Rest Power Freedom

If you play a musical instrument like a guitar, bass, or plucked double bass there are two ways to play the strings one at a time.

You can pluck the string so that your finger swings toward the palm of your hand after playing the note. This is called free stroke because your finger swings freely and the rest of the strings on the instrument are free to keep on vibrating with whatever notes you've played earlier and it all rings together (hopefully) harmoniously. Playing with a free stroke results in a quiet, open, airy sound that people associate with a singer-songwriter or a folky song on a flat-top acoustic guitar. Like in this video:

Or you can pluck the string with your finger so that your finger snaps against the next lower string or against the body of the instrument. This is called a rest stroke because your finger comes to rest against something else after playing the note. Since your finger often comes to rest against the next string, that other string is prevented from making any sound so the sound of the string you just plucked stands out on its own. Playing with a rest stroke results in a powerful, loud, punchy sound that people associate with flamenco, or sometimes bluegrass flatpicking. Bass players often play with rest stroke so that the note has some initial punch. A classical guitar player might play the accompanying notes with free stroke and the melody notes that need to stand out more loudly with rest stroke.

So, when you're making music on stringed instruments, rest produces power and freedom is the quieter accompaniment.

I sometimes think about that when I read the apostle Paul's advice to Timothy. Timothy seems to have been a young guy with lots of potential, big goals, a high profile in the church, and high energy. Paul, who had a thing or two to say about freedom in Christ in other contexts (Galatians 5), now with the benefit of experience sees some red flags and advises Timothy to take better care of himself physically (1 Tim 5:23), make sure the elders of the church are active alongside him (5:17), make sure his life and his doctrine are consistent with each other and accurate (4:14-16), and to focus his energies (4:14, 1:3-6). Paul follows up those same themes in his second letter and opens it with the summary statement that “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and a sound mind.” (2 Tim 1:7)

Rest and power go together. Power, love, and a sound mind go together. I think about that when I hear about Christian leaders getting in trouble for using power, fear, and lack of rest to push in on the lives of vulnerable people in damaging or intrusive ways that violate intimate physical or spiritual boundaries. New Testament writers note elsewhere that “there is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18) We need to be clear with one another and with the community around us that power expressed through fear, intimidation, or anything that clouds a sound mind (preventing kids from sleeping well or taking activity breaks for example) have no place in the church or our ministries. We experience the power of God through Jesus when it is combined with love and a sound mind. Other methods of power work against our goals as followers of Christ and we work to rid ourselves of them and to cast out fear rather than use it as a tool.

The writer of the book of Revelation notes that the presence of God is filled with music (Revelation 5) and in music rest and power go together with a quieter accompaniment of freedom. Our power by the grace of God as Christ's followers is the power that goes together with love and a sound mind in every situation that we encounter.