairs from a head there is soon a shiny skull. Pulling out one pebble from a dry stone wall can break the delicate equilibrium and cause the whole to weaken and collapse. The choir whose junior choristers are absent ceases to be a choir.

Get it? The soloist needs the chorus and the church needs its hairs and pebbles.