Is Singing A Lesser Gift?

If there is a question that comes with arguments and controversy in Christian circles - and especially among those concerned with singing and worship service in the church - it is this one.

It punches worship leaders in the face.

I have even heard that it punches some so heavily to the extent that they are convinced to altogether forsake singing in church in exchange for "the pursuit of a greater and more influential gift...;" because (seemingly) it has been "revealed" to them that music, as a service, is not worthy a crown of glory when we meet Christ on the last day.

What is it all about anyway? What is this pursuit for a greater gift all about?

A pastor teaching a worship team on the importance of the music ministry in the Church

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It may be true that we place less emphasis on the importance and difference of/between gifts and services in the church or that we choose to play middle ground when addressing this matter. The latter is due to avoiding strife on doctrinal matters and therefore covering up our fear with negligence and abandoning the course of teachings on such matters.

Somewhere, you may hear one or two (or several) pastors (music pastors or pastors in general) bellowing: "this or that gift is superior to this or that gift" and so forth and so on, while trying to convince their congregation about gifts and services. 

Elsewhere, another couple of men of God will be heard exalting the significance of the Holy Spirit in empowering Christians in service; and that any one with a gift or a service can be effectively used to bring glory to God in one or many other ways.

There is a third group though. This one denies that singing (or as we love calling it, worship) is not a gift and it therefore has no room among the "major gifts" in the Church. This, they support with a Scripture we all know quite well: Ephesians 4:11-12 (NKJV) "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ..."

Although it does not descriptively and categorically mention that these mentioned above (apostleship, prophesy, evangelism, pastoral work and teaching) are the so-called "five major gifts" in the Church, this group jumps up with this Scripture in defense of their aptness in such matters. It is therefore a dogma among its members that music (or any other gift or service whatsoever) holds no seat amongst the "big five gifts."

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In trying to defend the language with which Christ through His Spirit speaks in many places, and while in some other way attempting to solve this mix-up, I can give us one example which is very practical: in Acts Chapter 10, the apostle Peter is hungry one afternoon and is caught in a trance which leads to the following conversation between him and the Lord (Acts 10:13-15) "And a voice came to him, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.' But Peter said, 'Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.' And a voice spoke to him again the second time, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common...'"

Why am I bringing up this story? Consider this...

Christ and Peter could look at the same thing (food) and funny enough, both agree and disagree on what it stood for. According to Peter, the food that was being presented him was unclean. And he was right: God had initially proclaimed the food unclean (Leviticus 11); but now, in this very encounter, the Lord declares the food clean. Was God contradicting Himself? No, I don't think so. Why then was it both "clean" and "unclean" at the same time? It fights logic, right?

Okay, I think it was because the Lord wanted Peter to become flexible to His voice and understand deeply why at all the food could be both clean and unclean. That His voice mattered more than the food. That the issue of clean-ness  and unclean-ness was less important as compared to the ultimate goal that was being sought after. 

...His voice matters more than the food...

This sounds paradoxical yeah, but it is the truth.

When we keenly consider the above conversation, we can, to a considerable extent, draw a conclusion and say that they are both wrong and right all who say, "singing is a lesser gift" and that "singing is not a lesser gift..." Because just as food (in its being clean or unclean) does not really matter in Peter's case but the One who created and serves it to him that afternoon, so does the "less-ness" or "greatness" of music as a service or gift matter to the One who gives it to us for His own glory!

It doesn't matter whether the gifts/services being used in the Church are "major" or "minor"; what matters is whether they are being used effectively for the purpose for which they are/were intended. 

It doesn't matter how many talents the servant was given in Jesus' parable below. What matters is whether the talents were put to work or not!!

Matthew 25:14-15, 19-20, 22, 24-26: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.'

He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.'

Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'

But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed."

In another example, the apostle Paul notes the following to the Corinthian church to show them that every gift (whether important or less important) mattered in the house of God, and that the weaker/lesser gifts (as the Corinthian church was convinced to see them) were being used by God for a greater purpose and to fulfill the unity of the Church...:-

1 Corinthians 12:21-25: "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I do not need you,' nor in turn can the head say to the foot, 'I do not need you.' On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity, but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another."

...God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another...

Whether our enthusiasm in service through singing is in any case killed or promoted due to our doctrinal standings, it is all upto us. We may choose to mumble and fumble in indecision with which side to take, but it's all irrelevant to Christ. We may choose to take no stand at all - it really doesn't matter to Him. What matters is how well our ears are inclined to the voice of the Spirit of God as He attempts to align our tiny theological standings on the part music plays in the Church to His own, for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is greater than men (1 Corinthians 1:25.)

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The other few things that are good to understand and put mind as we follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit concerning music in the church are the questions answered below:-

1. What is a gift (or a spiritual gift)?

A gift, in Christian service, refers to the ability given to a Christian by the Holy Spirit towards serving the body of Christ. Also, according to this post and this one I wrote earlier on on discovering your abilities, gifts and talents, talents can compliment or grow into gifts.

