On the Offense

Since we, as artists, put so much time and effort into our craft, we feel a particular strong ownership for our talents. We work relentlessly at trying to become excellent and put in countless hours mulling over the pros and cons of our abilities. It is because of this strong focus on our talents that we can become overly sensitive about feedback.

As we practice, our self-evaluation will often go into hyperdrive and we become extra in tune to "picking up signals from people. [These are] things that others might not even notice. Because we're going to pick up a lot of things like that, we need to be careful that we don't pick up something that's not really there." (Noland, 158).

We need to make sure that we are not taking offense to something when no offense was intended. Specifically, we need to make sure that all of our pride in our craft has not caused us to walk around with a chip on our shoulder. After all "He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him
who searches for it" (Proverbs 11:27). Noland astutely states, "don't make a big deal out of a comment that was not intended to be a big deal" (Noland, 158).

Being overly sensitive is something that we see throughout the bible with not so pleasant consequences. As an example, Noland shares a portion of the story of Samuel. Specifically, the elders of Israel approached Samuel and asked him to appoint another king to rule over them. This was extremely offensive to Samuel because he felt like Israel didn't like his leadership and almost caused a civil war. While Samuel was fuming over there request, God simply stated, "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king" (1 Samuel 8:7). Noland paraphrases this by saying, "in other words, God said to him, 'Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill, Samuel. This isn't about you, so don't take it personally" (Noland, 159).

Really, the only way to solve this conflict is to talk openly about the comment. Seek out the person that you felt slighted by and have a conversation about the comment. Typically, you will find that you took the comment more personally than it was ever intended. "So be careful not to take offense if none was intended" (Noland, 159)

In our worship team, what should we do if we disagree with someone's review of their work? Is this something that we need to work on as a team? If so, what do you think we can do to ensure that we are building each other up while continuing to be honest with each other about growth areas?

Are You Threatening Me?

What do you get when you cross Allison Reynolds, Andrew Clark, John Bender, Brian Johnson, and Claire Standish? Well, The Breakfast Club of course! This cult classic comically illustrates how five teens from five different defensive cliques overcome certain personality traits. The main reason this comedy became such a success is that it spoke to a broad audience’s fears about taking down defensive walls.

Everyone is defensive, but artists seem to be especially more so. Therefore, we need to learn how to manage that defensiveness so that it does not get in the way of our ability to excel at our craft. In The Heart of the Artist, Noland talks in great lengths about the dangers of defensiveness. He opens the discussion by stating, “Sometimes those of use with artistic temperaments get defensive when we’re criticized. We can be overly sensitive, and we let the least little thing hurt us. Sometimes we’re offended even when no offense was intended, and we take things more personally than they were meant to be taken” (Noland, 155). Sadly, oftentimes, the person who seems to be the most defensive doesn’t even realize that they are being so defensive. This problem is kind of a Catch 22. How do you tell an overly defensive person that they are being overly defensive?

The first step is to take an honest look at yourself and see if you are being overly defensive. Even if we’re being honest, probably most of us would say we are not a defensive person because it is hard for us to recognize that trait in ourselves. This means, instead, that we need to be aware that we may be overly defensive and be hypersensitive to how we listen to other’s feedback. Noland aptly states, “we can’t grow as artists until we deal with this character issue, which can be a blind spot for us artists.”

If we fail to address this blind spot, we will fail as artists. Noland lists three specific detrimental outcomes of defensiveness that occur when we are not open to feedback:

1.       Defensiveness Alienates Us from Others

“People reject someone who’s chronically defensive. The irony here is that the overly sensitive person eventually becomes insensitive to others because they’re so self-absorbed. What starts out as a defense mechanism against being hurt turns out to inflict an even greater hurt: loneliness and alienation. This isn’t good for the artist who’s trying to experience community or trying to build meaningful relationships in his or her life” (Noland, 156)

2.       Defensiveness Keeps Us from the Truth

“People tend to shy away from being honest with overly sensitive people, because they don’t want to hurt them…  [but] believe me, being deceived about your abilities is far worse than knowing and accepting your strengths and weaknesses” (Noland, 157)

