I had the opportunity to lead a Psalm Drummer team to play at an Inter-Faith event in London last weekend. I found myself surrounded by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Rastas and more as various religions gathered together to promote healthy living in today’s society. Now, as a Psalm Drummer, I was not promoting anything other than Jesus Christ as being the only way to heaven but not flouting my belief before others. That was not the point of being there.

So there I was, fifteen djembe drums, 4 other volunteers and our instruments. Ready to lead whoever came to drum with us. It was to be a workshop throughout the day. There was another drumming group there, Afro-Carribean style group called Drums of Freedom. They were very good and had a great afro-cuban-carribean style going with their congas, djembes and steel drums.

Our first session was slow but picked up a bit as some more kids and teens came in and picked up drums and jammed with us. They were actually very good and stayed twice as long as I thought they would. As we drummed, I prayed for them and wondered what their life was like and their backgrounds. I wondered why they had come along. Was it for the free food showcasing countries and traditional food from around the world? Was it because they were searching for answers perhaps in religion?

The second session later on in the afternoon was really very good. We had a lot of people come and join us and all our drums were being used. The Rastas from the other drum group joined us with their drums and jammed along with us. I facilitated the circle for a while but then eventually let the music take over and everyone just went with it. It sounded amazing! The grooves changed from time to time naturally and everyone really got into it.

Now, as much as I thought it rather strange to be in a context such as the one we had found ourselves in, I realised that, as a Christian drummer, that is EXACTLY where we need to be! I looked and saw the Rastas drumming with us. We were of different beliefs and backgrounds but united in the music, the rhythms. To them, they may have been playing just patterns, but to me we were there in the capacity of ambassadors of the King! Our rhythms, our patterns and playing were dedicated to God. We had prayed before we played and I asked God to anoint our playing and our hands. Being a witness to others doesn’t always mean having to preach, you can play your drums too! In fact, we got a whole group playing the Lord’s prayer… and they didn’t even know it. But even in that, I prayed that they would be blessed as we played over them.

Among those in the world, that is where we need to be as Christian drummers, playing our beats and rhythms for our King. Declaring His heartbeat for the lost, His love and grace available to all.

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