Several weeks back a friend asked to meet for coffee. He wanted to chat about an opportunity he had to take a role as technical director for a church in the Midwest. As we talked, I shared some of the things I have learned over the years, and as the conversation went on I was reminded and convicted of the opportunities we have as technical artists to affect souls for eternity. My heaviest conviction was this:
At the end of our lives, bowing low before our Savior, I have a strong, compelling conviction that Jesus will not be as concerned as we were regarding how dialed in our mixes were, how in focus our cameras were, how on time the lyrics were, or how robust our infrastructures were. I do not believe we will give an account for anything related to the quality of the gear and the technical systems we use each week. And many of us, myself included, sometimes seem to be spending a lot of time focusing on these things. What will matter is how we affected the souls around us. What will matter is how we loved God and loved the people God brings into our lives. These are the things that Jesus is concerned about in our lives.
Don't get me wrong, we want to take what we've been given, do with it as well as we can, and do it in a way that hopefully clearly communicates the Gospel with little distraction. I believe that most of us serve as technical artists because at some time or another we wanted to use our gifts and talents to help communicate the Gospel. For me, though, there have been seasons when my love of technology was greater than my love for God or others. Maybe some of us just have a natural propensity toward loving technology so much that we become distracted by it and enamored with it. Maybe you can relate.
A choice. A focus.
So, what are we to do? Are we to never think about technical gear, system designs, or make improvements? Are we to never spend any time using the tools to make the presentation clear and engaging? No, we can still do those things, but while we do them we can keep our eyes focused on the Gospel and on how we can practically express our love toward God and others at the same time.
“I'm here to encourage you toward Christ. Maybe along the way we will learn something about technical production.”
You and I have opportunities like this every week—opportunities to make an eternal impact. Every time we get together with other team members to plan or begin a project, we have an opportunity to encourage others toward Christ. How we “do” the technical tasks is far more important than the task itself. The first order of priority is our love for God, then comes our love for others, then comes the task at hand.
This principle is best illustrated by a professor I had in college. He taught the most dreaded upper-level class called “Business Policy.” On the very first day of class, he looked at us and said, “I'm here to spur you on toward Christ. Maybe along the way, you'll learn some business policy.” Do you see the order? The thing is, it wasn't just something he would say. He really meant it. Later in life, he became a mentor to me.
I want to encourage you to adopt the same mindset. “I'm here to encourage you toward Christ. Maybe along the way we will learn something about technical production.” In the end, people will forget the technical things but the Gospel, the love of Christ through us, will have impacted them.
And he said to him,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40
