Issues

Sarah and I drove up to Everett on Labor Day to visit the cleanest, most navigable Wal-Mart in the area. I'm not usually a fan of Sam Walton's legacy but the Target in the area has gone downhill and only Wal-Mart carries certain items I need at a reasonable price. Besides, I like to look at the sign and pretend it says Wal-Marty. (I did that as a kid at K-Mart)
While in Everett we lunched with our friend Joan. It was a great lunch. We laughed. We cried. It became a part of us. I kid but it was alot of fun. We also had a pretty serious talk that I wasn't expecting. Here's the gist.
The worship leader at our church announced that he is leaving at the end of October to continue his education. Since Joan is on the worship team I wanted to get her take on the whole thing. She's been at the church longer than we have and she knows the ins and outs a little more than we do. I must admit that having been a minister at one time makes me curious about what's going on behind the scenes in any given church. It's not my place to know anymore but that bone still exists in my body. My basic question was did she think they would hire someone else and did she think the worship team (w/ instruments) would remain a feature. (this church comes from a Church of Christ background) When churches go through a transition it's a great time for potential forward growth but my experience tells me that backwards is the way it will go. Anyway, we chatted about that for a bit and then Joan questioned me on where I was in my decision to possibly join the worship team especially now that there would be a need for more leadership. I told her that I was pretty much in the same place I had been. I still have issues with God and have no desire to worship Him. With that in mind, I don't think it would be right for me to be in front of a church leading worship. If I did so, it would be because I like to sing and it would be for me...not for God. Of course, Sarah and Joan both disagreed with that and gave me their reasons. They feel that serving in that capacity could help me to rebuild my relationship with God. I told them I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, when I was a worship leader it was important for me to know that the folks that were leading by my side were leading from a position of worshipping God for themselves. On the other hand, I know of one church that had a bass player who was an atheist. He was hired to play in the beginning but as time went on he began to refuse pay and said he would continue to play because he enjoyed it. It was helpful to banter things back and forth a bit with Joan and Sarah because it made me think of things I hadn't thought of before. I still, however, have no answers.
What do you think? Drop me a comment and give me some more to chew on. I may not agree but I'll listen.