"Everyone gets to play..."

Great question and one we are wrestling with indeed. Some take the slogan, "Everyone gets to play," to mean anyone can participate in any ministry or position within the church despite ability, attitude, or calling. From what I have read, and heard from many Vineyard pastors and people is that, the saying is a generalization that the few in leadership, or on the podium, shouldn't be doing most of the work. Indeed it does mean that church leaders, or TV/healing evangelists, aren't the only ones intended to be praying for the sick, sharing the Word, or operating in the Spiritual gifts for the church community alone.

What it isn't is an excuse for not doing something well, or as I've been reading in Exodus, "skillfully." When it comes to a music department, or what's commonly called, "worship ministry," any Christian can worship and please God. But can any Christian play a keyboard, guitar, drums, or sing in such a way as to encourage and lead a large group in unified worship to God? I think that is a broad stroke Wimber didn't intend to paint. He simply meant there are no big "I's," and little "me's" in the Kingdom, and God can use who He wants, where He wants, when He wants.

Years ago I was with a group of longhaired surfer dudes up in Cape Hatteras at the U.S. Surfing Championships (I think this was the year the East Coast & U.S. ran together). I had been sharing Christ with some of them, and I talked them into going to a Wednesday night worship service at an Assemblies of God church. It was a small, quaint building with only a few cars in the sandy parking lot that night. When we walked in, not only did the congregation go silent, with eyes bulging, but we doubled the attendance. I'll have to say, dirty tees, baggies, holie jeans, sun-bleached, straggly shoulder-length hair and all, we were welcomed. The pastor asked a young (maybe 14-year old) girl to sing a special in honor of the church's guests. She balked, was embarrassed, and I could tell she just didn't want to sing in front of a group of guys just a few years older than she. But with much cajoling from the few there, she began.

It was awkward. She sang out of tune, the tempo was back and forth, but...the Holy Spirit was, as we said back then, "all over her." All of us were ministered to, touched by her sincerity and this little church's love and big welcome for a motley crew of visitors from the sea.

The point is, she got to play. At that time, at that place, with that group, she gave what she had to the Lord, and He used it! It was appropriate for the moment, and it was a faith venture on her part.

Does that mean she should walk into any church and say, "I'm here and I'm ready to 'play'"? I don't think so. Does it minister in the moment? Would it encourage the group to center on Jesus, would it be done skillfully?

Certainly everyone is welcome to practice, work on their skill level, learn how to work with a team, and join the community to see if that is their best area to contribute. Maybe it will be, maybe it won't.

I think we confuse personal value with competency levels. If someone doesn't think I need to be singing in front of hundreds quite yet, I may feel devalued as a human being. Again, skill level has nothing to do with your value as a person. Jesus has forever established our value. But it's called skill, because it has to be developed. You can play, by practicing. Then a person's gift will make room for them. We have to separate our skills from our personal value, and it's just not so easy because our skills are what get us noticed, accepted, and quite frankly many times, valued by others. God doesn't see us like this. The cross is the great equalizer. There are no guitar players, good or bad, justified...just people. I will admit the church has done a poor job at times of affirming the value of unskilled brothers & sisters when "trying out" in the worship ministry. But it does no one any good to allow someone to embarrass themselves, and mislead a group when their skill level is not at some acceptable level. I think the bible supports the idea of skilled musicians. You get skilled by practicing, and no you do not need to be some prodigy to be able to help the worship in a church. Some level of adequacy should be communicated, and that level attained.

But...everyone should be ready for those moments when God says, "I want to use you now, right here, this way, with these people." Whether it is singing, laying hands on the sick, serving food to the hungry, etc. We all get to play.