Hello, my name is Scott and I am a perfectionist……. [Hi, Scott] I am such a perfectionist that I have found myself hindered with the expectation I put both on myself and the people around me. This happens to be especially true within the church. It is not intentional and for years I simply chalked it up to “the way God made me”. While parts of that hold truth, I have come to find that by taking a deep breath and letting go a little I am much happier and more productive within the worship ministry at my church. Let’s look a little at how we get caught up in our pursuit of perfection and how we can best set ourselves and our teams for success.
Technology Feeds Our Perfection
As worship creatives we find ourselves living in a world where the desire for improvement never completely settles within our environments. Every year there is some new piece of technology that promises to make our lives easier and thus making our lives perfect. From ProPresenter, MultiTracks, new features in Planning Center, more “gear” related goodies than sometimes seems necessary, and countless other must have gadgets; we are (dare I say) feeding the notion that perfection can happen with the click of button. This simply is not true. While I love technology as much as everyone else, I find myself using it as a crutch to create. We live in a day and age where if something is not sounding right, there is a program out there that can fix it. Cool? Sure. Necessary? Probably not.
Nobody is Perfect
No one is perfect. That cannot be said enough. I have to be reminded of this time and time again. In regard to the expectation of perfection within worship, this could not hold more truth. The vast majority of us serve in churches where our worship and tech ministries are made up of 100% volunteers and not professional musicians. Yet we expect them to sound like the recordings of the songs we play. Please do not misinterpret me on this, I many of you are not this way…..but for those that are, I believe it is important to call out. Impressing the expectation of knowing your parts and rehearsing are one side of this and one that should be implemented within our ministries. What I am referring to is having the missed expectation of thinking your team can produce something may not be achievable with your current setup. My suggestion is to work within your means and with those who are there to serve with you. Just remember, no one is perfect and we call need a little grace from time to time.
Work Towards Patience and Progression, Not Perfection
I have found that a change of mindset has helped my desire for perfection. Today, I have made a commitment to being patient in the creative process and to seek progression in the process rather than expecting it to be perfect from the get go. In doing this I have already felt a tremendous load lifted from my shoulders. I have taken to heart the two previously mentioned thoughts and turned towards dedicating part of my weekly preparation and study time to meet with God over this. I know it seems so simple to say, but when I turned over my perfectionist ways to God and sought out guidance, things started to change.
In closing, my hope would be that this speaks to at least one person out there who deals with the same struggles as I do. God can do amazing things within our ministries and when we hand over roadblocks that we put up (like imposing our own ideas of perfection), the doors that open are truly out of this world.
Worship Leader, Have You Stopped Learning?
Nailing it, Scott! I love, love the verse, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.” from Colossians 3:13. It’s given me great freedom, especially as it helps me realize that I’m always at the other end of “each other’s…”