FOUR LESSONS I LEARNED FROM THE GRAMMY’S

It may come as a surprise to people who know me. In fact some will flat out not believe me. But the reality is, is that I have not watched the Grammy’s in years. Now I remember in middle school and high school we would have watch parties and ask to stay up past our bedtimes to watch these lip syncing mega stars wow us into believing we needed what they had. However, as I became more of a connoisseur of music, or as some say,”a music snob”, I simply did not want to watch anymore. In a market that has been saturated with sub-par musical ability and bad versions of Glee on stage I have had no desire to engage.

Now for a myriad of reasons last week I chose too. In fact I was quite engaged. Maybe it was because my kids went to be early and were out cold. Maybe it was because my wife was sicker than a dog, and in an attempt to not catch whatever she was throwin out, I decided to let her rest in the comfort of the bed versus laying on the couch with me. Maybe I slipped into a time-space continuum where I had my brain sucked from its recesses and had lost all sense. For whatever reason, I was deeply enthralled. Now the show was not as bad as some have said and not as good as others have professed.

It was simply…ok…

Nothing wowed me really. I was super impressed with Adele. The Foo Fighters are one of my favs and they delivered. Bruno Mars was as cool as a they come with his vintage throw back flare. But for the most part…it was…Eh!!! But as I watched I began to learn some life lessons and as a church leader I think these lessons could easily be applied to the church world as well.

1. Shock Value for the sake of shock value never works. Sure people will be talking about it for a week or so, but what is the real payoff. Usually those that are talking are not impressed. There was a performance  that I have heard numerous people talking about this past week. I heard people in line at lunch talking about it. I heard it on the radio. I heard it Starbucks. I even heard it in the church offices. If you watched you know what I am talking about. If you did not it was a performance by Nikki Minaj. The whole thing was bad. It was not that I was offended. It was just bad. I guess it takes more to offend me than others. I was not impressed, because there was no payoff for her statement of shock. It was shock for shock sake. We do this in the church sometimes too. We say and do things sometimes for the sake of shock without thinking about the payoff. Is it worth polarizing an entire crowd to say something that could have been said in a completely different way, that would have gotten a much better response and opened up dialogue for deeper conversation. I am sure that many live by the mantra that “whether it is good press or bad press, at least they are talking about me.” Not sure I want the church to be talked about the way we make ourselves out to be sometimes.
2. People Still Like Authentic Way More Than Produced- Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters got on stage to give an acceptance speech. First off you have to know that I LOVE the Foo Fighters. They are the real deal. In fact their acceptance speech for their award did more than convey that. Dave said that their entire album had been recorded on reel to reel. There was no digital mix down. There was no manipulation. He said that the best thing you can do for your talent, is learn to play your instrument. The crowd went crazy. Even the artists who are so deep in lip syncing an auto-tune stood and applauded. Why? Because at the end of the day people don’t want something manufactured, they want the REAL DEAL. The church is no different. People walking in the doors of our churches no longer are satisfied with us putting on a slick show. They want to experience authentic and real people. They want to experience a real and authentic God. They simply want the reality of who God is. Maybe we should consider stepping away from our productions from time to time and strip it all back to exposing the reality of God to people. It seems that these are the moments that people are longing for and respond too the most.
   
3. People Will Put Up With A Lot To Be A Part Of Something- Now in a bit of a contrast to the last lesson I noticed something else. Even though they all applauded the real, which I really believe they wanted, they still put up with a lot of bad performances, or sub-par performances. Why? Honestly, I think it is because we all want to be a part of something. It is interesting to me that when people feel a part of something bigger than themselves they will put up with a lot. I have been to churches where people will put up with ok preaching, ok worship, ok children’s areas, ok…etc. just because they felt as if they were a part of something. Now this is not to dismiss the fact that I am a huge proponent of excellence in ministry, but sometimes we get so consumed with being perfect, that we miss the mission. The beauty of the church being human, is that people don’t always expect us to be super human. New people tend to have more grace on the church than the church has on the church sometimes.
   
4. No Matter How Good You Think You Are People Stop Watching Long Before You Want To Be Done- As the night of electronic glow came to end I noticed something begin to trend on social media outlets. Many people were turning it off. Some complained that there was too much music (very ironic being it was a “MUSIC” awards show). Others complained there were too many commercials. Some even complained that there were too many old people performing. But the common thread was that about an hour and half into this three hour program people were done. Whether we like it or not, this is the nature of people in our churches too. No matter how great we think our preaching, singing, ushering, coffee, children’s areas, youth areas, or any other areas may be, when people are ready to leave…they are going to leave. They are going to go home. How do we remedy this? I am not sure there is an answer, but I think it goes back to the second lesson. Give them something so authentic, that they don’t ever want to leave the presence of God.
   

So there ya have it. What have you learned from the world around you lately?
Let me know HERE and HERE!!!