Difficult Moments
Today a member of our church asked me to meet with him to discuss an issue he’s dealing with. We met at a local coffee shop for breakfast. After our greetings and ordering our meal we sat to discuss an issue that was heavy on his heart. He then expressed an issue with me about his family wanting to leave church. His concern was about another brother whom he thought was discouraged in his serving at our church. He made statements about me not treating him fairly and that I was not appreciating his service. I listened intently as he expressed his care for this brother. As he expressed my leadership ability for someone in our congregation didn’t sit well with him. However, I couldn’t help but think to myself, how can one lead others to receive instructions when things are not going their way? As a Christian growing in the knowledge of Christ a person will experience difficult and discouraging moments in life.
As a leader in the worship and arts department, there are those who love the spotlight and sometimes forget that Christ is at the center. In this area in ministry many fall into pride thinking it’s because of them. The psalmist, choral members, lead singers, musicians, technicians and organizers at times think it’s about them as to why things went well in a worship service. There are times we fail to see ourselves as vessels being used by God. We experience discouraging and difficult moments in the arts. Sometimes we are our worst critic when it comes to personal reviews. There are rainy days we go through in this department. No matter how many sunny Sundays we see, sooner or later the rain will come on one of those days. As a growing believer one must be aware of this forecast if not someone convinced you falsely.
On this particular incident I was presented with an option right at curtain call. It was as if a line was drawn in the sand and I was told to either cross it or not. Well I chose to not cross that line because there were other things to take into consideration. My exact wording to the opposition was that my God is bigger than the situation. Whether you want to take your devices and go, the program will still go forth. In other words if a member of the team decided to not go on with the team due to pride or self issues, it does not mean that the show must stop. I remember the saying ‘one person wont stop the show’. In my line of work if a band member decides drop out there is another waiting to fill in. At my church if the drummer runs late or for some reason not show up, the younger guys are waiting jump in to fill in for him.
How could I encourage this brother and his friend to see when you are discouraged or disappointed by others to not run or pout? How can they see that our sin provides more discouragement our lives more than anything or anyone? To be honest, I’m too pleased with myself and convinced at how right I am and don’t deserve any rainy Sunday. I’ve learned to get my head out of the sand and see that God would be pleased for me to see less of what others do to disappoint or discourage me. As an older brother trying to encourage a younger brother, we share in the suffering as a good soldier of Christ 2 Timothy 2:3 God has entrusted to us faithful men who will be able to teach others.
My prayer is that they would take no hard feelings to sound instruction from others in leadership and that some day they too would become better leaders.
