I Always Wanted to Play in the Jazz Band…
Here’s something to think about:
Every minister in every faith is like a jazz musician, keeping traditions alive by playing the beloved standards the way they are supposed to be played, but also incessantly gauging and deciding, slowing the pace or speeding up, deleting or adding another phrase to a prayer, mixing familiarity and novelty in just the right proportions to grab the minds and hearts of the listeners in attendance.
I’m still mulling this over after running across it yesterday. It was at the end of a short book review, and, surprisingly, not for a book that appears to be particularly complimentary of traditional religion. But, I can’t help thinking that this idea rings true for preaching and worship, whether contemporary, traditional, blended, evagelistic, liberal, artsy, seeker-oriented…