The other night, I woke up at 1:30 and couldn’t sleep, which is not normal for me. When this happens, the thing that usually puts me back to sleep is reading. It doesn’t matter what the book is. It could be amazing or boring. Both kinds will put me to sleep. So I picked up my e-reading device and started reading.
Now, no offense to Gary Molander, but I figured his book “Pursuing Christ, Creating Art” would do the trick. Instead of falling back to sleep in 5 minutes, against all my expectations, I couldn’t put the book down. One of the many sections I read was called “Missing the Mark”, where Gary talks about how easy it is for artists to be critical of the people in leadership over us, and it hit a little too close to home.
I was most awake during the section called “I Can Struggle to See the Big Picture”. Gary says:
“I think my stories are the biggest, and the most important stories being told. The lead visionary of the organization sees the clearest portrait of the organization’s story. I do not. The key leader gets ticked when the organization isn’t reaching its full potential. I get ticked when my software takes too long to render.”
I am one of the first people to admit that production isn’t the most important thing all the time, but these words put this into an even brighter light. When I think of the reason my pastor gets me graphics late, or that he wears a shirt that a mic has a difficult time clipping to; knowing that he is worried about a mountain of things that never even enter my mind, puts all the “shortcomings” into perspective.
We all have a lot to think about and plan for. Our job as technical artists in the church is to care deeply for the things we were created for and then to execute to our best ability. Our pastors need us to do that each week, otherwise the church wouldn’t function properly.
We must also cut our pastors some slack. They have more going on than you or I could imagine. I want him to care as much about my area as I do, and so does everyone else that works for my pastor. Our pastors are carrying a mammoth load that I cannot comprehend.
Next time you wish your pastor cared more about your stuff, pray for them. Pray that God would help them shoulder the burden of leadership to lead your church where God wants it to go.
