Nicolaitan Email

One thing I do to keep my finger on the pulse of the worship scene worldwide is to sign up for worship lists and forums. Just reading the same questions over and over again from different people all over the world is a great way to see what are the issues that bother the people in the body of Christ when it comes to worship ministry.

So when my book came out I also sent an announcement to ONE of the lists I subscribe to. Why didn't I send it out to more? Dunno, didn't feel right. Anyway, I got this email last week from someone who subscribed to that list, reproduced here for you in exact detail.

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57.00 dollars for an ebook your insane

dont you feel your gouging the body a little bit here

bob sorges books can be found for 99 cents

judson cornwall let us praise abebooks com a dollar

and those are amazing powerful life changing books

go buy those insteads of hajis 57.00 ebook

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I took a quick trip over to my mailing list, the one that emails people links to the extracts from my book. Just as I suspected, this person didn't even check out my extracts before coming to a conclusion about my book. So at that moment I had to choose what to do. I chose to interpret Proverbs 26:4-5 (NIV) this way:

"Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself." – Don't answer to this person in the same tone and attitude. I've to answer him at a higher level than he emailed me at.

"Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes." This means that in my email I've to show him clearly his foolishness, or he'll think he was right and what he did was fine.

Let's face it, if you read my usual writing, you know it'll take me a lot of strain and effort to write at that guy's level, using his tone and attitude. Just for the exercise I decided to pretend I had a humungous lobotomy. If I had the lobotomy and a stroke (lost the common sense and courtesy part of my brain) and wanted to answer him according to his folly (same tone and attitude) it'll look like this:

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your insane yurself

u didnt even read the free pages u think u noe if the book is good

go read your powerful life changing books if they teach u to judge befor you get all yur facts rite

if money is an issue go get a job instead of emailing what you dunno bout

or if you want my book free ask nicely I sometimes do charity work haha

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But of course, I didn't reply to him that way. Here's my spur of the moment reply

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Hi, R!

> 57.00 dollars for an ebook your insane

No, not really. (nevermind what my wife thinks.) :) (following proverbs 12:16)

> dont you feel your gouging the body a little bit here

If you want to see what is my opinion of gouging the body, read the most recent post on the worship business
at www.jvworship.blogspot.com. If THAT doesn't get your blood boiling...   (Using proverbs 15:1)

> bob sorges books can be found for 99 cents
> judson cornwall let us praise abebooks com a dollar
> and those are amazing powerful life changing books

And you can say that my book isn't. Without reading it. Hmmmm... There's a
verse in Proverbs 18:13 about those who answer before listening.
You want life-changing at a discount? Get THAT verse. (You do have a bible of your own, right?)       

(ok, that last part wasn't nice of me. I admit that)

Hey R, let me tell you something about what I am doing. I am writing a tough book, one that people need to read.
And I am putting the whole thing on a money-back guarantee. Everytime anyone buys the book I have to pay Paypal.
That means I make a loss if anyone asks for a refund.

IF you are involved in worship ministry (not just a bystander) get the book. If you don't get results from it (or even if
you do but you still don't like me) ask for the refund. The ebook is still in YOUR possession (I can't take it back),
I'll have made a loss, and you'll still have the insights, revelations and knowledge I paid for with not just money, but
sweat and tears.

> go buy those insteads of hajis 57.00 ebook

Let me ask YOU a question then. How much would YOU price an ebook written by a friend of yours if you know that
the message in this ebook is difficult for people to accept, but has been used by your friend over and over again to not
only lead worship himself but teach total newbies to do the same. And do it effectively, over and over again. How much
would you tell your friend to charge for that?

And how much would that ebook be worth if lots of the other material around not only doesn't work, but blames the
user ("What I teach you doesn't work for you, not because I am teaching you the wrong things, but because you're not
called to the worship ministry or there's something wrong with your heart").

