Sparkles in Church??

I have a beautiful pair of Champagne Sparkle Fender CS guitars....aTele and a Strat. They both play and sound incredible but I have only played them on occasion during church services for fear they are too "flashy" or distracting for worship.Any thoughts......please weigh in.
JJJ ><>

I've had nothing but compliments when I've played my Epiphone LP sparkletop in church. In fact, people who don't know guitars comment on it but never say anything about my better instruments, when I play them. Perhaps they are just not being critical, but you'll generally hear about it if people don't like it. Just play and don't think about it.

Go for it.

Well, they are pretty flashy. However, unless you get complaints, I don't see the problem.

A good Tele is a good tele. Jesus might be sad if you didn't play it in Church.

Of course strats are of the DEVIL :twisted:

Church should be a somber place where you dress in muted colors and speak in low voices.
Not the place for anything flashy or fun.
There probably shouldn't even be music at all.
Not.

There is liberty in the Lord!

A good Tele is a good tele. Jesus might be sad if you didn't play it in Church.

Of course strats are of the DEVIL :twisted:

If you want the devil's signature model, go for the SG (Satan's Guitar). Just kidding, of course.:razz:

I guess it all depends on your church, but play what you want. I don't think that you'll be judged by what you're playing, but rather by what you're playing!

For example, these are what I play in church, and they're bright and shiny...

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa35/superchicken_VI/Musical%20Instruments/Trumpets001.jpg

In fact, I feel badly when I haven't polished in a while and they're not as shiny as they could be.

Play the sparkles!

Sparkles are fine.

The least traditional Mass of the year at our church is likely the Children's Christmas Mass, 4PM on Christmas Eve. Our pastor gets as many kids involved as he can.

This year, as my family settled into our pew, I spotted a young teenager, whom I'd never seen before, with wild, curly, black hair and black clothes setting up his Marshall combo for his Schecter Synyster Custom. Yikes. I didn't know what it was until I checked into it when I got home, but at first blush it was a bit evil looking. My brother, who was visiting from out of town, was also taken aback. Take a look at the fingerboard:

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/regular/6/2/9/432629.jpg

So, the Mass went fine and the choir sounded pretty good. The kid was just singing along with the other kids who had joined our usual choir. No sign of the black axe. Then, during Communion, the kid breaks out the Devil's plaything and proceeds to fingerpick a beautiful version of Silent Night. Very nice. He finished just after everyone was seated and he received a spontaneous round of applause. I was more relieved than anything else.

I play my red sparkle MM Stingray bass and everyone says how purty she is!!

All things should be used for Gods glory!

Great input from everyone....thank you for your affirmation. I believe our Father will be truly pleased with whatever is being played as long as it is truly intended to glorify Him!!!
Blessings
JJJ ><>

If flashy was a sin,half the single women would have to go home and change......and alot of cars in the parking lot would have to be sold.

I feel like we are too hung up on being distracting or flashy in church. We're not doing it for the believers. We're doing it for Jesus. Play that flashy axe for the Lord and be free, by brother!

superchicken VI,
You've got a nice little horn collection! Actually, I'm a trumpet player first & guitar a distant second, as far as ability is concerned anyway.

None of my trumpets sparkle much anymore however. They're all "relic's"
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a311/flutevet/DSCN0750.jpg

If you look closely in person, this one has little sparkles
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a311/flutevet/DSCN1238.jpg

You have two very fine looking and, I guess, reasonably pricey guitars - being Custom Shop models.

I'm not Christian, nor particularly observant of my own religion, but I do worship from time to time and feel that restraint and reflection are important in a liturgical setting.

Call me old-fashioned but I think a better fit would be a plainer model (just one) that does the job.

The only folks you might distract are the guitar players. :grin:

Seriously though, if you're in a church where that kind of question needs to be asked of oneself (and if you're playing there I'm assuming you've been there long enough to know) then usually those questions get answered one of two ways - 1) I better not if only to keep brother or sister so-and-so from going off about it, or 2) The heck with 'em - I have freedom in Christ and they can pound sand if they don't like it. Neither of the answers is appropriate, and the unfortunate thing is that you are in a place where you have to ask the question in the first place.

If you're not (thank God), and it's just you looking at the guitars and saying, "Man, these things are flashy", and worried folks might think you're showing off, then just drag 'em out and play the same way you played when you had any other guitar strapped on. If no one says anything negative then you're in. If you get negative comments then engage the person about it. Find out if it's the guitar that bothered them or the way you played it. Did it distract them because they thought it was inappropriate or that it was different. If it had a huge picture of Jesus on it would it be any less distracting? Make them think about their prejudice a bit, then go home knowing you may have helped them open their mind a bit and leave the thing there. If it's one thing I've learned after 10 years of doing this is that some fights aren't worth having. If you've got other tools then use them. God will be just as glorified, and He'll bless you for your sensitivity. And who knows, one day they may come back to you and ask you why you don't bring it any more?

