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 yet to meet a minister of music who has not fallen into this "perfectionism trap" at some point in their ministry. In fact, I fell for it recently 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...I wanted to make sure that the choir was singing perfectly so
that I would look good!
That following Sunday
morning, I asked for the choir’s forgiveness for “missing the mark.” 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.” Attitude trumps talent any day!
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