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The Artist in Community (Chapter 3)

To know and be known is a basic human need, and artists are no exception! Especially in the church, how can we be at our best if we don't work together? We have to come together to do what no one of us could do alone. That is called teamwork, and it is vital to a music ministry. There are several things that can kill teamwork:

1. Selfishness- This one is pretty obvious, if you are being selfish, you aren't thinking about the team.

2. Grumbling and Complaining- Philippians 2:14 instructs us all to "do everything without complaining or arguing," because grumbling and complaining are like cancers that grow and spread and eventually kill a team or even an entire church.

3. A Competitive Spirit- This one is really hard as artists. We are competitive by nature. We want to be the best their is in our area. But in the church we need to learn to cooperate, and stop competing.

4. Unresolved Relation Conflict- This usually occurs because the three mentioned above are occurring! When problems arise between team members, they need to talk to each other and work it out. Often they will find that things are not as bad as they seem. But left unchecked, things grow into big problems.

Team unity is absolutely essential. Don't ever think unity is optional. It's required if we're going to do anything together in God's name. There are several things that need to happen for this to become reality. One of them is that you need to be willing to bring a 'healthy self' when you come. This means physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Take care of your body! Just because you are an artist doesn't mean that you don't need to take a walk every once in a while! If you are not doing well physically, it will translate into your art. The same is true spiritually and emotionally. If you are a spiritual and/or emotional train wreck, it will translate to every area of your life, including your art. We also need to get past caring who gets the credit. This is a big one, because artists like to be recognized. But there comes a point when you have to decide that it is more important that the work gets done than it is that you get recognized for it. Once you get to that point, it is amazing the things that can be accomplished.

Enjoy the Journey