Up til Christmas, I'd been using a Goldtop Gretsch, Champagne Sparkle Tele, and a Shoreline Gold Strat on Sun. mornings at a 500 seat Southern Baptist Church FM broadcast for 6-7 months, and, more than anything, people usually ask me to turn it up more! I think some people are ready for some sort of excitement in their musical worship. Of course, the sparkle tele was the mainstay tool, it lived there for the entire duration! Make a Joyful Noise!

Ditto...

For years I have been sesitive about offending someone, anyone, who walks through the doors of our church until I was released from that one day not long ago.
I was concerned about playing my Tele too loudly in church and with too much crunch and rock/blues style. I mentioned it to my senior pastor and he said "Jesus offended lots of people in his day!" The message being...be free to worship God with the axe that brung ya and do it with all of your heart, focusing on Him and let go of the rest.
Since playing with electric the past year in church (used to do almost all acoustic) I have had more positive comments from middle aged and senior citizens saying they liked what I was playing but could I turn it up a notch.
That amazes me as those are the very folks I was trying so hard not to "offend!"
I know you question was about the instrument specifically, but I think the idea is the same.

I'm ok with the sparkles, too.
Sometimes I have to watch the stage light reflection that comes off my Tele.
I can angle it at the folks in the seats... lets them know that I'm watching them:grin:

God loves sparkles!

Seems to me that that is the perfect place to play those beautiful guitars.

If you look closely in person, this one has little sparkles
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a311/flutevet/DSCN1238.jpg[/QUOTE]

I do believe I just spied an R7....Beauty to behold....

Here is mine lounging on the rug lookin really hot...:wink:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/Sk8rboi99/Lester1.jpg

God Bless Ya and the Goldtop.

don't want to hijack a thread, but I'm amazed at how much we seem to worry about how our gear will be percieved. whether it's sparkles, effects or if we should go off on a solo. it seems we should give all our best to GOD'S work and worry less about perception. we are each blessed with certain talents, and yes, even gear and while I make no claim to being above all these concerns myself, I try to remember that stewardship includes using all these things for Him. not trying to offend anyone because I see this in myself just as much or more than in others.


just my humble opinion...

No sparkles here, but I started playing in a very large 4Square pentecostal-style church in southern California 16 years ago. The other players included Paul Jackson, Jr, Alex Acuna and other jazzers. At first I was a bit concerned about throwing my naturally inclined pedal steel or country bends into the piano-driven tunes (much less the pastor's own "Majesty"), but after I got my first b-bender it became a signature for me. Now I am the only one who plays the bender versions of the Hillsongs/Hughes/Redman/Tomlin/Crowder/Martin Smith catalog. If your heart is in the right place, the notes will follow.

don't want to hijack a thread, but I'm amazed at how much we seem to worry about how our gear will be percieved. whether it's sparkles, effects or if we should go off on a solo. it seems we should give all our best to GOD'S work and worry less about perception. we are each blessed with certain talents, and yes, even gear and while I make no claim to being above all these concerns myself, I try to remember that stewardship includes using all these things for Him. not trying to offend anyone because I see this in myself just as much or more than in others.


just my humble opinion...


Amen and amen.

Now for the other side of the coin. I think there is (and should be) some serious consideration about not making ones self the center of attention. We are there for something else. And, we can put in something innocent, but it might be percieved by some weaker or less knowlegeable than us (to paraphrase Paul) to be wrong and somehow not worshipful and cause them to loose their focus. I am not saying we can't have some fun with our worship, but I think a little less rather than more attention to whatever skills we have is probably in order.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the parishoners came up to me and congratulated me because I was able to put in some fills in a song that sounded like Santana. I was not really going for that tone, but I guess that is where I ended up. However, if they were thinking, "Hey that's cool, makes me think of Santana", then I have failed. If the riff makes them think "Hey, that music makes me think of God's love" then I have added to the worship.

Jess my .02

I agree, my favorite set up is at a church that I do special music for sometimes where I,m in the balcony at the rear of the church. I'm really not that crazy about being in front anyway but there the music fills the room without the musicians "taking the stage"

Let your Tele so sparkle before others that they may hear your good licks and bring glory to your Father in heaven.

My Tele's black on black, but I'd play a sparkle Tele at church with no problem.

A Flamekat with dice knobs? Not so much.
http://www.imuso.co.uk/images/Product/EG01243.jpg