#RejectCynicism & Critique by Creating

A couple of months ago I had a dream.

I dreamt that I was at a basketball game with my wife. Like any fan, I was cheering on my team and yelling at the referees. I criticized the bad plays and celebrated the good ones. But in one horrifying moment, I watched as the coach turned around, looked through the stands, and pointed his finger at me. He motioned me down to the bench, and he wasn’t taking “no” for an answer. Next thing I knew, I was in the locker room at half-time with a jersey in my hand. 

“Suit up,” the coach said, “you’re going in the game.”

Recently a comedian made a parody video about Christian music. If I’m honest, it was pretty hilarious. As a worship pastor who sometimes struggles with the insane amount of copycat worship music, it made me laugh. 

So I get it. I spent a lot of years being angry about the state of creativity in the church. But I wound up disengaged and apathetic about the Church and the idea of worshiping God in general.

Eventually God called me out of my cynicism. He called me to reject cynicism and instead make music that didn't compromise any of my own creative values. Michelangelo said that we criticize most effectively by creating. Not by complaining. Not through cynicism from the sidelines, but through joining our voice to the Kingdom and shaking things up a bit. 

“Instead of complaining about the current state of affairs, we need to offer better alternatives. We need to make better movies and better music. We need to write better books. We need to start better schools and better businesses. As the old aphorism suggests, we need to stop cursing the darkness and start lighting some candles!”
      -Mark Batterson

Perhaps the ones who are the most angry are the ones God calls to do something about it?

I'm still jaded at times. Still cynical and apathetic toward Christian music some days. I still need repentance and forgiveness. But here's to turning off the voice of the critic (toward others and ourselves) and praying for a better creative future in the Church.


As always, feel free to leave a thought in the comments below!