References: Romans 1:11,  Romans: 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 7:7, 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, 1 Corinthians Chapter14.

2. What are services?

A service is work done by a Christian (as one person or group) that benefits another person, group and/or God.

References: Romans 12:1, 2 Corinthians 9:12, Ephesians 6:7, Revelation2:9.

3. Who gives gifts and services?

Christ/God through the Holy Spirit.

Reference: Refer to the Scriptures above.

4. Why are gifts and services given to the Church?

(a) For edification (uplifting, encouragement and enlightenment) of the church (1 Corinthians 12:7)

(b) Declaration of both God's goodness and commands (1 Timothy 4:13)

(c) For the betterment of our relationship with God - Him talking and walking with us, and us doing the same (Romans12:1 and Hebrews 13:15-16.)

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As I finish off, here is what C S Lewis had to say one day:

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

So it is whenever God uses our gifts and services in His presence: it is all for His glory.

Note: Most Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

End note: If you have ever tried to think that singing/ministering in music is a lesser gift, try telling that to the 24 elders and angels in Heaven.

Bonface Morris.

Leadership: Guidelines to Leading Worship & Worship Teams Today

It is already five Sundays into the new year, and I am glad that we've all been worshiping, worshiping the Lord Almighty.
It is amazing how days are going forth before us... January has vanished before I even took a deep breath, and February is already moving on rapidly.
The year is not new anymore. And if we have not yet embarked on doing something useful with ourselves, we are already failing.

As a worship leader (or as a worship team leader), you may have made a few resolutions in the course of last year or at the beginning of this new one - those you don't dare shout on any other mountain but on the mountain of God - about leading people in worship, about music, about your worship team and teamwork, about creativity and maybe about enthusiasm in ministry.
You may have called out on God in the secret place and whispered to Him (just as He does to you from time to time) about the congregation you lead, your fellow worship team members, the instruments you use, your pastor and so forth and so on...

But my question is: are you impressed so far with how things are going on?

There is this song by Casting Crowns, "Stained Glass Masquerade", where Mark Hall says this;

Is there anyone that fails? Is there anyone that falls? 

Am I the only one in church today feeling so small? 

Cause when I take a look around, everybody seems so strong 

I know they'll soon discover, that I don't belong 

So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay 

If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too 

So with a painted grin, I play the part again 

So everyone will see me the way that I see them 

Chorus: 

Are we happy plastic people, under shiny plastic steeples? 

With walls around our weakness, and smiles to hide our pain? 

But if the invitation's open, to every heart that has been broken 

Maybe then we close the curtain, on our stained glass masquerade... 

What Pastor Mark is trying to say to us is that once we are in our churches, we tend to pretend that everything is absolutely okay. We love making everyone else in our worship teams and congregations to believe that WE (as a whole) are okay. We stand before people every Sunday, look at them, smile, and pretend that as far as worship is concerned, our churches are doing well. Well, everything may not be okay.

The truth is that we face innumerable challenges but we prefer not to talk about them as worship leaders. We have gotten used to developing shock absorbers, learned how to work around these problems and move on.

But that doesn't mean that the issues we fail to attend to disappear, no. They still remain: the stings of insubordination in our teams, the lack of seriousness and charisma in fellow lead worshipers, the grating brought by self-ish-ness and the autonomous clunk of uncooperative members; and the lack of discipline (both in attendance of practice/rehearsal sessions and to authority)... These issues still grind us from time to time. They never stop glaring their teeth at us. And we feel inadequate and let down in one way or another. Mostly plastic. Because we fail to know how to deal with these challenges.

I have been in my church's Worship Team for about 8 years now. (Yes, I'm that old. :-)) I have seen, worked with and and heard from quite a number of worship leaders and members. We have struggled with so many issues - some of which have refused to disappear up to date. (We are a tiny and humble team anyway.) But regardless of the many challenges we are facing from week to week and season to season (because all worship team leaders will tell you that church worship moves along a certain trend of weeks and seasons), I am still convinced that God did not call us to this place for nothing. He did not ordain us to maintain a certain viewpoint and weakness and term it as "what we are". No, He did not.

I am [rightfully] convinced that effectiveness as a worship leader - even as challenges abound - is something I am going to talk about even ten years from now. I am convinced that I have had all these challenges right here where I am, with my small team of weird worshipers (me included), so that I may be able to wear the same shoes all lead worshipers all over the world wear every Sunday.

I need to remind us that victory has never been apart from a myriad of challenges, but their child. Challenges yield power to overcome even more challenges. So if I remind us that God has called us to a ministry that cuts across all the major offices of the church, a ministry that is not small but great - even though many of us may be tempted to think otherwise - a ministry that involves ushering people into God's presence, I know we will gain a conscience that overcomes what the devil is trying to do to our worship teams today.

