On the Mountaintop

Posted: June 18, 2019

I started writing a book a few years ago. It contained everything I’d learned about leading a church music ministry. I had about 10 chapters completed when I realized that there was a major problem with the book. It was boring.

My friends, you can be a lot of things as a writer, but you cannot be boring. So I abandoned the project. In the meantime, a story began to brew in my heart. It was pure fiction, but it contained all of the deepest truths that my “how-to” book wasn’t able to express. So I wrote the story. And I realized it wasn’t just my story, it was the story of everyone who has ever had their heart broken by a church. 

Ministry can be terribly lonely. I always felt that loneliness most acutely during my solitary, early Sunday morning drives to church. My neighbours were all still asleep except for the odd fitness nut out for a jog. During those drives I often wondered if all the work was worth it. Was I making any progress? Or was I simply on a treadmill—spending my efforts but going nowhere?