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The following 10 observations come from life as a church musician and working with musicians for the past 20 years. There are traits they often hope for people to understand, but typically feel awkward about sharing or pride gets in the way. Believing artists should not want to be excused for any sinful behaviors, but still hope to be understood and led with grace. Some of these are obvious, others are common to all, yet there seems to be an intensification of these among artists. Get to know the artist(s) among you. Learn how to lead, guide and help them be successful in life and ministry. This is an enduring task, one which involves grace, time and effort. Artists (musicians in this case) should not be coddled. However, in the inevitable conflict that erupts in relationships, much pain could be avoided with greater knowledge and understanding of each other. Another post is likely necessary directed toward musicians articulating similar maxims about their leaders. I have laid these 10 attributes out plainly, bluntly and according to our base nature. Of course, each artist will be in differing places of sanctification on these.
1. They’re not all the same. There are two general types of musicians and many shades in between.
a. The classical musician. This is not necessarily about their tastes, style or training in music. This person is typically more analytical, disciplined and structured in their approach to things. This musician will typically “go by the book” and desire precision of following a specific score with exacting rhythms and notes. They desire order and decorum and will work hard and demand this from themselves and the others around them. In the extreme this person can be snooty and self-righteous. They will struggle with elitism and being judgmental of others.
b. The jazz musician. This is the more laid back, go with the flow kind of musician. Not lazy or lacking in excellence, but their approach to the music is more fluid and expressive. These musicians are likely to play off the page and improvise more frequently. There will likely be a rhyme and reason for the things they do, but it will look like it’s all happening extemporaneously. In the extreme this person is lazy and disorganized. They also struggle with pride but in the respect that they think everybody ought to be able to do things as quickly and easily as they can.
2. Most wrestle with feelings inadequacy/contentment. Like most people, artists tend to compare themselves with those around them. They tend to base their worth on the perceived value of their talents. (ie. If you don’t like my voice, then you don’t like me because my voice is a part of me.) Without a Christ-centered focus this struggle can be intense, leading to anger or bouts with depression and pride. Most people struggle with this sin at some level, but for artisans it is amplified by the public nature of their work. Like athletes, they can struggle with feeling threatened by others who have talents that compete. Most church leaders have matured to not let it be seen, but there is always the temptation of envy. Likewise, artists are trained to constantly improve (never satisfied) so they perpetually judge themselves against whatever lofty measuring stick has been held before them. This can breed discontent and frustration. With time and maturity these become non-issues but at some level there is a propensity toward these struggles.
3. Most simply want to be a blessing and do the right thing for the people they serve. It hurts deeply when people pass judgements or make assumptions about character, leadership or musicianship. They hate fighting over music in the church and sincerely desire to do the best they can for every person who attends worship. Many are emotionally “in-tune” to their people, sensitive and caring in nature, therefore they feel the pain of this conflict deeply and personally. These kinds of struggles in ministry are all too present and real. They are painful for all involved. The thing to observe about the artist among you is making sure they keep perspective and focus outside of themselves and on Christ. The temptation to become self focused is a challenge.
4. Most are opinionated; foremost in critique of themselves. From personal experience this is an unfortunate by-product of formal training in music schools. For all of the strengths that formal music training provides (which are many) one by-product is that they are taught to have critical eyes and ears. For most of their training they are either judging or being judged for something very personal. To survive music school you have to have leathery skin. On multiple occasions I witnessed people belittled by their peers or professors for judgements made of them. It is a tough winnowing process where less than 50% of those who pursue it actually graduate with a music degree. For them a wrong note is always a wrong note not matter how you kindly you try to articulate it. Their world is inked in black and white. They have to work hard to redeem this training in the church. For every opinion they share, just know there are likely 10 more that were thought of and choose to hold back.
