The Adrenaline of the Music
Music has become ear dope for our
generation, and musicians have become the dealers
for the addicted. I know, I'm a musician. I hang
out with other musicians, and I love well done music.
I have heard people say, that worship
(speaking of the musical participation time in a
church service) was the most important time of the
service, because it makes way for God to move among
His people. I have heard others say, that you cannot
build a strong church, without a strong music ministry.
I certainly don't plan on cutting
off my fingers, or purposely playing poorly during
our times of gathering together, but I do wonder
where these strange ideas come from. I don't remember
reading in the Gospels about the musical skills
of those 12 disciples. Nor do I find some apostolic
injunction requiring each church to establish a
"hot worship team." I am not sure where
we got the idea that good music was required to
have good church. Unless perhaps, we are still hooked
on the drug of choice for our generation.
I will continue to make my worship
music as engaging, and as musically skilled as possible,
but I know that there are others who will be left
behind in the race for the hottest worship around.
I am not convinced that there must necessarily be
a lesser degree of God's glory in their times of
fellowship. There certainly will be fewer musically
induced adrenaline rushes, but that might not be
so bad. Of course, the addicted, who need to learn
to experience God without the trappings of a rippin'
worship team, probably won't be there to discover
that God doesn't need skilled musicians to make
Himself known to us.
The Adrenaline of the Crowd
Recently, I've had some discussions
with fellow pastors about the disappointment of
low attendance at church services. We've had discussions
about the tendency to be less prepared, to do less
work, and to show by our actions that we have less
excitement when there are fewer people.
We should ask ourselves, why is
it this way? Are people only important to us when
there are a lot of them together? Or could it be
that adrenaline is a greater motivator for us, than
the gentle, loving Spirit of God?
If we are driven to excitement by
numbers, it just might be a sign that we are addicted
to the adrenaline rush of the crowd. The negative
impact of this addiction to numbers is bad, whether
we have a growing church, or a diminishing church.
If our church is growing, we assume that God is
at work in a mighty way, and we may be blind to
the possibility that the crowd could be the result
of a whole lot more adrenaline, and a whole lot
less of God's doing. If we are a shrinking church,
our own need for the crowd (which we are losing)
handicaps our ability to minister in love, and in
the power of the Lord.
This issue of numbers, may be the
most devious of all tricks which our corrupt human
nature plays upon us in the church gathering times.
Everyone from the pastor to the visitor has a tendency
to judge a service by the numbers.
The Pastor and the leaders of the
church see "the hand of God" in a growing
attendance. Jesus drew multitudes to hear Him preach
and watch Him heal. We should do the same. That
is the reasoning we follow, and if we somehow fall
short of drawing the crowd, it is our heartfelt
assumption, that we must also have missed the mark
of ministry. Even when a Pastor says that he does
not believe a crowd is the indicator of true fruitfulness,
the haunting feeling that it just might be lingers.
After all, numerical church growth often is a sign
of fruitfulness. This is like selling seats at a
theater, or filling the stands at the sporting event.
If the filled seats are the most accurate basis
for determining a minister's success, then like
the owner of the sports team, or the director of
the play, his reward will be those filled seats.
The church member looks around each
Sunday morning, and notices filled pews, or empty
seats, and makes a determination on the success
of the leadership based upon the numbers. Some people
go so far as to determine whether they will remain
faithful to a church on the basis of attendance.
Others remain faithful, but they lose their joy
in fellowship when the numbers are down, and may
even begin to question the competency of the Pastor.
The visitor is impacted by the numbers
as well. Society has taught us that crowds are fun,
and bigger is better. A small group means vulnerability
for the visitor. They may be forced to meet someone.
Rather than simply watch the show, they may become
necessary participants in the service. As soon as
the visitor walks in the service, they determine
what they think about the church, and numbers are
part of the evaluation. As a Pastor, I've had Sundays
with small attendance, and first time visitors have
asked questions like, "Where is everyone?"
or, "Is the attendance always this small?"
Naturally, I have to respond, "Well, a number
of people are away this week. You know, sometimes
that just happens." Of course, I don't tell
them that it happens more often than not, and that
the number of people who are away is a fairly small
number. Why do we play this dishonest game? Because
the lack of numbers is a discouragement to the Pastor,
the member, and the visitor.
Unless we are somehow made to feel
comfortable with a smaller group, and we are taught
that numbers are not a factor in experiencing the
presence of God, we will continue to limp along
in our spirituality, and just might find ourselves
thinking that we have God's answer to human dilemma
in our adrenaline filled crowds.
