A Comment on Comments
February 27th, 2006 by Dan Price | Posted in Ministry Philosophy
I’m sitting here laughing out loud reading responses to this weeks music. Most people seemed to really enjoy it for a change. I got some very encouraging notes from “Loved the music!!” to “Do the Folk thing again soon!” And then a couple anonymous “I hated the music tonight” notes. It’s amazing how opposite ends people are always on. It’s funny how most criticism is anonymous about music. Interesting. Well, Noel had a great post about criticism and he basically groups people into three categories: Bereans, Encouragers, and Cowards. What separates the Bereans and the Cowards, I would say, is their heart, their tone, and their attitude. Good stuff to think about. Read his whole post.
It’s interesting being in a position where I hear positive and negative criticism almost every week. It can be really distracting either way, either pride can creep in when we are praised for doing a good job or insecurities tear at us when we are slandered. This comes when too much personal value is connected to our task. But it is complicated because we are leading people in corporate worship because of God and for God, but we are also serving the body, it isn’t just us up there singing our praises to God, it’s that plus the act of leading others in their praise of God. It gets tricky because you want to make music in which people will become mindful of God and it’s easier for some people to connect with God using different kinds of music. I’m sure some monks in Germany, genuinely feel like they are able to think heavenward during a chant, whereas it’s easier for me to hear a guitar solo and think of God.
The best criticism is that is when people have a suggestion or comment meant to make our program better for the good of the church. This is a very unselfish kind of criticism and Proverbs tells us to listen to this.
One thing I hear sometimes from people is “we went to another church on vacation and their music was sooooo slooowwww…” or “they had no young people there…” but this is the same type of thing is going on. These words meant to encourage are sometimes slaps on the face to another group of Christians. We are needlessly criticising our brothers and sisters who are trying to serve God in a different way. It all adds up to elitism and that takes away from the Gospel and from God, because in the end, God gets the glory. He’s the one who deserves it.
There is a really good thing about encouragement if it is done right. It’s understanding “God is using you” rather than, “you are better than some other people.” It’s hard to tell the difference, but I know when my heart is wrong on this. I see the way God is working in something that I’m not a part of and sometimes I feel like “man, that’s a dumb way to go about things etc…” But the cool thing about God is that he is the one working, not us. And he loves those people and he loves that they are responding to him. Sometimes we get lucky and he uses us to do great things, but when we see him face to face, He gets the glory.
But It’s a crazy tension we have here. I think we all face situations where we either get too much affirmation or not enough and that affects us. We should always strive for balence and do thinks “as unto the Lord.” Our goal in everything we do should be to please God. That means everything. Treating our families well, doing the dishes well, not gossiping about our boss, working even when we aren’t being watched. Things change when God is your boss.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 27th, 2006 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Ministry Philosophy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
right on. The most frustrating is the “cowards” or those that pose as anonymous. As a musician/performer/lead worshiper the whole comment/compliment/critique is an ongoing battle for everyone i think. Thanks for sharing those thoughts.
Yep. And music being extremely subjective doesn’t help matters - everyone has a different “aesthetic” value when it comes to art. I’ve even encountered contradicting comments: “Please turn the music down, it was way too loud this morning,” v.s. “The music this morning was so quiet that I couldn’t tell what key I was supposed to be singing in.” Stuff like this happens all the time. Usually I just laugh a little, shrug it off, and just make sure I take the face-to-face comments more seriously.
I’ve also struggled with the whole affirmation thing - I used to immediately ask my wife how we did when I got off the stage - honestly seeking constructive criticism and compliments, but also seeking little elements of self-identity assurance. I was convicted one day by a teaching I heard and stopped asking for affirmation. Now as soon as I leave the stage I spend a short time in prayer and seek God for HIS comments for the morning. Getting compliments from others is always a blessing too, but I try not to seek it out anymore.
The appropriate response to a compliment? “Thank you.”
The appropriate response to a compliment? “Thank you.”