The following points don't seek to solve our challenges but to better our standing (because Paul says in Ephesians 6:13 "...and having done all, to stand...")

1. Be Sure of Your Calling
Maybe as a start, the most important thing and what we need to be very sure about is our calling. Our calling is very critical to our commitment to the work of the One who called us.
A calling is nothing near passion and talent; it is deeper and greater than that. Being called is being called: you hear a voice, you follow that voice, you do what that voice is telling you; that is what we call being called. A worship leader needs to have a deep assurance that it is God who told them to do whatever they are doing, and that it is not their show.
If a worship leader is not sure that they have been called by God Himself, they will not survive the many challenges the devil will bring their way. Once we realize that we have been called by God Himself, and that He has chosen us to the Priestly service of helping people bring up their utmost offering to Him, we can conquer whatever comes our way with the Knowledge that He who called us is faithful and that He is always watching over us to the end. (Philippians 1:6)
If we are not sure about our calling, we can never be sure of our service.

2. Show Commitment
We may cry foul as many times as we want, but none of those we lead will believe in us as their leaders unless we are a notch higher in our commitment, intimacy with God and fervency than they are.
A team lead by a leader who is less serious about what he/she is doing will either fall apart or undermine their leadership.
People will take you for your word or ignore you according to how you manage your time (including theirs), how you follow after the words you say and how you do whatever you do.
As a worship team leader, (and/or as a worship leader), how much more than the rest of your team are you committed to the team and what you people do? How many new songs have you taught them as an individual? Do you pray more than any one of them? What about your own rehearsal sessions? do you practice on your own? Do you read your Bible often? Are you strongly founded in the Word of God? How much more creative than the rest of your team are you? Do you sing more than any one of them? Do they see intimacy in your relationship with God? Do you value teamwork?
These questions guide us in gauging our intimacy, commitment and fervency in leading worship.

3. Become Like a Pediatrician
God just whispered to me the other day that leading worship is like becoming a pediatrician. I fumbled with it for a while. I mean, I clearly knew that all pediatricians do is to treat children and offer guidance on child-care. I could not connect that with worship. I couldn't.
But wait, while in my fumbling, a congregation was brought to me: people seated with others standing, and a worship team full of newbies and oldies; and there I was taught the lesson of my life: "Morris, learn to treat all these people you are seeing before you like children. Pretend that none of them knows the right thing to do and how to do it. Tolerate them and make them learn from you... step by step..."
Then I understood. I hope you get it too: we need to treat everyone else around us as if they are children (not that they are children, but like they are children) and that they are waiting for guidance from us. Any wrong step they may make becomes our fault.
Why? Because we are their pediatricians, and they are our child patients...
A lead worshiper should never make assumptions about the congregation he/she is leading. Thus the faster we learn to deal with and handle our team members and congregations as we do children, the fewer the challenges we'll have to deal with.

4. Serve 
Everyone will tell you how well they know that "we are called to serve". Even politicians do so. But you will find very few people who actually serve. Very few people DO serve.
All the people in our congregations and worship teams exist at different spiritual levels. Each one of them wakes up every Sunday (or every other day of practice/rehearsal) from a family with all kinds of situations to deal with. We are not the same. We will never be. And we as worship leaders need to learn a way that will help us fully embrace this and deal with it in a constructively.
People have a wild array of distractions still clouding their minds even after stepping past that church gate. They may be standing before you in church, but their minds may be miles away.
In an article I was reading sometime back, the author indicated that every church or congregation - depending with where it is located and the nature of its members - needs to have a way of "capturing people's minds and bringing them to the same page and place" before worship or any other engagement in church is commenced.
The writer reiterated that the best way to enable people "switch" from their personal affairs to church affairs may be through story telling or a short skit, a poem or humor... Everyone needs to be on the same page before worship...
So considering that everyone else around us is like a child, how do we move them to the place where they can minister to God instead of waiting for God to minister to them?
It is through service. We need to learn to serve the congregations and teams we lead. Service is achieved through;

• Sharing a word of encouragement from Scripture 
• Smiling 
• Telling them a story about what God has been doing currently - with relation to the issues they already know 
• Encouraging them to sing because God is pleased when people worship and sing to Him. (Hebrews 13:15) 

That is all I have to say for today.

Remember that it is normal to be wondering (because I also do it often) "What has the church become today?" (in a twist of speech slightly similar to G.K. Chesterton's "What Is Wrong With the World?") and to stand before people on Sundays and get worried about what we have become: too green, without enthusiasm, fervency or emotion in our singing and without the good old loud prayer in our worship moments... but after you have wondered, know that God - the One who called us to His service - is still in FULL CONTROL. Yes, He is.

Keep doing what you are called to do. Your reward is greater than you can know or tell (1 Corinthians 15:58 and 1 Corinthians 2:9.)



Bonface Morris.