Because we are human, and because humans are prone to settle into routines and possible ruts, we will never naturally evaluate ourselves and our processes. We need to place time in our schedules that we intentionally evaluate our programs and our systems to ensure that we are in line with our mission and values. Sometimes, unless things are pointed out to us, we don’t even realize the actuality of a situation. Here’s an illustration that might help:

A man walks in on Monday morning to find that his office is being painted. As he walks down the hall to his office, he begins to smell the fumes. You know, the fumes that burn your nose and make you feel a little light headed. The man decides to duck in, grab a few things and get out. As he enters, one of the painters initiates some small talk. After a few words, the man says to the painter, “So, don’t you mind the fumes?” To which the painter replied, “What fumes?”

Sometimes we don’t notice the funk around us because we’ve been knee deep in it for so long.

I think this relates to Creative ministry very well. However, I think it is fair to admit that most creative types don’t like critique. They don’t like to be told that the thing they poured their heart and soul into, whether it be a song or a painting or a program, could have been better. Therefore, when it comes to working with creative types, such as ourselves, it is good to know how to enter into this conversation of evaluation. The key factor here is trust. There must be the foundation of trust beneath the team and the assumption that we are all working toward glorifying God through our ministry, not towards our own personal agendas.

When we fail to Work On It, we fail to steward and shepherd the ministries we’ve been allowed to lead, and that is not a place I want to find myself. Personally, this is one of my favorite principles. I’m huge on self evaluation, and I’ve had the benefit of having people in my life that I trusted to always give it to me straight, so that I could develop myself and continue to grow as a person, musician, and leader. If you don’t have these people around you or don’t find this type of discussion beneficial or valuable, I would encourage you to seek them out and to start to develop this type of culture in your group.

So, are you Working On It?
How?

One.Love

cd

1. You can desperately hold on to your position until someone inevitably replaces you.

or

2. You can prepare someone to do what you do and strategically replace yourself.

The chapter talks about John Maxwell’s concept of “Leadership Lids”. Lids are anything that keeps a leader from growing. It could be an inability to let others into your creative process, not letting others give input on your system, or even getting possessive about your ideas. The writer expands this concept into “Leadership Walls”, which are things that keep future leaders out of your ministry.

I think that this practice is especially hard for us creative types. We tend to get quite attached to our visions or projects, which can lead us to being blind to other leaders or ideas. However, the truth is that if we don’t purposefully seek out others who are gifted leaders and volunteers and help cultivate their talent and leadership, the ministry will die off along with the natural life cycle of a leader. It may not be comfortable to talk about, but when you look at your ministry through the lens of the Kingdom, the need for replacing yourself becomes so much more evident.

When it comes to Worship and Creative communities, we have to be open and willing to welcome in and help develop young and upcoming leaders. Rather than fighting and holding onto whatever we “do”, we have got to embrace these people and build them up to eventually take over. This is how healthy ministries are built over time. It could be in a year or it could be in twenty, but either way, we need to start looking out for those who are to replace us today.

Have you been thinking about how to Replace Yourself?

One.Love

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This is something we can definitely take to heart as the church. Maybe some of the ways we approach visitors at our churches make them feel like they are at a car lot. Do they feel like a commodity? Like they are being bombarded? “But this is how we’ve always done things” or “If we change our approach, people might get upset a leave”. This begs the question: Who are we trying to reach? Let me back up. In churches, or any organization for that matter, there are insiders and outsiders. Insiders have been around and are plugged into the mission of the church. Outsiders are those who aren’t in the church.

“The church is primarily characterized by insiders reaching insiders” & “millions of outsiders see what the church does as being irrelevant, and yet most continue to do business as usual.” That sums up the two biggest problems we face when it comes to outsiders. We keep catering to those who have already committed their lives to Christ. If our mission is to reach the lost for Christ, then they are now a part of the mission rather than the object of the mission. And if we continue to focus on how insiders see things, we will only attract insiders, when it is outsiders we are trying to seek out.

