MISSING THE MARK! By David Ritter

Talent...use it or lose it. Hey, we’re taught that principle from the time we first started Sunday School, or just from reading the Bible. What we often miss, however, is that God is never impressed with our talent. Unfortunately, there is a lot of “talent” worship, but what really impresses God is when the attitude of our hearts is pure. It’s that simple. You don’t need a degree in theology to understand that this is probably the most critical element of the Music Ministry. On the flip side, when we exalt talent over attitude, we compromise the integrity of that Music Ministry. How many times have we fallen into the perfectionist mode, often forgetting our first obligation...to worship God in Spirit and in Truth? Because God expects the very best from us, we must sacrifice everything else to provide Him with nothing less than our highest level of musicality.

I have never met a minister of music who has not fallen into this trap at some point in their ministry. In fact, I fell for it a few years back while I was teaching the choir the correct rhythms for the song “Change My Heart O God”. I got so caught up with fixing their mistakes, that I totally missed the writer’s intent, and the scriptural premise behind it; not once did I even mention that this was the kind of prayer that captures God’s attention. Big mistake! In the wee hours of that same night, I literally felt the anguish of the Holy Spirit as He reminded me that my priorities were not in sync with His. He also revealed the Truth behind my inordinate demand for flawless presentation...David Ritter wanted to make sure that the choir was singing perfectly so that he would look good!

That following Sunday morning, I asked for the choir’s forgiveness for “missing the mark,” and how I was convicted for “oops” (“Only Our Pride Syndrome!”) What I didn’t realize was that this was Communion Sunday and that God was going to use this as an opportunity for all of us to “check our hearts, so that we would not partake of the elements unworthily.” That’s the mercy of God...when He takes our arrogance and pride and crushes it into ashes in front of everyone you love. And then, when we least expect it, He takes those very same ashes and establishes a Divine appointment to reveal just a little more of Himself.