All things to all men? Part 2

   Trying to please the masses, churches will sometimes try to be something they're not.  You may have seen a retirement aged worship team absolutely destroying a modern worship song in an effort to to "be relevant".  And on the flipside the 22 yr old worship leader trying to put some jacked up twist on a hymn "for the older folks."  There are many talented worship teams that can do both really well but even Clint Eastwood would tell you "A man's got to know his limitations." 

  I think the same goes for the sound crew.  To that point, if you only enjoy classical music and an occasional polka romp you may not be the best suited to help create a guitar-driven rock sound for your church.  If your sound person is not musically inclined whatsoever it may be impossible to accomplish everything you desire.  People that never even listen to worship music outside of church can't be expected to re-create the sound in a church service.  I would love to expand on this subject more but it deserves it's own post so I'll save it for later.

  The bottom line - we need to be of one mind and have the same goal if we are going to be successful in a ministry that can't hope to please everyone.  Don't worry about pleasing everybody, please God and the rest will fall into place.  When Paul said he was all things to all men, it was his method to find common ground with anyone and everyone so that they could hear and receive the gospel.  I don't think he tried to please everyone in the process as evident by the amount of persecution he received for his efforts.  But he was faithful and fulfilled his calling with obedience to the end.

Unequally Bloked?

 Should you have a non-saved person on the worship team?

 Should you have a non-saved person on the tech team?

  This subject has been covered a lot in  resource sites pertaining to the worship ministry but it seems everyone has a differing opinion.  And not that you asked, but I am going to throw in my two cents.

All things to all men? Part 1

Mmmm, donuts and fish!

I don't know about you, but when I try and please everyone I usually please no one.  Yet worship leaders today are often expected to try and appeal to every demographic out there.  You have culture, age and the huge variety of musical tastes that a worship leader will attempt try and satisfy.

  Sound teams can also be expected to please everyone.  Some like it loud, some people's teeth hurt if the volume is above 80db.  Some just want to hear the vocals and could care less about the instruments.  Some don't believe in having electric guitars and drum sets in the church but "tolerate" it for one reason or the other.