So how does this relate to our worship/creative communities? I think this has great weight when it comes to how we do what we do. I find it to be foolish to ignore our culture when it comes to seeking inspiration for creative elements. Whether it be ideas for videos or for series topics, we should look to what people (outsiders) find interesting or are asking questions about. If we are seeking them out, we should know them. Know what they like. Know what they need (besides a relationship with Christ). This is more important than a “customer/business” relationship, therefore, I think we’ve got to put in the due diligence in understanding the outsiders. Staying “outsider-minded” has got to be a priority when it comes to programming our services.

How can you Listening to Outsiders help in your worship/creative community?

One.Love

cd

What the books suggests is that we should decide what is most important to impart in the given time that you have, and to focus as much as you can on that. The more we whittle down what we want to teach into what the book calls “irreducible minimums”, the better we will be able to reach our target audiences. This would be like using a precise sniper rifle for a distance shot. You’re going to hit exactly what you want exactly how you want to. The point will come across as it needs to.

I’d like to take this down a different road. I feel like this particular idea of Teaching Less for More plagues the worship/creative community in the context of worship leaders. Most worship leaders don’t want to just sing the songs and get off the stage, however most pastors (and others alike) don’t want a second sermon during a worship service. There has to be a happy balance where the worship leader can actually lead through the songs without digressing into a soliloquy.

I think this is were the worship leader needs to begin to develop these “irreducible minimums”. What are some things about worship that you want to teach during worship in a way that isn’t a speech? We need to learn how we can impart these simple, concise truths into the time of worship that bolsters what the songs are doing rather than distracting the congregation. Anything you say should only spur them further into worship and help develop their posture of worship.

I don’t think that worship leaders should keep their mouths shut. I think that using words to explain/give context to songs or to explain truths about the Bible are worship is an extremely valuable asset for a worship leader. However, we need to learn how to dilute our potential sermonettes into simple phrases that we can use again and again to further teach and lead the congregants in worship. It is a skill that you must work on and pursue. To ask a worship leader to can it and stick to the songs, I believe, is to limit their potential to lead worship as best they can. But like I said, it is a craft that must be worked on.

How else could Teach Less for More be used in the worship/creative context?

One.Love

cd

The book focuses on the two main reasons so seek out narrowing your focus. The first would be growth; the counterintuitive thought about growth and focus is that “You have to do less if you want to grow more”. If you do more, chances are your ministry will not grow. We can’t confuse action/activity for growth. Secondly, we must narrow our focus so that we can attach ourselves to the mission rather than programs. When we cling to programs, we tend to stick to things that are nostalgic rather than what is working. However, when we focus ourselves on the mission of the creative/worship ministry, we can make better programming choices and be more effective in our decisions. “A good leader is always more passionate about the mission than about the program.”

We are wired to just add things on. To make things more and more complicated because that is what is natural. We have to fight for simplicity. We need to seek out to “choose what potentially works best over what is presently working”. In John 15, Jesus talks about the idea of pruning dead things away so that the whole can benefit. He also makes a very wise point that sometimes you need to prune life-bearing parts so that the whole can bear even more fruit. We need to choose what potentially works best over what is presently working.

The book sites four effects of narrowing your focus. The more we narrow our focus for given ministries or environments, the greater the relevance, the better the connection, the higher the quality, & the stronger the impact. When we narrow our focus, our creative elements become more relevant and connect with the congregation better. Also, when we begin to look more closely at our choices for worship environments, the quality will surely increase and the songs will bear more impact. The right song played in the right place can have a great effect rather than just another tune picked for convenience.

What about when it comes to the world of creative and worship ministries? What do we need to “narrow our focus” on? Are we talking about songs or something larger? I think, for me, it comes down more to the programming aspect for different environments. What songs or elements would work best for this particular service? Just taking time to dig into what works best and being as specific as possible without forcing things is how I see myself narrowing the focus.

How can we “narrow our focus” when it comes to Creative & Worship ministries?

One.Love

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