PLAYING OFF THE SAME SCORE

On a recent Sunday morning in another city a congregation gathered for worship. A new leader of the music team was front-and-center in worship. It was his first time there, and the congregation had high hopes for this young leader.

When the worship team began to play, the whole thing seemed disjointed. It was a jumble. Singers were singing and musicians were playing their instruments, but nothing seemed to hang together.

After the service the mystery was solved: the worship leader had been given different song sheets than some of the musicians. People weren't playing and singing off the same sheets of music. It's tough to make good music if you're not playing off the same score.

A week ago several members of our church staff attended The Leadership Institute in Kansas City. A Presbyterian pastor from the north side of Chicago, Christine Chakoian, talked with a room full of laity and pastors about the role of a leader. A leader in the church is like an orchestra conductor, she said as she spoke about changing the culture of an institution.

Every section of the orchestra matters, she said. They don't just matter, but they each need to listen to one another.

The score is not their own agenda. The score they're working off of is Christ's agenda for this congregation. It's not about us or our tradition or our own group's priorities, but what Christ wants to do through us.

The role of a leader or pastor is to see that everyone is playing off the same score. The conductor also encourages each section to listen to the other sections, and respect the role they play in making music together.

Christine suggested three key roles for every leader (whether pastor, lay leader or church/small group leader) in the church.

First, every leader and pastor must engage the score that is Christ's message. The conductor must learn the score backwards and forwards. What is God's call for us in this place and time? What kind of music does God want us to make so that the world will be blessed and healed?

Second, every leader and pastor needs to engage the orchestra, and coach the leaders of each section. The conductor looks for the leaders who understand the score and can get the most out of each section.

Finally, the leader or conductor or pastor makes it clear to everyone how we will play together. Some people talk about the "how we play together" as core values. What will we do and what will we not do? In Christine's church people agreed that words like honesty, respect, integrity, and excellence described how they would play the music of the gospel together. The congregation also decided it was not okay for people to be mean, disrespectful, talk behind one another's backs, or assume the worst of one another.

My hunch is we have all been in places where people in an organization, church, orchestra, or team seemed to be playing off different scores. People just weren't on the same page. When that happens it is difficult to see, to listen to, or to be a part of.

On the other hand we have been a part of churches, organizations, businesses or teams where there was a beautiful kind of harmony and rhythm. People had their differences, but down deep they knew what they were about, and they were headed in the same direction for the same mission.

Paul, in Ephesians 4, says this: "We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love."

Are we playing off the same score?

Not only in our church life, but in our own personal lives. Are the various parts of your life working in harmony, shaped by God, or are the different parts of your life in conflict with one another? Is your inner life marked by harmony or conflict, music or discordant noises?

What would it look like if we took our lead from Christ?

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark Fenstermacher