Singing Badly

This past Sunday we had a visitor at our church, who requested to sing a song during the opening period of worship when normally the fellowship groups each sing a song and other groups or individuals can also request a spot. After the opening two lines of the very familiar hymn he chose, it was quite apparent that this was going to be a painful 5 minutes. The man was off key and not very true to the melody, but he was enthusiastic. 

I was amazed that I didn’t see a lot of annoyed looks, snickering, or even impatience from the 200 church members gathered and enduring this song. In fact, a good number of people were taping their feet, swaying back and forth, or even singing along softly. This was even more surprising to me, as I knew the man, who often wanders around somewhat aimlessly, appears to have some mental health issues, but has always been involved in church and is always on the ball to submit a letter to request permission to attend the national church’s general assembly. This strange mix of characteristics made me a little wary of him, but the church was very receptive and respectful of this middle-aged man getting up and singing badly in an honest effort to praise God. 

But our church does still have high-standards!  Here is Sunny
being prayed-over as he becomes a member of the choir, a position
you have to audition for in addition to this semi-ordination.

I was impressed with our sometimes slightly-snobbish local church, and felt like they were teaching me something about honest, open-hearted worship, and acceptance of all types of people. I immediately felt like this type of thing would probably not happen in the churches I’m used to in the US. It made me think in the US we are too overly-planned, sensitive to what is social-norms, worried about other people being turned-off, or artistically snobby. To be fair, doing things “decently and in order” according to high standards also has its benefits for regulating pride, goodness, and balance in the body of Christ. Also, upon further reflection, I could see some close-knit US congregations where Uncle Bob the plumber (no offense to plumbers) could get up and sing a torturous solo in the middle of the service either because nobody wanted to wrangle with him or because the pool of interested folks to draw on was small enough the church felt they could accept anyone who wanted a chance. But rarely can I imagine a large membership church having the patience and respect for community members to go along with horrendous singing and even attempt to let that sub-par music lead them in worship when someone offers it as a gift. 

There is something powerful about giving people the freedom to use the gifts that are in their hearts to share with the body of Christ, and not to stifle the movement of the Spirit because of the aesthetic expectations. I’ve seen it in my own life as I think about the way I benefited from my small church nurturing opportunities for worship leadership when I was a teen, even though I was inexperienced and awkward. But that openness and experience was a big factor in my getting involved in a college fellowship and being active in future ministry. 

It doesn’t have to be limited to music or speaking eloquence, but I hope that in the future I can be more receptive to the gifts that people offer for use in the community. More aware of keeping an open heart to what Jesus might be speaking to me in something that isn’t done the way I might want to do it. Maybe it will better build up others as well.

-- El Padre