I realized this weekend that I can not encourage anyone when they perform that it'll be okay if they mess up and that there is no pressure if that person is not a part of a community of grace.
realizing that breaks my heart. It made me sad seeing people practice and performing just to give a good performance. It made me sad seeing people perform making perfect bulletins so as not to have one blemish when people look at this one aspect of the church.
i couldn't do anything to encourage anyone, to relieve any pressures b/c saying it'll be ok if they mess up or that thing's don't have to be perfect would be a lie since my home church does not seem to be a community of grace but instead of performance and shame.
sad. I wish i could do something but only thing i see that could change things is to open the eyes of the whole congregation at once b/c it does not seem to work individually b/c no matter what i say, what they will experience will still be performance and pressure and shame.
sigh...
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I totally agree with you in this one. I've felt this before, especially in my old church--which is why it took so long for me to want to serve at church. However, I learned that we shouldn't judge people because we don't know what is in their hearts. Only God knows that. Sometimes, we can't possibly know whether they are doing something from their hearts or out of performance.
ReplyDeleteTake for example, other Christian artists or "Christian celebrities." One could argue that the flashy rock styling of The David Crowder Band is really a community of performance. All the lights, all the theatrics--all for show, and nothing to do with grace or serving God. But I think you and I would know better, right? Sure, but again, only God knows what's in their hearts.
And another way to look at it is the fault of being human. We know the message of grace and how God loves us for who we are--all the imperfect us. Yet, as human beings, we want to give God our best--which sometimes, in our shallow minds, means perfection. Think of it like a little child wanting to please and be accepted by his dad. His dad is going to love the kid no matter what the kid does, but the kid wants to still give him best. When you look at performance this way, is it really that bad that people want to give God the best they can through their performances? Whether it be singing or dancing or acting? I think it's not bad as long as we remember that when we perform, our hearts are set in performing for God--it's our worship to him. We also need to remember that message of grace--it doesn't have to be perfect. That's why there is grace.
God knows the quality of the heart. He will take the off-key singing voice whose heart is set for Him rather than the beautiful singing voice whose heart is so far away from Him.
Just thought you should keep an open mind and an open heart for people before claiming that everything was a "performance and pressure and shame." People can surprise you.