an analogical rant

This is a rant. This is also an analogy.

OK, so if I walked into any church across America and said “I know that churches sometimes have a hard time getting volunteers. I just got this piano and I think I’d like to play for the services here…..no, I don’t really have any training, I just got it, but it’s not hard to make noise come out of it, besides, I like music and I think I can learn as I go!” Almost any pastor in just about any church would all but laugh at me no matter how well intentioned I was! Now, they might offer to help me find someone who gives lessons, but they sure would not let me play the piano for the hymns on Sunday morning based solely on the fact that I own a piano, and have the ability to make noise come out of it. They would also not think that I was less of a person because I can’t play the piano (except maybe for suggesting it) I have no desire to play the piano in church. Linda and Margie do an excellent job. They do an excellent job because they have had years of practice and training. And yes, every now and then, someone will come along and learn to play the piano beautifully without ever taking a lesson in their life. That is a gift from God.

This is an analogy about technology in churches. It is a relatively new thing that churches are doing. And in a number of cases, they are doing it poorly. Because it is easy to make a picture come up on a screen …. “look, how cool! I can change the color of text! Oooh, look at all this clip art, I’ll have to put a piece on every slide if I want to use it all….and look at this, I can insert a bible with pages that turn while people are trying to read the words to a song!…and look, I can make the title of this one fly in! how neat is that?!” Yeah, really neat. Look I can bang my forearm against the keys and make a sound! Look I can hit just the black keys…now just the white keys! One note at a time….ALL the notes at a time!! Just high ones now….now all the low ones…kinda sounds like jaws huh! This piano stuff is so cool!! Tone deaf people are all so glad it’s there. There are a few classically trained musicians over there wincing, but they’ll get over it. He’s SOOOO picky, can’t he see I’m doing my best. I’m not dumb I know how to make noise come out of a piano.