This is to all you Christians out there with little or no musical talent, or those of you not on a worship team or band of some kind. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the incredibly annoying qualities Christian musicians have. Please forgive us. We have no idea that we're doing it.
And what are those qualities? Well, let me tell you. Introducing the latest blog post, "The Problem With Christian Musicians". I hope you get something out of this.
The problem with Christian musicians #1
We're arrogant. The irritating part is that it isn't obvious.. Sure, there are a whole lot of musicians who are blatantly cocky, but those people are easy to handle. We simply despise them. But most of us just have a very subtle pride. We're not always flaunting our skills and being over-the-top. But the vanity is there. The problem for the rest of the world is in dealing with it. You can't hate them, because they're clueless. You can't love them because they're arrogant. It's tough.
The problem with Christian musicians #2
We're blatantly annoying. All we talk about is music. We don't know how to talk about anything else. We know all of the obscure Christian artists, we've known about the latest album from Jesus Culture long before you did, and we totally did that worship song last year. Whether we're arguing over whether it's better to lead Blessed Assurance is E or in F#, or if we're debating what year it was that Shout to the Lord first came out, it's super fun for us, and super obnoxious for the rest of you.
The problem with Christian musicians #3
We are super spiritual. Oh sweet Jesus, are we super spiritual. I am extra apologetic about this one. I don't know why one of you hasn't walked straight up to one of us yet and punched us right in the breadbasket. I believe this one ties in a lot with #1. Sometimes, we try so hard to stay out of the "arrogant" zone and hop right into the "it's all Jesus" zone. For the record, there is a great middle ground. It's called the "I understand that I have talent but I also understand that I owe it to God" zone. I wish more Christian musicians were aware of this.
The following scenario happens way too often. A worship leader does a killer set. God moves, people are touched, it was amazing. The worship leader walks off stage and a sweet elderly woman approaches him. She says, "That was incredible! Great job!". The worship leader replies, "It was all God. Praise the Lord!" And then walks away. The elderly woman then makes a vow to never communicate with a worship leader ever again.
How disgusting is that?!? I mean, come on! Am I the only one who sees the fallacy of this? How hard would it have been for the leader to just say, "Thank you"? There's this paranoia that thanking someone for a compliment implies pride and sin. Which is terribly and horribly inaccurate. There is absolutely nothing wrong with thanking someone.
The problem with Christian musicians #4
We are clueless. We have our heads stuck so far into the sand that we're able to watch the New Zealand rugby game in person. This is a blanket issue that covers the rest of the problems. On top of being cocky, being annoying, and being uber-spiritual, we don't know we're doing it. I'm not sure if it makes it worse, or if alleviates it, but it's the truth. We are totally and completely ignorant. It's kind of sad, really. But it ends here. Any Christian musician reading this no longer can use the "I didn't know" card. No more excuses.
So, as a representative of all Christian musicians, here's my plea to you. Do not enable us. Help us. Work with us. Treat this as an intervention for someone with a controlled substance addiction. Next time you compliment a worship leader and he gives you a "Christianese" response, slug him. Next time a singer condescendingly tells you that she's known about Brian and Katie Torwalt for years before you did, kick her in the shins. And the next time a guitarist randomly pulls out a guitar in a non-worship setting, grab that guitar from him and smash it against a wall. You'll be doing all of us a favor.
Side hugs and Jesus jukes,
Greg
And what are those qualities? Well, let me tell you. Introducing the latest blog post, "The Problem With Christian Musicians". I hope you get something out of this.
The problem with Christian musicians #1
We're arrogant. The irritating part is that it isn't obvious.. Sure, there are a whole lot of musicians who are blatantly cocky, but those people are easy to handle. We simply despise them. But most of us just have a very subtle pride. We're not always flaunting our skills and being over-the-top. But the vanity is there. The problem for the rest of the world is in dealing with it. You can't hate them, because they're clueless. You can't love them because they're arrogant. It's tough.
The problem with Christian musicians #2
We're blatantly annoying. All we talk about is music. We don't know how to talk about anything else. We know all of the obscure Christian artists, we've known about the latest album from Jesus Culture long before you did, and we totally did that worship song last year. Whether we're arguing over whether it's better to lead Blessed Assurance is E or in F#, or if we're debating what year it was that Shout to the Lord first came out, it's super fun for us, and super obnoxious for the rest of you.
The problem with Christian musicians #3
We are super spiritual. Oh sweet Jesus, are we super spiritual. I am extra apologetic about this one. I don't know why one of you hasn't walked straight up to one of us yet and punched us right in the breadbasket. I believe this one ties in a lot with #1. Sometimes, we try so hard to stay out of the "arrogant" zone and hop right into the "it's all Jesus" zone. For the record, there is a great middle ground. It's called the "I understand that I have talent but I also understand that I owe it to God" zone. I wish more Christian musicians were aware of this.
The following scenario happens way too often. A worship leader does a killer set. God moves, people are touched, it was amazing. The worship leader walks off stage and a sweet elderly woman approaches him. She says, "That was incredible! Great job!". The worship leader replies, "It was all God. Praise the Lord!" And then walks away. The elderly woman then makes a vow to never communicate with a worship leader ever again.
How disgusting is that?!? I mean, come on! Am I the only one who sees the fallacy of this? How hard would it have been for the leader to just say, "Thank you"? There's this paranoia that thanking someone for a compliment implies pride and sin. Which is terribly and horribly inaccurate. There is absolutely nothing wrong with thanking someone.
The problem with Christian musicians #4
We are clueless. We have our heads stuck so far into the sand that we're able to watch the New Zealand rugby game in person. This is a blanket issue that covers the rest of the problems. On top of being cocky, being annoying, and being uber-spiritual, we don't know we're doing it. I'm not sure if it makes it worse, or if alleviates it, but it's the truth. We are totally and completely ignorant. It's kind of sad, really. But it ends here. Any Christian musician reading this no longer can use the "I didn't know" card. No more excuses.
So, as a representative of all Christian musicians, here's my plea to you. Do not enable us. Help us. Work with us. Treat this as an intervention for someone with a controlled substance addiction. Next time you compliment a worship leader and he gives you a "Christianese" response, slug him. Next time a singer condescendingly tells you that she's known about Brian and Katie Torwalt for years before you did, kick her in the shins. And the next time a guitarist randomly pulls out a guitar in a non-worship setting, grab that guitar from him and smash it against a wall. You'll be doing all of us a favor.
Side hugs and Jesus jukes,
Greg
