Loving Church Musicians

The longer I walk with Jesus, the more I love the Christian scriptures. They resonate more deeply, they challenge me more profoundly, and they comfort me more and more.

When using these scriptures in worship gatherings, I will often compare several translations to see which serves both the people and the moment best. I find the short sentences in the New Living Translation to be great for public worship, but sometimes a more familiar rendering helps--NIV or (especially in the Psalms) the KJV. If I want to be more of a storyteller or bring folks to an extremely familiar passage, The Message is a treasure.

There are some times I will adapt the pronouns or other words to contextualize the passage. I always want to do this in a way that make the passage come alive for the particular setting, and I never want to do it in a way that distorts or minimizes the truth of God's word.

For example, I'll take Ephesians 2:10 -- "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." -- and send it to members of my worship ministry like this:

Nathan, you are God's masterpiece. He has created you anew in Christ Jesus, so you can do the good things He planned for you long ago. (based on Eph 2:10)
In a recent talk for worship leaders in our region, talking about how to love the members of our teams, I was drawn to 1 Corinthians 13. I hope it serves you well.

If I could speak all the languages of musicians and theologians, but didn’t love others, I would be a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of song-writing, and if I understood all music theory and could play every instrument, and if I had a voice that could move first time guests and long time critics, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave all proceeds from CD sales to the poor and even gave up fame and fortune, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

With every decision, let's aim to be known more as great lovers of our people than great musicians or great leaders.