The Call of God Is Not Enough

I recently heard a story on National Public Radio about an attempt to find the oldest married couple in the USA. They found and interviewed a couple with the combined age of 216 — he was 109 and she was 107. The husband said, "To be married this long you have to really want it."

It occurs to me that this is not unlike the professional church musician. To stay in church music ministry for any length of time, you really have to want to. I don't believe the call of God is enough. Jesus called many to be his followers, and some to be his disciples. Not all whom he called responded. Remember the rich young man who was shocked and went away grieving because Jesus told him he had to give away all his possessions? The call to discipleship and service requires more than God's call — it requires our positive response.

And so it is with music ministry. I may have heard the call of God, but until I respond and take some positive action, nothing happens. And even then, for that ministry to bear fruit, in the words of the long-married husband, "you have to really want it," because there are obstacles.

What are the obstacles in our path as music ministers? Here are some, and you can probably add your own:

• you must obtain a sufficient level of multiple musical skills: choral, instrumental, keyboard, vocal
• you must stay current with musical style changes
• you have to lead largely untrained volunteers
• you have to be proficient in working with all ages
• your interpersonal and relational skills must be considerable
• you must sometimes sacrifice personal and family needs
• there will always be those who do not care for what you do
• you may be supervised or directed by a pastor or committee that does not share your vision
• in one sense, every member of the congregation feels like he or she is your boss, and every member is an expert in worship and music
• you have to find your own place of employment; you are not guaranteed an appointment
• church musicians' wages are generally less than we'd like
• retirement, health, and other benefits are difficult to come by
• there is little job security
• burnout and disillusionment are common afflictions

When faced with these, why would any of us even consider music ministry? Why would we respond to God's call even if we heard it? The answer is not prestige, power, money, and security. For many of us, the answer is "because I really want it." Or said a different way, "because it is who I am ... it is what God made me to do."

I always taught my young children's choirs the Bill Gaither song, "I Am a Promise." I don't know if they remembered those words as they went through the black hole teenaged years and into adulthood, but I rejoice in the fact that there are hundreds of little children all over the country who, at a very young age, learned the message of that song because I taught and explained it to them.

One of my favorite songs in The Faith We Sing is no. 2163, "God, who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it in you." I include it often when I plan worship. I sing it often to myself in the car or at my desk. It has become a prayer for me. It is the companion to the phrase, "you really have to want it." If we want it, if God has called us, then God will be faithful to help us complete the task.

Don't ignore the obstacles. Don't shut out the call. Don't resist the desire to be in ministry. With the children, BE the promise that God wants you to be.