Servanthood vs. Stardom

This weekend, our church choir had a retreat to work on music and to refocus our hearts and attitudes about ministry. I was reminded and convicted again of what it means to be a servant artist for the glory of God.

We studied together some sections of the book The Heart of the Artist by Rory Noland, who is the Music Director for Willow Creek in Chicago. Here is a sampling from the weekend...

Three things that stand in the way of true servanthood -

1. An attitude of superiority

I remember when I traveled with Rejoice, a singing team from Indiana Wesleyan University. We arrived at a camp, thinking we'd just be the music for the week. We soon realized a) this was a camp for disabled young people and, b) we were also going to be counselors to these young people. Any thoughts of superiority flew out the window as all 5 of us realized the responsibilty we had been given. I don't remember singing one thing that week, but I do remember learning what it meant to truly serve someone. A priceless lesson.

2. Selfish ulterior motives

3. Confidence in our giftedness alone

One of the things that prevents us from experiencing God's fullest blessing on our lives is our self-sufficiency. There have been dozens of times when I've just stepped into a time of worship leading without acknowledging my complete dependence on Christ. I'm ashamed at how lazy I've become in this area...

As we studied an area on The Humble Artist, one of the bullet points felt like it had my name next to it with an arrow:

Die to Your Desire to Be the Greatest

When did this start? Junior High? I don't remember. But being the best, the greatest, was something I desperately wanted, sometimes secretly still want. Ugh, I feel sick confessing that.
But if I truly love Christ, if I am committed to walking in His commands, I must do my best with what he's given me without comparing myself to another artist. Focus on making the gift to him as excellent as possible and rejoice when another artist creates an excellent expression of his or her talent.

I also loved this quote,

"How do we know if we have a servant's heart? There's a saying that we can tell how much of a servant's heart we have by how we respond to being treated like a servant."

Ouch.

I've got a long way to go. I am so humbled to think he still uses me when I have so many selfish motives at times, or still cling to my desire to be the best. Ministry is a privilege. I pray I can honor him from a pure heart, a pure place.