Whether your title is Worship Director, Minister of Music, Music Ministry Coordinator, etc., your responsibility goes beyond just putting together the music for every Sunday. No, I’m not suggesting that you lead Bible Study. (I’m not suggesting that you DON’T, either.) I’m not suggesting you pick someone to Paul/Timothy up. It’s about authenticity and being true to yourself.
You do not have to be a world-class theologian or a Biblical scholar with hundreds of peer-reviewed papers attending conferences around the world and hobnobbing with the Pope on the shore of the Sea of Galilee while you discuss the sandal print everyone is SURE came from Jesus.
The point is that somewhere in your title – official or not – there is something about “worship” or “ministry.” Know the Word of God. Keep knowing the Word of God. Keep studying the Word of God. Don’t just memorize or be able to recite it. Satan knew the Word of God better than almost anyone else. Live the Word of God. Model it. Strive to be more like Jesus and not just on Sunday mornings in front of the congregation where everyone can see you. It’s even more important when absolutely NO ONE can see you.
This isn’t about what everyone else sees or believes about you. When I was baptized, I had two people question its legitimacy practically before my swimming trunks were dry. In my choir director days, I was regularly accused of knowing nothing about scripture or the church. Hell… I was asked at a funeral repast where I directed the funeral music at a church I once used to serve as Minister of Music whether I was Muslim. (There was even bacon on my plate.)
People have been questioning the sincerity of my faith my entire life presumably because I don’t express it the way they think I should. Fortunately for me, they don’t really get a say in it. Jesus – being The Word Made Flesh – gets the only say.
Don’t get me wrong; community is important. It is called the “Body of Christ” for a reason. We all go through challenges and at times need the strength of others to build each other up. We need each other. We all have a place. We all go through seasons.
And yes, in some seasons you’re the toenail that was smashed with a cinder block, pulled off from the blister underneath, and discarded without a thought. (There’s a reason this series is called “Lessons from Exile.”)
The Word sustains you no matter what season you’re in. The Word reminds you who you are as a Child of God.
Stay in The Word.
