I thought I had it all nicely figured out.

        I had discussed the problem with a friend, who gave me a fresh perspective.

        I even prayed about it.

        Now I find that even though my ATTITUDE changed, the problem still exists.  Not an uncommon occurrence, when it comes to problems.

        Yesterday, our choir sang a “special number”.  It was a nice song, with a contemporary beat, that talked about being on God’s side, and all the nations of the world joining together to worship.  Very cool.

         The thing that bothered me was the last solo in the song.  If you’d been there, you would swear you were in the audience at an American Idol audition. The soloist is sure she can sing.  She says she’s been singing in choirs since sixth grade.  She can’t sing worth beans. 

         But that isn’t the problem, surprisingly. 

         The fact that she doesn’t hit one note right can be overlooked, ultimately. 

         So what is bothering me?

         She is a screecher. 

          Not only does she miss her notes, but she goes off into the stratosphere with them, trying to sing a high soprano.  This wouldn’t be any of my business, except for one thing:  we were trying to communicate a message.  After the song was over, I didn’t find one person who knew what the song was about.  What I DID find was a memory of  off-key screeching.

         So I’ve made a decision.  I’m not going to beat myself over the head any more for feeling that solos should be tolerable to listen to.  I was calling myself a worship snob, etc.  Not any more.  The message needs to get across.  If the singing distracts from the message, a different person needs to be doing the singing. 

         In fact, even if the person singing is a GREAT singer, if their voice, attitude, reputation—anything—is distracting from the MESSAGE of the song—something needs to change.  Because what’s the use of having music in the church if it doesn’t (1) glorify God and (2) help people?  This trend toward having cool music in church, just to have cool music—is garbage.

         It’s time to re-focus.