Performance vs Participation

I recently got a few questions via email, and these questions I feel deserve more detailed answers. (So it will take a while, please be patient!) The first email is actually about the core of worship ministry conflicts.

You see, all the genuine worship ministry disputes and conflicts I've seen so far are about the model of worship ministry. There are two models we are offered in Scripture, and when we understand them we will:

1. Know why someone who disagrees with us thinks and behaves the way they do; AND
2. Know what are the problems WE may run into and the blind spots we have.

The Two Worship Ministry Models (Paradigms) – Performance vs. Participation

A Performance-based worship ministry is based on a person or a group of people ministering while the rest of the people (if any) watch. We see this in the Bible quite often, primarily in the Old Testament. The Performance style of worship ministry really took on in a major way when God implemented the Levitical Priesthood.

But In The New Testament…

Firstly, the worship is now based on a spiritual re-birth and status (http://jvworship.blogspot.com/2009/03/spirit-and-truth.html); secondly, all believers are priests and therefore are to be directly involved with the ministry of praise and worship (1 Peter 2:9).

I talk about these two models of worship ministry in greater detail in my next book (http://invisibleworshipmusician.com/nextbook.htm), because both of them can be defended from Scripture, both are prone to being taken to extremes and abused, and because you need to find the right mix of both in order to find the best fit for your church.

In the Email I Received

A Chief Musician finds himself serving under a worship leader who changed the focus of the church music team from a performance-model, i.e. duplicating the original versions of songs, playing to clicktracks (metronomes) and taking pains to get the sound mix right, to participation. In theory, that sounds really good, very spiritual and in line with the New Testament.

However:

1. The worship leader takes in newbies who are not as musically skilled and does not challenge them to improve. This results in the newbies not being interested to improve. They turn up late for rehearsals and without having practiced their parts by themselves first (wasting the time of the rest of the band);
2. The worship leader takes away what created the good sound mix in the first place, such as the drum screen (allows the drum volume to be controlled by the sound ministry), and puts up a very unbalanced band on the stage (a bassist, pianist, drummer and FIVE guitars????). This can be VERY distracting for the congregation!;
3. The worship leader advocates mentoring (the senior musicians imparting skills and knowledge to the newer musicians, then moving out of the way to allow the newbies to rise up) and yet he does not allow the chief musician to teach the newbies how and what to play.

You can guess what this does to the morale of the serious team members who were there before. They would end up cynical and frustrated, especially with the clichés and platitudes that usually accompany such a change. Usually, when such changes happen, the leaders implementing such change will usually say things like:

1. "it's all about the heart";
2. "let God do the rest"; AND of course the biggest one –
3. "Don't you trust God?"

So you can see very clearly that this situation is a clash of two worship models, between Performance and Participation.

I know I push very strongly for the Participation-model of worship ministry. You can see examples here at http://invisibleworshipmusician.com/article01.htm. But that doesn't mean that anything goes, because the Bible doesn't teach participation for the sake of participation. The Bible teaches:

1) Participation for the sake of edification

1 Cor 14:26 (NIV) - What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

2) Participation for the sake of unity

Eph 4:11-13 (NIV) - It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God…

And unity in worship is very important, both in the New Testament…

Romans 15:5-6 (NKJV) - Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Emphasis mine)

… and in the Old.

2 Chronicles 5:13-14 (NIV) - The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever."

In other words, if you pursue participation totally, without any discernment, you end up with chaos and disorder. You can rationalize it and call it "freedom in the Spirit", but the fact remains: you need a certain degree of order (1 Cor 14:33) in order that people can effectively participate and contribute (1 Cor 14:26) for the edification of everyone gathered.

Likewise, if you pursue a performance model of worship ministry totally and without any discernment, you may end up alienating your worship team and your congregation, while burning yourself out. As long as you go to any extreme, you will be alienating people and making them more likely to choose the other extreme.

And the congregation suffers.

Conclusion:

So this is what I would urge you to do. Do everything in worship ministry, not for the sake of performance or participation only, but do everything for the sake of unifying the singing of the congregation, that they may be edified.

For example, I can play a lot on the piano and it can look really fancy. But I can do that because I know what works for unifying the praises of the congregation. I know when it will work and when the rest of the band doesn't let me. I know when the congregation is ready for it and when the people are not, so I won't fall flat on my face when I try it. When I play piano for worship, I play what I play so with the unity and edification of the people in mind. And it works!

I know, I sound very confident. Or is it arrogance? That's a good question, in fact, that is the very next topic I was emailed about. So stay tuned for the next post, when I look at the issue of arrogance vs confidence!

