Guilty

I’ll be honest, I’m 100% guilty of too often not dying to my artistic pride. I too often sit in judgement of people I deem as not “getting it.” I can be overly critical. I can analyze and pick apart for hours on end. My friends know not to ask me to filter something unless they want an honest critique.

Now, I recognize that questioning and analyzing to some degree is a healthy practice. But, too many times I take it to an unhealthy extreme. And in doing so I think I end up doing just as much damage, if not more, to the Church as those I am criticizing for hurting the Church…or maybe just the perception of the Church in the world (that could be a whole separate post…can we really hurt the Church anyway?)

If I’ve learned anything in the last couple of years it’s that there isn’t one “right way” to do most things in the Church and corporate worship. I’ve learned that a whole lot of it is personal preference. And in the end a whole lot of it doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m learning which hills to die on…and to die in service and humility, not because of artistic pride.

So, tell me, do you often lose the battle with your artistic pride too or am I the only one?

With courage, Katie

3 comments

  1. So I guess you're telling me I need to stop telling people "you're doing it wrong!" ????

    Point well taken – yeah it's easy to fall into this, being a perfectionist and always trying to "up" my own level of quality, etc. Great point you make about multiple ways of doing things and I'm learning about personal preferences and styles vs. right and wrong. Tough lessons.

    I'm also learning to *try* to think about gentle responses, even for potentially negative feedback, and even thanking people for asking my opinion, just before I tell them "you're doing it wrong" ;-)

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