3.       Defensiveness Keeps Us from Being All We Can Be

“When we allow ourselves to be defensive, we stop growing as people and as artists. Sometimes we get defensive because we feel threatened. We think we have to protect ourselves and our art. But the very thing we’re trying to protect suffers the most from our defensiveness. That’s because we cut ourselves off from that which can help us flourish as artists: constructive feedback” (Noland, 158)

Taking into account what you have learned and what you already know about defensiveness, answer the following questions:

1.       What causes an artist to be defensive?

2.       Why is defensiveness such a blind spot for artists?

3.       Have you known any defensive people in your life? How did their defensiveness affect you?

4.       Have you ever felt offended by someone and found out later that they didn’t mean to hurt you? What did you learn from that?

5.       Can you think of someone who takes criticism well or responds to suggestions with grace? What do you notice about the way this person handles those kinds of things?

Handling Criticism

We are now beginning the chapter on handling criticism (gulp). Noland begins the chapter with an anecdote and a set of study questions that definitely serves to touch a chord in all of us. At some point, we have all mishandled criticism and it has been very detrimental to our own ability to worship and lead others in worship. Here is Noland's story:

Justin is a sound technician at Southport Community Church. He puts in a lot of hours volunteering at the church. For most every service or major event, he's the first on there and the last one to leave. He sets up the sound equipment for the service, mixes drama, band, and vocals, and runs the lights. During the week he maintains the church's sound and lighting gear, and he's been doing all this for well over ten years. The church doesn't pay him and he's okay with that, even though he could easily spend more than forty hours a week there. He knows how rare it is for a church to hire a technical director. So he teaches physical education at the grade school every day and then runs over to the church by late afternoon. He enjoys what he does at the church, but lately he's been at odds with Sam, the new programming director. Sam's got all sorts of new ideas that put Justin on tilt every time they talk.

When they first met, Sam gave Justin a long list of changes he wanted to make. First of all, he wanted to lengthen rehearsal time, which meant that Justin would have to be at the church even earlier. Justin was already stressed out from all the hours he was putting in. He couldn't help but think, what's wrong with the way we were doing things before? Sam wanted new monitors, he wanted to move the speakers in the sanctuary, he wanted to mic the drums differently, and he wanted to go stereo with all the keyboards. Justin thought, Who does this guy think he is to come in here and change everything?

One of the changes that has been especially difficult for Justin has been the evaluation meeting he's now forced to attend very early every Monday morning. The key leaders involved in putting the service together meet with the pastor at a local restaurant and critique the previous day's service. This is hard for Justin. Every time anything negative comes up about the sound or lighting, he gets very defensive. One time the pastor asked why his lapel mic sounded as if it were on the verge of feedback during the sermon, and Justin snapped back saying, "Well, if I had some decent equipment to work with, we wouldn't have this problem." No one knew what to say. The conversation moved on, but Justin wasn't really listening during the rest of the meeting. He was lost in a series of negative and defensive thoughts: They have no idea how hard I work... I'm doing the best I can... They're luck to have me... No one else would put up with all this... I dont' get paid to do this...

Sam has made several suggestions about the band mix and vocal sound that haven't set real well with Justin. One time Same was onstage and asked for less reverb on the group vocals and more "warmth." This made Justin angry. I know what I'm doing. I don't need anybody to tell me how to run sound, he thought. But he complied, and even had to admit that less reverb gave the overall sound more clarity. To add insult to injury, several people complimented Justin on the mix as they left church that morning. Many people said they could hear the lyrics better. Justin appreciated their innocent encouragement, but he still didn't like the idea of that new guy Sam telling him how to do his job.

The communication between the two men has seemed like a tug-of-war. Every time Sam makes a suggestion, Justin asks why and then grudgingly complies. As a result, there is a tension at every sound check, every meeting, and every service. People feel as if they have to walk on eggshells when they're around Justin, because he takes even the slightest bit of criticism so personally. He seems angry all the time.

