Stale, Rotten, Rancid, and Spoiled

We have lovely conversations around our dining room table. And not a small handful of odd ones. This Monday’s breakfast was no exception.

I don’t remember how we got into it, but our children were schooled on all things food safety. Well, at least the vocabulary nuances for describing when food goes bad.

• Bready things go stale.

• Fruits and vegetables get rotten.

• Oils and things containing them, like nut butters, go rancid.

• Meats and milk get spoiled.

That leftover burger found weeks later behind the driver’s seat of the van can be stale, rotten, and spoiled, depending on what part you’re referring to.

“Important” concepts for youngsters to understand when describing things they find… inedible. You know, so that they can communicate their disapproval correctly.

By now, you probably know how my brain works. I started thinking about things that make worship leaders… unsuitable for use, for consumption, to continue the metaphor.

Things like irrelevance, bitterness, deconstruction, and burnout.

I wish (and pray!) that we wouldn’t be so affected by these things, because God designed us to be trees planted by springs of living water that bear fruit continuously. But on that “long enough timeline,” many of us find ourselves... tasting unpleasant.

How can we avoid this? How can we practice better "heart safety"?

Irrelevance (Stale)

I don’t believe anyone ages out of being an effective worship leader. I don’t. In fact, I think worship leaders should lead until they are at least 70 or 75 years old. Longer if they have the health for it!

The problem is we become irrelevant. We stop growing, stop being curious, stop adapting. We stop trying new things. We stop launching new leaders. We start fading. And we stop having baby skin on our hearts. But this very day, as you read this, you can start again and reverse the aging. Keep growing, adapting, launching, and stay curious and tenderhearted.

Bitterness (Rotten)

A 40-year veteran missionary once said, “there are two kinds of missionaries—ones going through hard times and ones that will.” Same holds true for worship leaders.

People and circumstances will hurt us. Our only choice is how to respond. Do I take it to the feet of Jesus, find healing in Him, and forgive as I’ve found forgiveness? The most helpful resource for me when I’ve experienced hurt at the hands of other believers is a little book called “A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness.”

It helps us get on the same side of the issue as God, focusing with an unrelenting drive to remove any semblance of King Saul from our hearts and walk in our call to be a true King David. (Rather than trying to call out King Saul in our attackers.)

Deconstruction (Rancid)

We will doubt. Just this morning, I read something in 1 Corinthians that I can’t wrap my understanding around. It doesn’t seem to fit with my current ideas. So I'm asking the Teacher to help me.

Our lives must be a lifelong pursuit of the Truth, namely Jesus Christ, the Word. That would seem to mean that we will be regularly unlearning, right-learning, and relearning. It is, of course, an unsettling process. But that’s why we’re given the Holy Spirit. Our Oil never goes rancid, praise God!!

Burnout (Spoiled)

When we get charred, you can smell it. Our energy is spent. Our dreams don’t exist. Our vision is bleak. We don’t believe there’s a tomorrow—at least not a good one.

Ad Lib’s mission statement addresses uprooting burnout, so we’re incredibly passionate about this one.

Can we identify the moment when our vision blurred? That moment when our candle started going out? The moment when “meh” set in? Ask the LORD what He wants you to know about that moment. Ask Him to clarify your purpose. Ask Him to put a scripture reference into your mind. Ask Him to light the fire again. He will!

Well, neither “food safety” nor “heart safety” happens by accident. We must be intentional about it. Take courage from Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” We don't do this alone!

-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)

Stale, Rotten, Rancid, and Spoiled (Nº 391)