5. Many are working hours than no one sees. They are highly susceptible to burn-out and failure because of this. There is a perception among some in church that the worship leader has the easiest job in the world. “I mean how hard can it be, just pick 4 songs and show up on Sunday”. (Actual quote I received once.) Church musicians wrestle with that kind of thinking when many work excessive hours to making things come together well. Conversely, they need leaders to understand this tendency about them and hold them accountable for balancing life and family.
6. Many are people pleaser’s. Musicians are performers by nature, and have to be. What the church musician does is not a performance per se but the skill set required for leading worship involves performing aptitude. Performers typically want to be appreciated by their audience humanly speaking. A part of sanctification for the church musician is to do what they do for Christ alone, but leaders should know that the on-going temptation for the artist is to look horizontally rather than vertically. Even if they come off as they don’t care what you think… they care what you think. It can keep them up at night and they can think about it all day. They tend to want to be liked and appreciated for what they do, to a fault.
7. Many are just weird. Musicians are not better than anyone else, just trained to think and operate differently. As I understand, it is similar to the way surgeons are trained. Everything is black and white, right or wrong. The musician is trained to make immediate qualitative and judgement decisions in split seconds for large groups of people. Failure to do so results in a train wreck. Each week is a totally different presentation and commonly with a different support team. In other words the “train” runs every week with a different route and a whole different engineering crew. Being consistent in this environment is complex. This is a unique skill set and requires some unorthodox methods. Each person on the earth is unique and special. Among people, musicians can be somewhat of a peculiar lot. Many people know that artistic people typically do not conform to norms. (ie. 8-5 work day) This can be a strength, but know the particular artist among you. Most activities and creativity take place at night therefore they don’t usually function in conventional ways. This particular quirk will vary from musician to musician.
8. Many can feel disconnected from staff and struggle with feeling a part of a team. Creating a team is difficult in any case and at times the uniqueness of musicians and their position amplifies this struggle. (See #7) As a staff member, the church musician desires to fit in with his peers, yet his level of exposure and notoriety can be similar to that of the Senior Pastor. Staff frequently accept that the Senior Pastor has broad influence, but at times the influence of the Worship Pastor can lead to issues relationally. Sometimes this is generated by a perceived or present arrogance on the part of the musician. Other times through the potential envy or fear of other staff members. This is overcome with time, humility, and a concerted effort of all to build relationships of Godliness.
9. Most struggle with pride. Egos are fragile for all humans, and with artists this seems to take a life of its own. There is a balance that many worship leaders hope that senior leadership would find in being redemptive in their critiques and affirming without putting them on a pedestal. Something to remember, musicians are trained perfectionists, they will have a strong tendency to beat themselves up for their mistakes and shortcomings. They can compensate for this in a variety of ways that can become unhealthy. They have to fight to let things go because pride is on the line. This is a work of grace in the life of the artist to let these things go and entrust their gifts to the Lord.
10. They tend to live with elevated fear of losing status/position. No job is 100% secure. We live in a world where “job security” is about as meaningful as “military intelligence”. However, it is a fact that some leadership roles in the church come with a higher meter of criticism and judgement. Lead pastors and worship pastors are commonly targets due to their level of exposure and the personal impact their ministries have on the membership. I am not espousing or excusing this fear. Fear of man is sinful. This is simply an acknowledging this reality for leaders in order to understand their musicians. To illustrate, an SEC head football coach who wins at least 8 games a season has an average tenure of 5.375 years. From what I read, the average tenure for a worship leader at a SBC church is 18 months.
Conclusion
From these 10 things one might ask, “why would I want to work with an artist?”. These items are not meant to be harsh or to stereotype all church musicians. Knowledge is power here. Knowing the struggles of your brother helps you lead them, understand them, and show grace. God has ordained music and the arts for His glory. The blessings that come from having healthy, mature worship leadership that is enduring is worth the struggle. God’s desire is that we work together and love one another according to Col. 3, Eph 4. The artist among you is a gift from God and you are a gift of God to them. They are there to be sanctified through this ministry and to be a sanctifying part of the ministry. Knowing, loving and respecting each other’s calling and human frailties are a key to long and successful ministry together.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]