Quote

"Follow your instincts. That's where true wisdom manifests itself."  —Oprah Winfrey  (Hmmmmm...)

Scripture

"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

—Matthew 4:18-22

Prayer

Lord, how is that I keep thinking I'm leading You, when in fact, it is I who should follow after You—my Rabbi, my guide. Let me feel your dust on my clothing. Amen 

Leadership

Ah, Christmas!

At this very moment you probably don’t care much about leadership—you care about survival! That’s what Christmas is all about for church musicians, particularly at this time of year—true? Well, forgive me, but I’m going to talk about leadership anyway!

Jesus said, “Come, Follow Me”

You may think that this is the season where your leadership is most important, but this is actually when your ability to follow is of greater consequence. For years I suffered from the notion that I was the expert on all things musical in the church. Were you to have asked me 30 years ago in what direction I thought church music should be headed, I would have (like an idiot) actually told you! I was that sure of myself. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t lead, inspire and have an opinion. Of course God called you to lead. The question is, when is it good to just be still and follow? Jesus was fond of saying, “Come, follow me.” Remember? Sometimes, we’re most valuable when we are willing to just follow.

Christmas has always amazed me. People complain all year along about how loud the drums are, or how they hate organs, or why they have to sing that song over and over, or—and, at last—how they despise singing all the verses of every hymn (a very partial list). BUT, at Christmas, everyone suddenly shuts up. What’s with that? Well, we actually all know the answer—Christmas, for Christians, is the great equalizer. We all grew up listening to the same music at this heavenly season, and to the present day we can conjure up images of happy childhoods (or wished for happy childhoods) that were accompanied by the wonderful songs of Christmas.

At Christmas, all a church musician has to do is follow!

For example, we never have to beg and plead to get people to sing Silent Night  with a candle dripping wax all over the new carpet and their hands. We never have to make excuses for a particularly loud organ postlude or apologize for the Little Drummer Boy (even though the “little drummer boy” takes most of the heat in many churches during the rest of the year ). Yep, Christmas is where we just give everyone what they’re already begging for—“make me feel good!” For me, Christmas was always like a vacation—at least from critics.

At my former church, where I served for 21 years, Christmas was the highest season of the year. Oh, I wish I could say that Jesus’ Resurrection was the highlight of the year, but Easter often just brought crowds of lapsed Christians—Christmas got ‘em all—everybody wanted to share our Christmas! People usually lined up for over an hour just to get into one of our seven Christmas Eve services. It was a beautiful event, full of hope, joy and, well…familiar tunes. My job was to musically host congregations through the 58 minutes of Scripture and musical wistfulness. It was fun and a joy to do so! I loved it and my dry cleaner loved it. I usually went through seven dress shirts on Christmas Eve!

My favorite moment was always at the same exact instant in the service where I gave the downbeat for the introduction of Peace, Peace (Fred Bock’s extremely popular Silent Night arrangement). I would look up at the Christmas tree (huge!) behind the choir loft and thank God that He was once again letting me conduct this  special evening. I had that same feeling at each of the seven (did I tell you there were seven) services—always! In fact, I used to say to God that it would be fine to take me home to be with Him at the conclusion (of the 11 PM service, of course), and I meant it. That’s how much I loved conducting the Christmas Eve service. All I had to do was follow—follow the tradition and content of a story promising everlasting hope for all mankind. Wow, Lord, let me do that, just follow You, take Your cues, understand Your greatness in a simple, childlike way,  accompanied by a gorgeous celebration. Even as I sit here typing this article, listening to Pandora’s © A Classical Christmas, I remember and relish the sacred trust of ushering people into the presence of a holy God—a holy God they might not have even expected to encounter in their quest to feel “the Christmas” spirit. What an honor!

Other musings on following…

Why can’t we always just be followers? How did we get in the people-pleasing business? Wasn’t the call (I mean “The Call”—see the new issue of Creator Magazine) about leading people in meaningful worship experiences? When did it become a version of musical catering? If God really is calling us, what should our worship be like?

Those are the questions, and here are my answers taken  from my own experience of leading, planning and implementing worship for over some 40 years. Mostly, they're about following.

• Read (discern) what the moment is supposed to be and go from there, without layering on whether people will like it or not. That’s not really the question. They will like it if it’s really the right expression of faith at that point in time and not based on they're tastes OR yours!

• Follow Jesus with a deep sense of reverence. He appreciates it when we do that. I don’t really care if the worship experience is contemporary, traditional, or (heaven forbid) relevant to the culture—I care about being a witness to God’s greatness and His love for His people.

• Savor the moment, not the “win.” Does this worship event truly honor God? That’s the “win,” not whether people liked it. We don’t score victories in our planning—we step aside and allow God to speak through our offering—that’s it.

• Skill is important, but attitude trumps it every time. Plan worship around an understanding of who God is, not around who people might think He is. Be true to Him, not others.

All that having been said, know how to keep your job and honor your responsibilities to the folks for whom you work. It does no good whatsoever to inflame controversy in the leadership of the church. Be discerning without being arrogant or disobedient.

So, lead...follow???

Follow Him and lead them. Merry Christmas! Look at the tree and thank God for the honor of following Him and leading them!

—Doug Lawrence

© 2008 Creator Magazine All Rights Reserved

Doug has been a consultant to church leaders for 35 years and is anxious to be helpful to you in leadership, musical, and staffing considerations. Please click on his name above and email him. He's available to consult on the phone as well.