To make things worse, the two men clashed over a moral issue that came to the surface in Justin's life. Justin and his fiancee, who wasn't a believer, had been living together for several months. When Sam confronted him about it, Justin at first denied it. Sam persisted, and Justin accused him of being judgmental, pointing out that the decision to live together was a financial one.

The straw that broke the camel's back, however, may have occurred last week. More singers than usual were to perform during the service. A microphones were being handed out ten minutes before the service was to start, someone discovered two bad microphone cords - and no spares. Justin had been meaning to buy some new cords, but he just hadn't gotten around to it. He had dropped the ball. When Sam anxiously questioned him about it, Justin became defensive and angry, finally telling Sam, "If you want mic cords, get 'em yourself!"

During the service Justin could hardly concentrate. He was seething inside. He was angry at Sam, he was angry with everyone onstage, and he was angry at the church. His thoughts outpaced his emotions. What right does this newcomer have to make such outrageous demands all the time? And where does he get off, telling me how to do my job? Doesn't he think I know what I'm doing? If it wasn't for me, this service wouldn't even be happening. I deserve to be treated better than this. The anger burned hotter and hotter until Justin couldn't take it anymore. He got up and left, right in the middle of the opening song. He turned the board off and everything went dead. There was a loud boom throughout the auditorium, and the entire congregation turned and watched Justin storm out of the booth, down the hall, and out the door.

After the service, Sam tried several times to call Justin at home, but Justin was screening his calls and never picked up the phone. In his own way he was trying to punish Sam. He had everyone's attention now and he wanted to make his point. He sat home alone, sulking in front of the TV.

1. Why do you think Justin reacted negatively to every suggestion Sam made?

2. What would you suggest Justin do to patch up his relationship with Sam?

3. What should Sam do next to try to patch things up with Justin?

4. Do you think Sam was right in confronting Justin about living with his fiancee?

5. Is there any way the tension between Justin and Sam could have been avoided? What could they have done differently that would have enabled them to work together more harmoniously?

6. How does a defensive spirit affect rehearsals?

7. How should an artist handle criticism?

Gotta Have Faith

We have been going through The Heart of the Artist for three months now. As a group we have learned a great deal about each other, ourselves, and God's purpose for our gifts. Sometimes sharing with each other has been hard, reading the posts have seemed too time consuming, attending church when we are not 'on' a chore, and reading the bible non-existent. Yet, there have been other times where we have felt reborn in our convictions, touched to the core by other's faith, and pushed to become excellent for God's work. Regardless where we are in our walk of faith, one concept remains at the forefront. In order to provide authentic worship, we need to be authentically walking with God.

Noland decides to wrap up the chapter on Excellence vs. Perfectionism by reiterating the absolute necessity of spiritual preparation. He states, "I've discovered over the years how crucial it is for Christian artists to prepare their hearts and minds spiritually before they create or perform" (Noland, 144). While elementary in word form, this is something that is required for excellent worship. Even the apostle Paul spent 14 years developing his spirit before truly taking on the ministry! If Paul needed 14 years, how much more time do we need to provide?

Many of us have not been taking our spiritual preparation seriously and it shows. It is very difficult to lead an authentic worship when we have not taken the time to work on our own walk with God. This means that all of us need to contribute to our growth as a team (read and respond to the blog, book, and/or group discussions) and to ourselves individually.

So, what kind of things can we do to prepare spiritually? Noland gives several suggestions. One of his suggestions is to engage in group reflection and study. Another suggestion he makes is to have a "discussion of the lyrics" of our songs. He explains that we may even want to "pray over the lyrics or pray for the congregation to receive those lyrics with open hearts" (Noland, 145). In this way, we can "own what the song is saying... and communicate the song in the most effective way. If the song doesn't first minister to the one singing it, it won't minister to anyone else" (Noland, 145). In addition, those of us touched by certain songs can share our experiences. Shared insights can develop sincerity. Many songs, when the lyrics are lived out, can have a huge impact on our worship.

