Worship, Music, and Spirituality: Bad Evangelists
When I was in university, I had a friend who was a devoted atheist. At the time, I was a very enthusiastic Christian, full of the Holy Spirit, ready to turn the world around! Late one night, she asked me, a little sullenly, why I had never tried to convert her. “Aren’t you concerned for my soul? Do you not like me or something?” I was so afraid of being disrespectful and of saying the wrong thing that I stopped the conversation before it started. In that moment, I decided that I was a bad evangelist. But as theologian Leonard Sweet often says, it is important to know where God will not use you.
And yet we are all called to proclaim the gospel, boldly even, as part of our faithful action, especially as worship leaders. We all evangelize every time we preach the word, worship in public, live out our faith. I love Jesus and I love to tell the story of Christ, so what I actually am responding to is the consumerist influence that sometimes encourages us to sell Christianity, while having to defend our understanding of Jesus (as there are many competing versions out there). Thecurrency of such a culture is almost always the promise of deliverables, such as prosperity, righteousness, power, healing, transformation, community, self-actualization, hope, a rose garden, and a smooth path. This conflicts with my understanding of who Jesus is (he is my saviour, not the other way around) and what Jesus does (he provides a counterculture perspective, not a smooth path).
Jesus could not even provide a smooth path for himself or for his followers. Of the many followers Jesus had, there is a reason only 12 stayed with him to the end. Following Christ is neither easy nor glamorous. With Christ, we are committed to take him in, to carry Christ as we carry those we love, as a part of ourselves and therefore as a part of each other. We are called to remember Christ in everything we do, even in the basics of eating our daily bread or rice or cornmeal. We are to allow Christ to nurture and sustain our spirits, as food nurtures and sustains our bodies. It is a hard sell, to be honest. And yet, here we are. We know that it is worth it.
For years, I have misunderstood the task of evangelism. I was a bad evangelist with my friend, not because I did not have the right faithful words, but because I failed to share faithful action. I failed to simply be a friend, to ask her what was going on: Was she worried about her soul? And why? I failed to offer that spiritual nourishment that Christ so readily offers to us and that we share with each other in community.
I now understand that we actually don’t have answers to offer, and we can’t promise much with certainty. We cannot control when the Holy Spirit will show up. What we have is an invitation to a relationship with Christ, who above all, is our constant friend and companion. What we can boldly promise is the assurance of Christ with us, always. And we can proclaim this assurance in everything we say and do.
As worship leaders, we are evangelists.
By the Grace of God,
and through the fellowship of Christ,
may everything we do and say
proclaim to the world that
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God!
Sincerely,
Alydia
Alydia Smith, Program Coordinator, Worship, Music, and Spirituality