Be blessed!

My First Haiku

The Bible is open

My mind and spirit renewed

I live in shalom

inspired by Psalm 119:165 -

Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.

I've been thinking about bad poetry recently. After a while I decided that since I don't write poetry I am in no position to criticize! So while thinking about the structures of haiku (official definition given below) I suddenly managed to write one! I'll be gloating about this for quite some time, that's for sure!

"Haiku (俳句, haikai verse^?) listen (help·info), plural haiku, is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras (or on), in three phrases of 5, 7, and 5 moras respectively.^[1] Although haiku are often stated to have 17 syllables,^[2] this is inaccurate as syllables and moras are not the same. Haiku typically contain a kigo (seasonal reference), and a kireji (cutting word). In Japanese, haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line, while haiku in English usually appear in three lines, to parallel the three phrases of Japanese haiku.^[3] Previously called hokku, haiku was given its current name by the Japanese writer Masaoka Shiki at the end of the 19th century."

From Wikipedia

Fatal Mistake Bosses Make

I recently had lunch with an old friend of my wife, who was also a former music student of mine. She was telling me about the little ways her current employer tried to short-change her and how she foiled them.

For example, she was placed on 3 months of probation when she was first hired. And just about the time her boss was supposed to tell her if she was to be confirmed as a permanent staff of that company (with the appropriate pay increase), her boss arranged to go for a very long trip to Europe. That would have left her hanging in the air for more than a month while waiting for his decision.

Other employees would have just waited for the boss' return and hope to be confirmed then. She sent the boss an email informing the boss that she did not wish to waste her time in that company if she was not going to be confirmed as a permanent staff. Her boss called her immediately just before he left the country to promise her that she would be confirmed as staff. And he kept that promise, she got the pay raise she deserved.

Another case: the company was expanding and she found out that the new staff hired were going to be paid more than she was, even though she was doing the bulk of the work. She told her boss directly that if she was not going to be paid what she was worth, she would resign. She got her pay increased to match that of the new staff.

In Asian societies this type of behaviour from an employee is unthinkable. But because my friend was so forthright with her boss, he knew that she would not backstab him or sabotage him behind his back. Also, when she joined her current company to do admin work, she found the whole company's admin all in a mess and she spent lots of time and effort to sort everything out for them. The people hired for that job before her quit within 1-3 months, and left everything in chaos. She single-handedly fixed up everything without any help from the other staff (they didn't know anything) or the boss (who didn't know anything either).

In other words, she could get away with this type of behaviour because she had already proven her value and loyalty to the company!

People with that kind of drive, initiative and forthrightness are an asset to any company they choose to work for. But if you want to lead employees of that calibre, you must know the value of your people and pay them accordingly.

Colossians 4:1 (NIV) - Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

One tendency we have as fallen human beings is to boast about how cheaply we managed to buy something. It's nothing new, even Solomon commented on buyers who try to drive a hard bargain.

Proverbs 20:14 (NIV) - "It's no good, it's no good!" says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.

But if you try that when it comes to buying the labour of your staff, especially with employees who genuinely know their market value, they will resent you. And eventually leave. Don't deceive yourself. You can try your hardest to find staff who will work for you for less than their market value, but let me tell you that you are losing time and peace, as well as risking the reputation of your business when the lousy staff you hire produce work that is worth as much as you pay them.

Pastor John Lim of Living Faith Church regularly preaches to employees that if they work as unto the LORD (Col 3:23-24) the LORD will often move them out of a company that is exploiting them and underpaying them. Christian bosses, please meditate on this. If you find that your staff retention rate is low and your good staff keep leaving, the problem may not be the devil, the economy, how greedy employees are these days or any other excuse you cook up. It might just be that God really doesn't like how you underpay your staff!

Another way bosses cheat their staff is by paying them late.


The hired men of that era were daily-rated workers. They were economically even worse off than the slaves, who would have food and lodging provided for them. The principle we see here is not that we should pay our staff daily (that would be a huge admin hassle) but that we pay them on time, on the day and date we promised to pay them. Don't use weekends, public holidays or your own overseas business trips as excuses to make your staff wait for their wages.

Why would some bosses delay the wages? You see, the longer the wages stay in the company's bank accounts, the more interest the company stands to earn on that bank account. Yes, given today's interest rates it isn't really a lot of money compared to the resentment and ill-will you build with your staff if you do that. But some employers are penny-wise, pound-foolish.

What about shrewd bosses?