All of the points that Noland has made in this chapter can be summed up in the points below:
1. Develop our spirituality as a team
2. Take ownership for our individual spirituality
3. Always strive for excellence in our worship

It is very important that you have accountability for maintaining your spirituality and excellence. This means that you need to take on the knee-knocking task of owning up to your contributions and failures as a leader in worship. For this reflection post answer ALL the questions:

1. What are you doing to develop our team's spirituality in a positive way?
2. What are you doing to develop your own spirituality?
3. What do you do to make sure that you are excelling at your worship craft?

Focus People, Focus!

Have you ever listened to a speech, watched a movie, or driven a long distance in the car while wondering why in the world you agreed to listen to that speech, watch that movie, or taken that drive? Chances are the speech, movie, and drive all had the potential to be great if they were better planned out. If someone had taken the time to put themselves in the stadium, recliner, or passenger seat and understood how the communication of their message would be received, then chances are you wouldn't be wanting to pull your hair out strand by strand while counting the clicks of the clock on the wall while praying for it to end.

Nearly all of the great speeches and movies were first tested by focus groups so that the authors could get a preview of the outcome of their product. In addition, many travel sites give drivers and passengers a variety of things to do while enroute to make a trip more fun. So, while entities of the world spend endless hours and money developing a great product by focusing on effective communication, why is it that we Christians rarely take the time to really think about how we are communicating the greatest message? This conundrum is something that especially effects worship teams. Noland specifically states, "All artists need to know that communication [of their art] is just as important as technique" (Noland, 142).

As artists, we have the responsibility to acknowledge that our art form, when communicated effectively, can connect with people on a greater level than is possible to put down in words. Noland explains, "Art at its best stimulates the mind and moves the soul. If we in the local church don't get serious about how to communicate effectively, our art will move no one. No matter how accomplished or sophisticated we are, if thought is not given to communicating clearly, how are we going to reach people with our art? Paul has an interesting point in 1 Corinthians 14:7-9: "Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? So it is with you, unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air" (Noland, 142).

We have all experienced worship with phenomenal musicians who have failed to make our souls fill with worship. Conversely, we have all, also, experienced mediocre musicians bring down the house with their spirit. So, we must continually ask our self the question: "Are we spending as much time thinking about how our message will be received as practicing our technique?" We may be fantastic at our craft, but fail to lead worship.

In order to ensure that we are communicating effectively, we need to be intentional with our efforts. This means that we all should be discussing what sort of outcome we would like from every song or other art form. Since not everyone picks every song, we need to have those who picked the song explain to those who will be using the song as a catalyst to lead worship what the intent of the song is. That way, we may be unified in our efforts to clearly communicate the Message.

In addition, we need to practice using our whole body in worship during rehearsals. Noland illustrates that worshiping with our arms straight at our sides, eyes averted to our music, and blank faces seems unnatural and does not effectively communicate the love of God (Noland, 143). Since using our whole body to worship may be a bit uncomfortable at first, it is really important to practice it during rehearsal so that we will be comfortable and genuine when we worship with the congregation.

In case you haven't figured out the incredible importance of communicating with everything we have, Noland leaves us with one last point, "We in the church need to take communication seriously, because we've been given the charge to communicate the Good News" (Noland, 144).

Are you convinced that it's important for art in the church to communicate clearly? What should we do to make sure that we are communicating clearly? What will you do to make sure that you are communicating clearly through worship?

New Song

Throughout the Bible God celebrates creativity and unique ways to worship him. Continually, he reminds us that all things that are good are from him. We need this constant reminder because we often find ourselves creating rules and putting parameters on what we consider to be the best way or the only way to worship Him and provide worship opportunities for others to worship Him.

One example that Noland highlights is the way God explains how He wants the tabernacle made in Exodus 28:33. It gets interesting when God explains to the "artists" how to construct the priests' garments. These artists were "instructed to create blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates" (Noland, 141). Isn't it interesting how pomegranates "can be purple and scarlet during various stages of their growth, but never blue. Imagine that - a blue pomegranate. In other words, the artists didn't have to make exact duplicates of nature. They could bring something new and refreshingly different to their work" (Noland, 141). This highlights the fact that we are given the freedom to bring our artistic gifts and creativity to how we worship.

