Sundae

As a church worker, I have heard a lot of analogies and stories over the years.  I’ve even heard personal stories from pastors at different churches that sound so similar it would appear that they both have access to the same stories. 

Recently, I’ve been thinking about my role as a worship leader in a large church and thought of a great analogy.  “Working as a worship leader is a lot like creating a sundae for someone else” (see the pun there…sundae…Sunday…alright it’s lame, but you’ll get the point). 

How do you like YOUR sundae?  What kind of ice cream do you use? You could add sprinkles.  You could add chocolate chips.  Do you put fresh fruit on top?  Do you put a variety of candy on there?  What about syrup?  Chocolate, caramel or both?  A little whipped cream?  A lot of whipped cream?  Do you put nuts on top?  Ultimately, there are so many option to think about before you even begin, it can sometimes be overwhelming.

Imagine that you had to create a sundae for someone else and they had NO input on what they were getting.  The might complain that they don’t like chocolate chips and would rather have gummy worms.  They might even be allergic to nuts.  It could be very frustrating.  It will take you numerous tries to get what they are looking for and at the same time, their choices may change over time.

Now, imagine creating a single sundae made the same way for 1,000 people.  That is a Herculean task and borderlines on the impossible.  1,000 people could never agree on the appropriate amount of whipped cream or even the amount of cherries used.  Some may even disagree on the ice cream choice itself.  There is no way that every person will be satisfied and happy with the sundae that you create.

In the same way, as a worship leader, 1,000 people will never be happy with the Sunday that you create.  They may complain that there wasn’t enough singing or too much singing.  They may say that the song choice wasn’t what they wanted.  They might not appreciate the “acoustic” set that week and were hoping for a full band.  They might even want contemporary at a church that only offers traditional.  Whatever the case, it’s a very difficult task to get 1,000 people to agree on one thing.

As a worship leader, creating a Sunday for 1,000 people is like creating a single sundae for 1,000 people.  No one will ever be completely happy with what you do.  But it’s important to remember that Sundays are for glorifying God, not creating sundaes for each person in a pew.