Shrewd bosses pay their staff above market rate. That way they will always have their pick of the best employees available for their business. Some people call this foolishness, or say that it is bad stewardship of the money God has entrusted them. Let me show you two examples of shrewd employers from Scripture.

Genesis 41:38-44 (NIV) - So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?" Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt."

Background – Joseph had just interpreted Pharaoh's dream, saving the lives of the people of Egypt. I do not know the market rate for diviners or dream-interpretation in those days, but I can safely assume that you don't hand over the kingdom to them for successfully interpreting only one dream!

But Pharaoh was shrewd. If he paid Joseph overwhelmingly well, he knew that he would secure Joseph's loyalty AND have Joseph's wisdom and insight near him when he needed it. Also, what kind of threat would Joseph be to Pharaoh if Joseph was employed by another kingdom?

(Quick tip: the staff you should pay the most are the ones that you most fear working for your competitors…)

Of course it was a gamble. But in those days you don't survive long as Pharaoh unless you are a good judge of character. In the few minutes Pharaoh saw Joseph in action, he quickly weighed up Joseph's character and trusted his gut-feeling that said this strange foreigner who was hidden in his prison was the kind of person he wanted on his staff. And in the years to come Joseph would prove him right.

Luke 19: 16-17 (NIV) - "The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'

In the parable of the minas, the newly crowned king awarded his best performing servant a huge promotion. Which makes sense, if he can grow one mina into ten, what do you think he can do with ten cities? Some Singaporean bosses I know will tell this servant "Sorry, the economy is bad, this time I give you half a mina but you must still grow it into ten minas for me, otherwise your job is in danger…"

Of course, within a month these bosses will be complaining about how this ungrateful servant left them for greener pastures!

If you had this servant working for you, how much of your money would you entrust to him? For me I'd probably hand this servant all I have and mortgage my home further! By the way, this attitude of investing your money and attention to where you see results does not apply only to high performing staff. It also applies to marketing campaigns as well. If you are the boss you must track the advertising campaigns you pay for and see which are the ones that bring you the most customers, the highest spending ones and the most loyal ones. And invest in those campaigns accordingly.

It is foolish to cut spending on advertising blindly or solely on advertising cost. You need to track your returns from each campaign. And if you are not directly supervising each campaign yourself, your marketing director must be ready to account for these campaigns to you, to tell you which are the highest-performing campaigns and recommend that you invest further in those marketing channels.

Final note: I left out the last reason why my friend was so daring, and would take no nonsense from her boss. She had a background in sales and marketing. As long as you know sales and marketing, you will always have work, because every business needs people who can increase their sales. And that is why she often has people offering jobs to her.

Conversely, if you do not know sales and marketing but only possess specific skills, then you are in trouble should market changes ever render your skills obsolete. And if you are a boss or business owner who is unable to bring in sales for your business, you are at the mercy of those who can, because your business cannot survive without those people.

OK, this post has gone on long enough! I know I'm supposed to write more on worship ministry, and I will do so soon. Please email me or leave a comment if you find this post on Christian business helpful or if you'd like me to write more on this topic. In the meantime, be blessed!

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (NIV) - Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

When You Meet Simon the Sorcerer

May was the month I studied the Book of Acts. And when I looked into Acts 8 one day over dinner (I was eating by myself and flipped open my Bible for fun) some thoughts came to me.

Acts 8:9-11 (NIV) - Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

In this day and age we are likely to meet Simon the Sorcerer again, spiritually speaking.

Witchcraft and sorcery, obvious use of the occult for self-gain, is not only easily available, it is now fashionable. When I was a teenager I would see the occasional book on spells in the bookshop and think it was a joke. Now you can get detailed instructions on performing and casting spells for free. Just search online!

Because it is now so much easier for people to practice sorcery again, it is likely that we Christians will meet a real genuine sorcerer (or a Satanist or a person with occult powers) sooner or later.

Acts 8:12-13 (NIV) – But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

When was the last time you preached to a Satanist? Or maybe a priest of some other religion, who happened to have supernatural powers? I used to assume that they would never give up the powers they had and turn to Christ, because in order to get their powers they probably sold off their souls permanently and weren't interested in getting them back.

But Satanists do turn to Christ. I know one personally. And I know two powerful evangelists who have no hesitation to declare the resurrection, love and power of Christ to Satanists, witches and priests of other religions. And they do have some success, mainly because they were gutsy enough to pray for God to show signs and miracles to others through them.

You would think that a witch who could curse people with deadly sickness or get winning lottery numbers from spirits would not be impressed when you pray for them and they get healed of headaches. But they are. I have heard of them breaking down and crying when God heals them in the name of Jesus. Of course, these two evangelists have seen God heal more than just headaches through them. But it started from them daring to pray for signs and miracles to confirm the Word they preach.