What price would you tell your friend to charge for the book if you know he will get loads of grief, accusations and
misunderstandings, often from people who are perfectly happy with the status quo and don't want growth? And you,
personally, what would you say to your friend who knows that he will get grief for what he's trying to do for the body of
Christ, but still goes ahead and does it anyway, because many have been blessed, but he still wants to bless even
more?

Thanks, R, for taking the time to email your thoughts. I respect that a whole lot more than people who would
criticise me behind my back. You had the courage to bring up the matter with me directly. I respect that. 

And I also appreciate the opportunity to clarify my thoughts on this. I mean, you can guess that what I just emailed
above isn't what I should put on my website, yah?

Finally, R, I'd like to get your permission to quote YOUR email and my reply on my blog. It's something that the rest
of my students need to read. Are you ok with that?

_____ 

Yup, that was my email reply. I actually wanted to use his email for a generic post on Proverbs, but the fellow actually emailed me again with shocking news – he's actually a pastor. Hence the main point of this post.

I teach the Bible, and I know for this season that God has entrusted me with insights and understanding for the body of Christ in the area of worship ministry. It's not my responsibility at this season to teach about other areas. But that doesn't mean that what I have to share doesn't apply to other areas of life too.

One of the things I have taught about in my book is about the Nicolaitan spirit. I described that spirit and how it manifests itself in the worship ministry in some detail in my book, but I didn't mention this one symptom of the Nicolaitan spirit: behaving as if one is above the rules. In other words, "the rules that apply to others don't apply to me".

Under the conventional worship ministry paradigm, which claims that effectiveness was based on the heart, it was difficult to be effective in worship ministry and not fall prey to pride. Think about it, people kept saying that the heart was the key factor for success, which implied that if you are effective in leading worship, you had a heart that God was pleased with. Not easy to resist pride if you believe that.

If a worship musician or leader from that point gets infected with the Nicolaitan virus, it can manifest in various ways, such as skipping sermons ("I don't need to go, since I know the way to the presence of God") or missing practices, or not attending church when not serving in worship. Or in how he/she treats other people.

This principle also applies to ministry beyond the worship ministry too. We have in this situation a clear-cut example of a pastor who forgot that the wisdom from heaven is pure, peace-loving and considerate (James 3:17). God may be using this pastor powerfully in some ways, but Proverbs 18:13 still applies to every one of God's children, no matter how powerfully God uses him (or anyone else) in the ministry.

Or let me put it to you this way: if you are a father, would you put up with one of your children insulting another one of your children? Would you close one eye and say "it's ok, he's dedicated to my work and purposes, I can let him bash another one of my kids once in a while"?

Don't think so.

For those of you who have read my book, by the time you get to the last chapter you'll understand why you can say that my entire book is addressing the Nicolaitan spirit that often arises in the worship ministry. And though I explain loads of technical issues in considerable detail in the book, once you understand it you'll realize that leading and playing for worship is so embarrassingly simple there is absolutely no room for pride, much less the Nicolaitan spirit.

The true nature of worship ministry is diametrically opposed to the Nicolaitan spirit. Oftentimes, just exposing the Nicolaitan spirit is enough to break its hold. I don't know if there are any easy answers to dealing with the Nicolaitan spirit outside of the worship ministry, but I hope that if there are any God will entrust them to me as I continue to be faithful with dealing with it in a worship ministry situation.

Well, this is the email I mentioned in my last post. I know some of you may disagree with me over how I handled the situation. Anyway, I can't take back my reply to him, neither could he take back his first email to me. Of course if he asked me not to quote him I wouldn't have, not because he's a pastor (I didn't know that until he replied) but because he's a sibling-in-Christ, and I know God would prefer that I respect his feelings and remember that mercy triumphs over judgment.

And for those of you who are hesitating over getting my book because of the price, grab it now while it’s on a special offer. You can check on the special offer here at www.invisibleworshipmusician.com/successstory.htm. This offer expires 27th May 2008, so hurry!

And maybe next post I can get on with the Proverbs post I want to do, one that involved child development theories... Stay tuned!