Most of us have heard them. Those loud tambourine players that seem to insist on playing their "instrument" on every song during a worship service whether upbeat or slow. Most of the time they are off beat and many times the person beating it seems to want to hit it on every syllable of every word in the lyrics, regardless of tempo or type of song. More often than not, it becomes a horrible distraction rather than adding an additional element or depth to the worship music.
My experience is, like any other instrument used during worship, it requires practice. You wouldn't put a guitar in the hands of a novice who's never held one before and expect him to play a flawless solo or hand a set of drumsticks over to a 3 year old and expect him to keep the right beat, so why do people think that anyone can pick up a tambourine and create a sweet sound with it? As a worship leader, one of my worst nightmares was to spend hours practicing with my team to put together a worship set that brings excellence and honor to God just to have someone pull a tambourine out of their bag and butcher the moment. I have at times, went through the seats and "collected" all the tambourines before anyone arrived at church and hid them to keep them out of the hands of the percussionist wannabes.
I have seen a lot of things happen during a worship service that can "kill" the moving of the Spirit, but few things are more harmful than the tambourine player that refuses to stop banging away, especially during a slow song when things are supposed to be quiet and reverent. You get to that moment when you reach a crescendo and worship becomes deep and intimate and powerful and the Holy Spirit is about to be poured out, when all of a sudden; bang, bang, bang, bang the tambourine crashes and throws a wet blanket over the fire that was building and about to break out.
Now don't get me wrong, I believe everything has a place, even the lowly tambourine. And I know for a fact that any instrument can be a distraction if it is played without regard to the direction of Holy Spirit's leading. I have seen drummers that think that a 4-4 timing and a 120 BPM tempo with lots of heavy crashing on the cymbals is appropriate for any song, but that is far from the truth. I do not believe that slow, passionate and humble times of heartfelt worship are the place for tambourines or any loud percussion instruments. There are however, plenty of times of upbeat, high praise that they are a welcome addition. I do believe however, that if you are going to play an instrument for God's glory, have enough care and respect that you take the time to come and practice with the worship team. That way it will help avoid anything that dishonors God, distracts fellow worshippers or delivers a death blow to an otherwise powerful time of intimacy with God.
I'm not sure if you agree with my observations or not. I'd like to hear your feedback or funny (or not-so-funny) stories of how tambourines "shifted" the atmosphere of your worship service.
Until next time.....................Stan