That’s exactly what I teach the kids in the highschool band I lead… a simple “thanks” is the easiest and best answer…
Good things to think about, Dan. You touched on a couple other issues in addition to making your main point about handling comments/criticism. One is how well we connect with our world around us. The other is how we see ourselves in comparison to others.
To address the latter, I’ll say that you’re right, there is a “crazy tension” in doing ministry, especially with music or any area that has a very visible non-ministry, or secular, cultural presence. Yes, it is about God (as should everything in our life be); but also, it’s about what we let God do with the gifts he gave us. The “musician’s curse,” as I call it, is that there is always someone better than you and always someone whom you are better than. This is true for individuals as well as bands, though I think we feel it most strongly as individuals. Questions to ask: How has God gifted me, and what has he called me to do? What is my responsibility to that? Should I always strive for my and my team’s best (even when that might “offend” others)?
There can be horrible tension in a church environment that doesn’t value excellence or doesn’t know how to effectively employ people in their area of gifting. For as many churches that state outright they value excellence in ministry (in other words, it’s okay to be good, real good, at what you do, and God probably even enjoys that!) and effectively manage ministry teams accordingly, others have a hard time with this issue. It’s not always easy to balance the sometimes conflicting requirements imposed by church leadership. For example, we may be asked to provide good, attractive, relevant music while at the same time be asked to not offend someone who “doesn’t like rap” or an unqualified but “sensitive” individual who thinks he or she should be allowed to sing a solo or play with the band “because God gave me this desire and I’d be crushed if you don’t let me.” Again, some churches handle these situations well, others don’t.
For what it’s worth, I’ve observed a high correlation between churches that value, pursue and achieve excellence and those that do effectively reach out to their community. This leads directly into the other point of connecting with our world.
I’ve heard the comments, too, about churches with too slow music and no young people. I’ve probably made similar comments myself. I agree, these comments sometimes are made in an insensitive, disrespectful manner, which is not cool. However, the reality is that that type of church, while catering nicely to the “flock,” is probably not connecting well with the world. Few and far between today are churches that effectively target and reach an audience by “traditional” or nontraditional-but-mediocre means.
To me, this is where the rubber meets the road in seeing my responsibility to not flinch at reaching out to those in my community that aren’t yet living for God. In today’s day and age, it takes a purposeful and well executed strategy to position a local church in such a way that people are attracted to it and its members are confident in inviting others to it. So, not only are we providing good music to facilitate worship, we also are “putting on a show,” at least in the sense that we want to communicate to newcomers that we value them enough to put forth our best effort to catch their attention, or “entertain,” them. Think about it, most people who haven’t yet decided to believe God and claim Jesus aren’t going to “get” worship. They will, though, recognize a good groove and appreciate good musicianship.
More tension, right?
God wants us to be humble, but he’s also gifted us, some of you more than others and more than me certainly, for the purpose of bringing him glory. To proclaim a message our world is going to hear and understand requires us to bring a level of quality to what we do that, if we are not careful, can result in pride or, at least, be misinterpreted as such.
By the way, I had the privilege of attending Riverview several times last summer and fall. The first time I entered your auditorium, as music was playing at the start of the meeting, my jaw dropped when I saw the number of younger people there. That was one of the most encouraging sights I have ever witnessed. Keep doing what you’re doing, and do it well!
Explored beautifully and completely and with Hope: “Keep doing what you are doing” The only thing that I would say is that when your heart is given to the Lord in Worship and you are playing that “good groove” very well, those outside the body WILL see Jesus because they will find that though the groove calls them there is something sweeter and more of love in every note and every tone and that is the power of the Cross and the empty tomb calling them to come and dine. They will recognize His band and His Worship Leaders and find Him. Didn’t He say “if I will be lifted up I will draw all men to me”? I believe that as we honor Him our music becomes our worship and our WORSHIP calls those both in the Body and outside.
I like everything that you guys have expressed here. Thanks!
thats it, guy