One thing though, it requires you to accept that signs and miracles are still available to the Body of Christ today. If you believe that the Book of Acts was just meant to be a fluke, a transitional period, and signs and wonders are not meant for us today, then you will have great difficulty witnessing to Simon the Sorcerer when you meet him again.

Acts 8:14-17 – When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

This was a turning point in Church history. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritan believers was not only a reminder to the apostles that the command of Acts 1:8 (to preach the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all the earth) was still in force, it was also a sign of reconciliation between the Jews and the Samaritans.

And yet in the midst of the Holy Spirit's demonstrated approval of the reconciliation, someone much more worldly-minded could miss or ignore the significance of this event…

Acts 8:18-19 – When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

First, he may have been looking at the whole matter from the perspective of potential profit. If he could bring the Holy Spirit upon anyone whom he laid hands on, he may have been thinking about charging people for receiving the Holy Spirit.

But I personally don't think this is the reason, because as long as the apostles did not charge for laying on of hands, Simon the Sorcerer could not charge for it either. No one would pay him for the Holy Spirit if they could receive the Holy Spirit free of charge directly from the apostles, right?

Second, he may have assumed that the apostles themselves received this ability as a result of giving someone else money. Or that they achieved this ability at great personal sacrifice and training, and deserved to receive monetary compensation for all their efforts and dedication.

This was most probably how he himself received his powers. He either paid someone who had those powers to teach him and then practiced and trained very hard to master those powers, or he sought out spirits to teach him. And in case you do not know, those spirits would have demanded a heavy price from him in one way or another in return for giving him those powers. They may have demanded animal (or even human) sacrifices or that he perform elaborate rituals that are time-consuming and difficult.

(in a nutshell, that is what my ex-Satanist friend taught me about the nature of witchcraft and sorcery…)

So Simon probably thought that was how it was for the apostles. Look at Peter's response.
Consider Peter's rebuke. When Peter rebuked Simon for thinking he could buy the gift of imparting the Holy Spirit, Peter was implying that this gift was free of charge also. It was not given only to those who had the money to pay for it. That was not how the apostles received this gift, or the gift of working miracles. They received all their gifts from the LORD freely, and so they likewise imparted them freely too (Matt 10:8).

Acts 8:20-23 (NIV) – Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."

This is a serious matter. Once you think you have to buy the gift of God, instead of receiving it freely on the basis of faith, the above passage tells us that your heart is not right before God (vs 21), it is wickedness (vs 22) and you are full of bitterness and captive to sin (vs 23).

Does this also apply to trying to buy the gift of God with good works, piety and devotion? Think about that…

Acts 8:24 (NIV) – Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me."

Now we come to the final question: was Simon the Sorcerer saved? Why did Simon the Sorcerer make this offer?

Yes, I believe so, because he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). But he certainly had a faulty understanding of his salvation. Remember, the Apostle Paul had not yet appeared on the scene to explain in greater depth how we can freely approach God on the basis of faith in what Jesus has done for us on the cross and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18).

Notice that when Peter ordered Simon to pray to the Lord (vs 22), Simon refused and asked that Peter pray for him instead (vs 24). This tells me that Simon himself was still afraid of approaching the LORD in prayer, especially when he has sinned. His own faith was not yet established to the point that he could pray to God himself and know God will freely pardon him (Isa 55:7).

This has two implications for us that I would like us to ponder together:

1) Do we believe we have to buy from God what he has freely given us on the basis of faith?

If we believe that, and teach others the same, our hearts are not right before God. Moreover, we will find ourselves captive to bitterness and sin (vs 23) as Simon the Sorcerer was. We will find ourselves stumbling when we try to work for what God has already given us, instead of believing God's Word and trusting in his goodness.

2) People who have a background in sorcery or witchcraft usually have greater difficulty believing in the goodness and forgiveness of God.

Please be patient with them, especially in this area. They need more time and effort to be established in this aspect of the Christian faith. So if you are the one who will follow-up with them after they believe in Jesus or if you have to disciple them, pay careful attention to this area. It is very easy for them to slip up and start relating to God the same way they relate to whatever deities or spirits they served before. And we don't want that to happen!

Conclusion: I personally believe that we will encounter more people with occultic powers in this day and age. We need not be intimidated, in fact, we should be confident as we share Christ with them. The case of Simon the Sorcerer gives us some lessons and thoughts to consider, and we will do well to learn what we can from this passage of Scripture. Be blessed!