Rex Miller again: "The Attractional Church does not properly distinguish between worshipers and musicians. In fact, in this model, only the beautiful ones are allowed to be “on stage.” And, furthermore, they must smile, be peppy, and radiate that everything is “great.” That is the bias of a broadcast-based church model.
This model is about first impressions. In other words, many people who know nothing about Christian reality or culture are sitting out there in the audience. To connect with them, you must present people who are cool and hip.
So, what happens when you have someone with a great heart for God, but not the best voice and not the most attractive appearance? The bias of the model relegates them to the place in the back. Worse, it disdains the real heart of worship." read the rest here
Again, Miller's point touches an important point about leadership. Of course one aspect that must be considered is competency. The more gifts and ability you have in any area of leadership makes you more qualified to be used as a leader. There is no way to guarantee that a gifted person possesses the right 'heart' for the ministry they are called to.
I have witnessed well-intentioned people whose heart is, 'in the right place' cause major upheaval in a congregation due to thier lack of competence. I have also witness extremely gifted people flaunt thier beautiful 'attributes' in ways that alienate people from receiving the 'ministry' they are trying to do.
I have recognized - that I have strong preferences in terms of who I want to work with me in leading music or other ministry.
4 comments:
The frustration that I have with incompetence is this: you can mentor someone in their "heart for worship" but you can't mentor gifts into someone if God hasn't first gifted them.
Jen, I think I hear what you're saying but let me push back a little - - I understand that if someone is tone deaf or can't seem to nail a groove that it is almost impossible to teach them the skills to get it right but is is that much easier to challenge someone's 'heart'. I mean essentially what we're talking about here is being judgemental. We determine that someone's heart is in the wrong place and then we approach them on it when we know full well that our 'heart' isn't nearly alwasy in the right place. What do you think?
So, what happens when you have someone with a great heart for God, but not the best voice and not the most attractive appearance? The bias of the model relegates them to the place in the back. Worse, it disdains the real heart of worship."
I have an interesting thought on this. If someone is ungifted in the musical realm, is their heart in the "right place" if they desire to be on stage? If they are ungifted musically and desire to be a worship team member, doesn't that mean that they are neglecting their true gifting in the pursuit of something they are not suited for?
peace
Jesse
I don't know that I would challenge someone on where their heart is at for that reason. We can offer teaching, prayer, encouragement, etc. but in the end each is responsible for where they're at. I almost feel that worship leaders have a responsibility to be teaching, etc with their teams. I don't know if I would not use someone because I didn't feel that their heart was right. I see it as God working in the person because of their interaction with the ministry. I'm honestly a giant question mark on this one. When I made my initial comment, I was remembering all the times I've listened to tone deaf people bellow (or rather screech) into a mic.
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