Hate the hate

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a Christian. One of those born-again evangelicals. And if you're not one like me, you're probably immediately thinking up all sorts of assumptions about me. Unfortunately, we too often deserve it. It hasn't been easy for those living on the wrong side of Christians in the past. From the beginning vestiges of the Catholic Church to present day, a huge pall on the image of Christianity is the belief that Christians can be "intolerant", "bigoted", and "hateful." And it's true a lot of times.

It's frustrating because Jesus called Christians to be the opposite of hateful. In fact, he was more respectful and welcoming of people that had a different lifestyle than him than anyone else I have ever known. The word "love" is very common in the Bible for a reason. When will we Christians realize that we're never going to be an influence on others if we're constantly condemning and disrespecting others?

I am filled with disgust for what happened to Tyler Clement at Rutgers University. Tyler was caught on camera kissing another guy.  The two people who recorded then posted it for the world to see. Tyler was so ashamed and embarrassed that he killed himself. I doubt those two students were Christians, I think they were just trying to get attention. Christians are more known for the quiet, avoid the gays, thump the Bible, whisper and gossip kind of people. 

Whether it's popular or not, I am firm in what I believe in. I like to call myself a respectful, caring, and intolerant guy. I will never bash gays, I will never hate them, I will never refuse to talk, hang out, be friends with, fill in the blank here, with gays. It's horribly wrong and stupid. I'm no better than them. I'm not an angel, I'm not perfect, I'll never have all the answers, so why treat them as though I'm better. 

But I will also never support or condone homosexuality. I believe it's against what God has called us to do and to be. And while I don't support homosexuality, I DO support the fight against bigotry and hate. And so, on October 20th, "Wear Purple Day," I come against Christians and non-Christians alike who think that the answer is to ridicule and demean homosexuals. It's not. Jesus called us to do the opposite. Let's step up, push our homophobia aside, and become more like Him.

The Concert of a Lifetime

On Friday (10/8/2010), Shannon and I drove up to Toronto to see David Crowder Band live at Queensway Cathedral. In a nutshell, it was the greatest concert I have ever been to in my life.

David Crowder Band (DCB) has been my favorite band for a few years now, probably the longest stretch I've been with a single band, and this concert will clinch that title for a long time to come. I admire them on and off the stage. They're down to earth, fun guys, and yet extremely talented as musicians and extremely anointed as worshipers.

This concert proved how amazing they are musically and how passionate they are for God - the perfect combination. DCB is not afraid to try out all sorts of styles and genres of music in their songs. From techno, to  heavy metal, to hoe-down, they do it all and they do it awesomely. And being around so many die-hard fans was really cool. During "Everything Glorious", which according to iTunes is their most popular song right now,  I looked around the auditorium and saw everyone singing it at the top of their lungs. It was awesome. I commented to Shannon, "These are my people."

And then after the show is done, and they just nailed every song, the crowd is screaming for one more song, they come back out to screaming fans and David Crowder remarks how it's all for His glory and they lead the crowd into Here I am to Worship. No fancy stuff, no crazy guitar solos, no keytars (yes they used one earlier), just straight up worship. And it was incredible. My respect for them skyrocketed.

This was their setlist:
A Lark Ascending
No One Like You
The Veil
Forever and Ever
Like A Lion
How He Loves
God Almighty, None Compares
You Are My Joy
Glory of It All
Shadows
I Saw the Light/I'll Fly Away
Oh Happiness
Everything Glorious
O Praise Him
Here I Am To Worship

I can't tell you how perfectly the songs fit together. It was genius. The fact they started with A Lark Ascending had me speechless. It was brilliant. I was slightly sad they didn't do Alleluia, Sing or SMS (Shine), but I'm not complaining. They even did "I Saw the Light" and "I'll Fly Away" complete with Jack Parker on banjo & Hogan on the fiddle.

The Hillsong United Youth Band opened for them and that concert was awesome too. A bunch of young people going crazy on stage with reckless abandon and zero shame. I was really encouraged to see a band who is so dominant in the world of worship music put so little emphasis on performance and so much emphasis on worship. It was really cool and it challenged me and my youth band to never let it go to our heads, no matter what.

