Christ, Ministry and Talent

Pro 27:17 (NIV) - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Minister Warren Gilmore wrote again on my Facebook wall about a week ago. Something he said kept ringing in my spirit for some reason. He said that in my book, I teach people…

"… build their foundation on Christ first, ministry second, and then top it off with the steeple of talent, keeping us in check with of whom our gift, talent, and, most of all, ANOINTING comes from! "

His comment made me ask myself, what does it mean to build the foundation on Christ first, ministry second and then top it off with the steeple of talent?

1) Foundation on Christ

It means that our worship begins from Christ.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. (Hebrews 13:15, NIV)

Our sacrifices of praise will NEVER be acceptable to God based on who we are or what we do. They are acceptable ONLY in Christ. If we think that our innate goodness or the 'sincerity' of our hearts is what makes God look on our worship with favour, we are seriously deceived.

We have only ONE way to offer acceptable sacrifices to God. Jesus Christ.

It also means that Christ is the object of our worship.

John 5:22-23 (NIV) - Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.

Putting it simply, the Father takes it personally. When we honour Jesus, the Father takes it as honour we give to the Father. How about the Holy Spirit?

John 16:14-15 (NIV) - He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The calling and task of the Holy Spirit on earth is to glorify Jesus. He does so by revealing what the Father has given to Jesus, which is, everything. When we see the Father and the Holy Spirit working together to glorify Jesus, how could we ourselves not do the same?

2) Ministry second…

Some people use very emotive language to describe their worship. They say they want to bless the heart of Jesus through their worship. I personally believe that the easiest way to bless his heart is to care for what Jesus cares about.

And Jesus cared about two things while he was on earth, glorifying the Father…

John 17:4 (NIV) - I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

… and the unity of the believers.

John 17:20-23 (NIV) - “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity."

I personally discovered that after I spent a lot of time and effort working towards unifying the worship, I began to truly value unity in the Body of Christ. And if you know how much a loner I was (and still am), you'll appreciate how profound that change is to me.

Ephesians 4:3 – Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (NIV)

I know that unifying the praises of the people seems quite superficial compared to working towards them being of one spirit and one mind (Phi 2:2). But if God will respond to that unity with his glory (2 Chronicles 5:13) then it obviously matters to him. And let's face it, if I am not faithful to do the easier task what makes you think God will entrust me with the harder one?

3) Steeple of Talent

The steeple is a tall tower on a building, usually topped by a spire (spear-like point). It gets the attention, but it doesn't support the building. In the worship ministry, talent gets the attention, but it isn't a foundation for the ministry. Only Christ and a genuine heart for the people he loves will do as a foundation for a sustainable and effective worship ministry.

I know it's fashionable these days to say that musical skill is the least important aspect of the worship ministry. And many worship musicians will say that Christ comes first, ministry second and musical talent third. They will talk about how they offer their skills to God, to serve him.

But talk is cheap. The REAL test of whether a singer or musician has offered his/her skills to God is when they find out what they do does NOT work. For example:

1. Some musicians have a very unique and personal playing style. That's great for self-expression. But are they willing to let go of that and play normal stuff so that the congregation focuses more on God than on the music?
   
2. Others may have gaps in their skill set, and find that they can't play what works. Will they start to take lessons and practice diligently to pick up the skills they lack?
   
3. Or if they are worship leaders, they may find that their singing range is too different from the average congregation member. That's when they have to decide if they will either train their singing range till it fits the congregation better, or if they will take a backseat and sing backup vocals instead.
   
4. In my case, I believe that 2 Kings 3 tells me to play like a harp when supporting prophecy or prayer time. I use that concept on the piano and it works. But there is a minister whom I regularly play for who moves powerfully in the prophetic. And he doesn't want the harp effect, he wants subdued chords on the jazz organ sound. Am I going to tell him, "Pastor, you are wrong! We're supposed to do it MY way…" or do I just give him what he wants, which he knows works for him?

So when the REAL test comes, that is when we see if people have a genuine heart to offer their skills to God.

I know I sound very exclusionist when I talk about these matters. But I am not. I honestly believe that worship ministry takes the least amount of skill and talent, compared to other ways of serving the Lord via music. But the skill and talent must be directed correctly.

And it may also be that a musician or singer may actually be gifted and called to serve God in other ways. Because we usually see the worship ministry using music most often, it's easy to forget that there are other ways of serving God through music and singing as well. If we try to force such people into the worship ministry, we are only making EVERYONE involved suffer. The musicians/singers suffer because there is a mismatch of ability and need, the congregation suffers because they are not getting what they need to unify their praises unto God.

Conclusion:

Stop for a moment and prayerfully consider your own ministry in the light of Minister Warren Gilmore's exhortation. Let's not get so caught up with getting things done until we forget to check if we are doing the right things or doing things right!