Recently, I was leading a team to handle the production needs for a concert tour and for those of you who have worked something like this know that it is a ton of work. There was someone on the team who isn’t really a production person and that doesn’t normally serve with us. He kept saying how much work it was, and that normal people didn’t have a clue what it took to pull off what we even do on a normal basis.

I agree with him. Production is tough stuff. There is a ton of work that needs to get done. Lots of physical labor. Lots of details to manage. A crew of staff and/or volunteers to keep track of and keep moving forward.

I’ve been doing production work for a long time, and it never seems to get easier. When we build in new systems or buy new gear to make things more streamlined, we usually increase our capacity and then push ourselves to that new standard. It’s almost like the idea of computers and the internet will give us more free time…or just help us do more work.

I tell myself often that what I am privileged to do is not easy. But if I’m going to spend my life doing it, I want to enjoy it along the way.

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

When you are talking about doing production in the local church, there is a lot at stake. We are trying to make production be as transparent as possible so that the gospel message is clear and unhindered. We also generally only get feedback when things don’t go according to plan, so it is really easy to be super intense to get everything exactly right all the time.

In reality, there is no way to keep up this intensity. It is so easy to get wrapped up in not making a mistake that you end up creating more pressure on yourself and your team than actually exists.

This somewhat artificial pressure can steal the joy of serving from you and your volunteers. I don’t know about you, but joyless serving doesn’t sound like God’s plan.

I love that God has chosen to use us and our gifts to help accomplish his purposes on this planet. I don’t understand it, but I’m so grateful that I get to be a part of bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. However, if I am so worked up about not making a mistake, am I really contributing to bringing heaven to earth? And isn’t it true that God is infinite and is able to do things that are beyond my comprehension? And couldn’t he work in people’s lives whether there was feedback or not?

This is a giant mystery to me. God has chosen to use us, but doesn’t need us. We have to do everything we can to create an environment where people can meet with God in our services, but at the end of the day, God doesn’t need us to meet with his people.

With this as the backdrop, let’s stop taking ourselves too seriously. Yes we have lots of work to do. Yes it is important. Relax. Enjoy yourself.