Friday, April 22, 2011

All for the Glory of God, right?

I had a very interesting conversation this week with a friend and thought I'd let ya'll in on it.  We were discussing performing at church and she had a totally different viewpoint on it than I did.  We were enlightening each other on our viewpoints.  She felt that only talented people should get on stage and I disagreed.  Here's how it went down:
She wanted to know if I was singing a special song for Easter and I told her no.  She said she wanted to see me up on stage more often.  I was flattered but it wasn't my decision.  We began discussing talent and humility versus performance attitudes.  When people perform at church, talent is certainly a factor, but the main reason is to give glory to God.  Can we give glory even if we know we're good?  Can we enjoy worship if we are musically trained?  Should people who can't really sing perform a solo? 
   When I get up on stage at church to sing, whether it's a solo or in a group, I struggle each time to put my perspective on God.  I am singing for His glory, He gave me the talent, I am not doing it to receive praise for myself.  I have to tell myself that each time, over and over.  I know I can sing and I know I'm pretty good.  Is that pride?  No, it's self awareness and confidence in my ability.  When a pastor gives a wonderful sermon that stays in your memory, it is both the gifting of the Lord and their training to deliver it well.  When the Lord gives us a talent, we should certainly train ourselves in it and do our best at it.  I have an ability to sing, so I train to sing.  I have a horrible attention span, I certainly wouldn't train to be a referee.  Who has the ball?  Where did it go?  I have no idea, I was watching a butterfly fly around the field.  My husband has the uncanny ability to focus all his attention on a game and he makes an excellent referee.  Although he has a desire to sing, he's really not that good at it.  He gives it all at karaoke or church, but it is not his gifting.  Should he sing a solo at church?  Probably not.  But if he did get on stage and sang, giving glory to God who loves to hear him sing, why should we care?  Can we enjoy hearing him perform knowing that his heart is in the right place?  Sure!  There are always going to be people who want to perform at church who aren't what we consider "good".  But guess what?  God does.  God considers all of our praise music to His ears.
  Church is not a concert.  We aren't going to be entertained, we are going to be taught the Lord's word and find each and every way to give praise to Him.  Each and every person who is on stage at church is a volunteer.  They weren't sought out for their gifts, they asked to be up there.  Most of them are musically trained and alot of them are music teachers.  They show up at the crack of dawn (ok, 8:30, but still, it's early) to set up and practice.  Sure we are not perfect, no performer is.  But we are not there to be perfect, Jesus is the only one who can do that.  We are there to lead the congregation in praise and worship, to bring ourselves as close to Him as we can.
  Each church is full of volunteers and not all of them are working in their gifted area.  I know nursery workers who aren't good with babies, Sunday school teachers who can't teach, parking attendants that can't even drive yet, and ushers who aren't always smiley.  But guess what?  They are there with a positive attitude and a willingness to serve.  They are there with a heart full of love for their Lord.  I also know people who are gifted in several areas and move around the church volunteering in different positions from year to year.  I am a pretty good Sunday school teacher but I am not currently teaching.  I wanted to hold babies, and guess what, I am pretty good at that too.  I would also like to be a greeter someday because I am pretty smiley and I like to meet new people.  I do NOT want to be a pastor, a sound tech, or a parking attendant.  If the Lord put me in those positions,  I would do them happily, but probably not very well.  The Bible says, Whatever we do, do it for the glory of God.  It doesn't say, whatever we do WELL, do it for the glory of God.
What do you think?  Should only "good" singers sing on stage?  Should people try out different things even if they aren't good at it?  Can we serve the Lord with humility even if we know we are good at something?  Tell me your thoughts.
*edit*
I just wanted to be clear that I think each church has the responsibility to put people where they are the most talented in the church and to be doing their utmost to make the service peaceful and beautiful.  Singers should be singing, teachers teaching, guardians guarding, etc.  I do think if you can or have the opportunity, to try serving in new ways at your church.  I don't think any Joe Blow should be singing solos, I just don't feel that you have to have a degree in something to do it at church.  I hope that's more clear : )  I do agree with my first 2 commenters and that's what prompted the "edit".

3 comments:

  1. Great post!!!! Well, I am told I don't have a good singing voice (oh, how I wish I could)...so, my singing would not be considered a voice that can lead people into a spirit of worship....it would be a distraction, lol! I think singing solos and leading others in worship is different from serving at church in other areas. Worship is sacred and, truly needs to be kept orderly.....and, I think you should know how to sing to lead a song. BUT, my church has a choir ....and all are encouraged to join, regardless if you can sing....because when God joins lots of voices together, He creates beautiful music.
    I will say, that more people who can sing need to be encouraged to step up I church and use that special gift God gave them.....a lot of times it just takes a good friend encouraging them.

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  2. I am on one of the worship teams at our church and we discussed this exact topic. One of the things that our music minister, and good friend of mine, said was that we are worship leaders, and part of that honor is to lead people to God, not distract from Him. She said there are 2 ways to distract, by either being so bad that people focus on our mistakes, or by being self-glorifying. So it is our duty to be prepared and sing well, but not to take the credit for it always keeping in mind where out talents comes from and what our purpose is. So I think there is a fine line of only giving the talented people a chance, and letting everyone glorify God. Glorifying and leading, however, are 2 very different things. One does not necessarily translate into the other.

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  3. I absolutely agree with both of you. As my dad said this morning, "It is the church's responsibility to give the most excellent service they can using the talent God has given them." I think our church has excellent worship and our focus is on God.

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