Matthew Ward said this towards the end of his autobiography, which I recently finished reading:
“[The Lord] was the one with the music ministry, and He carried it out through us.”
In the church, I often hear people talk in terms of “This is my ministry.” Or, “This is the ministry God has called me to.” I appreciated the different perspective in the above quote.
What do you think? Am I making too big of a deal out of semantics? How would it change (or would it) the work you do, if you thought about it as God’s ministry being carried out through you vs. your ministry for God?
If you’re interested in reading more about The 2nd Chapter of Acts, I recommend the following lengthy article, “The Frame Never Outdid the Picture”.
I loved the 2nd Chapter of Acts, even if my conservative upbringing would have labeled their music way too wild! What wonderful close blending harmony they made. I heard them live at my college once too. All these years later I just love the Easter Song and early every Easter morning I turn it on as loud as the speakers will go and wake everybody up! (That’s pretty rowdy for a fat middle aged lady like me!)
I think I would enjoy reading that book.
As for ministry–I don’t really like to use that word in reference to myself. The ministry happens in someone else’s heart, and that isn’t for me to judge. I just talk about my work, because it is the work God led me to.
Their CD, The Roar of Love, is among the more rowdy of the music I listen to. Oh, I did download one John Michael Talbot song with a beat, from his album Monk Rock and I like a few Scott Krippayne songs. But, other than that, most of my music could probably be classified in the “Sleepy” genre
I prefer to think of my musical tastes as peaceful, but sometimes I do need something a little more rousing!
What you said about your doing work, and God accomplishing the ministry in someone else’s heart fits with where my thinking has been going on this. I was in a Lutheran church recently and was struck by the use of the word “vocation”. Hmmm, there are a lot of terms, maybe maybe saying the same thing in different ways. Thinking through the semantics of the words that describe “what I do” helps me keep what I do in perspective.
My favorite contemporary Christian musician is Michael Card. I call him a thinking person’s contemporary Christian musician. I love the album he did with John Michael Talbot. I may have to check out Monk Rock.
I like Michael Card a lot, too. For John Michael Talbot, I like one or two songs on each of his albums (and he’s got loads). I ended up going to Walmart Music Downloads and listening to clips of most of his music and purchasing some that way. It was much cheaper than buying whole albums. And then, I took and made a playlist, which I call Talbot Lullabies. The lyrics, which are often almost straight from Scripture are very comforting and strengthening to me, especially with the quiet-type music that helps it sink in.