I would see DCB again tomorrow if I could. It was so amazing. Shannon walked in an admirer of DCB and walked out a huge fan. DCB is so underrated compared to a lot of other worship leaders out there (e.g. Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, Matt Redman) and I wish more people would see how awesome they are, but then again, I kind of like knowing something so many people do not. It's almost as if I get DCB all to myself!

Pride and Prejudice

The single greatest piece of advice I ever received and I will ever give out regarding worship leading is this:

"There will aways be someone better than you."

I know, you were probably expecting something more spiritual or deeper. I'm sorry to disappoint. But this is more important than anything else.

Whether a worship leader admits it or not, the biggest struggle they will ever have in leading worship is pride and jealousy. Just like anyone else in the spotlight, pride can become a serious issue. And because there are so many worship leaders out there, jealousy is inevitable. It's easy to let it go to your head when realizing that people are looking to you to lead them in worship and then seeing those people get into it passionately. You think, "Wow, I'm awesome!"

So then you have this impression that you are one awesome, anointed worship leader but then you go to another worship service. And you see this good looking, young dude jamming out on guitar, belting out a sweet song, with a rockin' band behind him, and your blood begins to boil. You start looking for flaws in the set, you start justifying why you are more anointed. You ignore the presence the God, that's not as important as figuring out how you could do the set better. Jealous much?

That was me. And then one day, I grudgingly came to the realization that whether it's singing, piano, bass, or leading in general, there will always be someone better at it than me. And then I took the next step, I got over it. I got over my little diva stage and started focusing on what's important - worshiping the one true God. And you know the cool thing? I got better as a worship leader and as a musician. Except this time, I won't make the same mistake.

So all you worship leaders and musicians out there? You're not that great at it so get over it. I did.

Accountability in Leadership

One of the most dangerous things in Christian ministry is authority without accountability. Whether we want to believe it or not, there are Christian leaders who are flying solo, with zero covering, zero accountability. And they think they're doing fine. There is a good reason why our nation's founding fathers were so adamant in having a solid form of "checks and balances" between the three forms of government. They wanted to make sure that American leaders could never find themselves bringing down the nation because of their power and inability to be responsible with it.

Why should the leadership at one little church someplace in America be any different? The idea that someone who has influence and control over other people, who trust and look up to this leader, may not be held accountable by his or her words and actions, is terrifying. I look at some people in leadership and wonder, "how on earth did they get there?" And it's no surprise to me to see that they have no one to keep tabs on them. My success as a leader is as much because of the gifts God has given me as it is the people I answer to who teach me and encourage me. 

It doesn't matter if you have authority over one person, 100 people, or 1,000. The effect can be just as devastating (or, ideally, encouraging). A leader can hurt someone just as easily as help them. The goal of any church should be to raise up leaders. Strong, mature believers to help others excel in whatever area needed and to bring them closer to God. As we raise up these leaders, we need to instill in them an understanding of how critical it is to have accountability. No leader can be exempt from this.

What Can We Do About It?
Everyone is clearly affected by this. So everyone should care about this. If you're a leader and there is not at least one person that holds you accountable, FIND SOMEONE. Obviously, you're going to want someone who is mature, older, and has more experience. It's even better if they are also involved in the type of ministry you are. I am a worship leader for a youth group. Two people who hold me accountable are the worship pastor of the church and the director of the youth ministry. Two people in higher authority, who are older, and  have a lot of experience and spiritual maturity.

If you're a leader over other leaders, get after them. Be that covering. Take responsibility. Check up on them, challenge them, encourage them, reprimand them when needed. Just be involved!

If you're worried that one of your leaders is "flying solo." Simply ask them. As a person under them, you have every right to know if they have a covering. Even my senior pastor, the "top dog," has a covering and he makes sure we know it. If they don't, figure out who may be over them and ask them. If you're going to be in a position of being influenced by them (or a loved one), you need to get to the bottom of this. Too often we see examples of Christian leaders falling and hurting many people (e.g. Ted Haggard & Eddie Long). Let's prevent this where we can.

Whether you're the senior pastor of a large congregation or a Sunday School teacher for a class of 5 year olds, you have a lot of influence. The question is, are you influencing those under you in a good way, or a bad way?