Because there are so many pleasing ways to worship God, we may find that we do not agree with each other on the way that worship should be conducted. Some of us love the tradition of hymns and songs that we loved as children in the church. Others of us may want to experience Sunday worship by bringing down the house with joyful jubilee and professed hallelujahs. Then again, a portion of us may be thinking too much about what kind of worship is best without allowing for God's input or work on our spirit. How many of us have sat in the congregation on Sundays and spent more time thinking about the worship music than focusing on our own worship?

Noland emphasizes in this section that we need to embrace different kinds of worship, which means being open to the new and different. He states, "that's why God's Word encourages us to sing to the Lord a 'new song' (Ps 33:3) (Noland, 142). We need to be open to other forms of worship (not just musically) and feel that our worship community is open to our ideas of worship. (Spoiler alert: the next post will be about open communication...).

For this post, reflect upon a current worship method at our church that you love and/or you feel the congregation loves. Then, explain a worship style or practice that you would like to add to our current method.

Artistic Integrity

Up until this point, Noland has discussed the downfalls of perfectionism in great detail. Perfectionist tendencies are capable of ruining an artist and a worship environment. Yet, this doesn't mean that we now have the freedom to show up as an artist without putting any effort into our craft. Instead, we must learn to practice artistic integrity by taking the time to develop our skills in a way that honors God. This has the potential of being a really tricky line to walk because there is not very much space between artistic integrity and perfectionism. As artists, we need to be careful to become excellent at our craft without becoming a perfectionist.

First, we need to understand what artistic integrity is. Noland explains that we must not "strive to be perfect; instead [we must] try to perform or create skillfully. In other words, do the best [we] can with the talent [we've] been given. It doesn't glorify God to be mediocre."

Throughout the bible, God continually exhibits creativity and skillful artistry in his creations. He shows us that He delights in those who continually work on developing their gifts to honor Him. For example, in the Old Testament a man named Kenaniah was extremely skillful and was, thus, singled out for leadership. He achieved this leadership because he continually worked on developing his craft to its fullest potential while always remaining focused on God (1 Chron. 15:22). Clearly, he had artistic integrity.

By looking at the book of First Chronicals, we can see that the development of artistic skill is very important. These artists took numerous classes and lessons. They were highly trained. We need to become more like these artists and take the time to become excellent at our craft.

There is often a misconception that because we are practicing our craft in church we do not need to work as hard. Conversely, we should be doing the exact opposite! "For too long artistry in the church has been thrown together without much regard for quality. For too long we've muttered under our breath 'Aw, it's good enough for church,' and the result is that church art (especially music) has come to be associated with insipid mediocrity. Some of us only do enough to goet by. God deserves so much more than that. He deserves our very best" (Noland, 139). God gave each of us a specific talent and we are directly responsible for how we ust that talent. It must greatly grieve him to watch us barely putting effort into our worship when we put so much effort into other worldly passions. Schaeffer states that "Of all people, Christians should be addicted to quality and integrity in every area, not be looking for excuses for second-best."

This means that we need to become extremely intentional with our craft by working to continually better ourselves. We can do this by exposing ourselves to the great arts and learning from them. This doesn't mean that we only pay attention to Christian artists though. We can learn to become better artists through a plethora of mediums. Thus, "we should be attending exhibits, concerts, plays, movies, and musicals to broaden our artistic horizons" (Noland, 138). We need to expose ourselves to excellence in order to become excellent.

Don't be fooled though, artistic integrity means lots of hard work. "There is a price to be paid for excellence... This is no time for our artists in the church to be lazy. God is on the verge of using the arts in a mighty way. The days of us in the church producing art in a mediocre fashion are over. Being lazy with our talent is more a sign of being comfortable than being committed" (Noland, 139).

Noland states that we need to create artistic integrity by committing to becoming excellent at our craft. This means that we need to take time to practice, learn, and be open to coaching. As in anything that takes work, the best way to ensure that we are all taking the time to become better at our talents is by sharing what we are doing (or will be doing) with each other. For this post, share in the comment section what you are or will be doing to become more excellent at your craft.