We continue our worship series, Yes to the Mess: Surprising Lessons from Jazz & Acts, this Sunday with emphasis on soloing and supporting. This week’s worship will be rooted in Acts 6.1-7.
A biblical scholar named Robert Wall writes, “Growth requires change, and change comes slowly to any culture, but especially to a religious movement that is indebted to past memories and ancestral traditions, preserved and transmitted to others. To change with the times is a function of an agile leadership team. The practical failure of apostolic leadership to administrate effectively the community’s food bank occasions the next triumph of their leadership: They received a report from the leaders and recognized their inability to preach and do all the bookkeeping at the same time. It is time to redefine the job description of an apostle. Others outside of the circle of the Twelve need to share in their religious authority for the good of their common life and witness. The Twelve clearly recognize the importance of a congregation’s infrastructure for maintaining its spiritual and physical health as a community of goods. A staff of competent people is selected to wait on tables so that the welfare of the most needy believers is attended. Once settled, the outreach ministry of the church continues to flourish” (New Interpreter’s Bible Volume X, 115).
What support roles are you currently playing that help your community of faith to continue to flourish? What roles could you see yourself playing in the future?
In Yes to the Mess, Frank J Barrett writes, “…the simple fact is that improvisation cannot succeed—whether the medium is jazz, comedy teams, or new product development—unless the players are extraordinarily adept at both leadership and followership. Indeed, the simple practice of taking turns leading and supporting might be the single practice most responsible for relational breakthroughs…In a supporting or comping role, musicians are interpreting the soloist’s playing, anticipating likely future directions, and making instantaneous decisions regarding harmonic and rhythmic progressions. But they also may see beyond the player’s current vision, perhaps provoking the soloist in a different direction, with accents and chord extensions. None of this responsiveness can happen unless players are receptive and taking in one another’s gestures. But this empathy has to run in both directions. As a soloist, the same obligations prevail….It’s the symbiosis that makes jazz work at its best—when players listen well forward and backward, from soloist to accompaniment and back again” (124).
Think of a time when you have been called upon to play a supporting or comping role, how was the experience for you? What part of the experience was most challenging? What part felt most “natural”?
When are you best at playing a supporting role? When is it most difficult for you?
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