Every school year at SBC’s School of Church Music, I give away conductor’s batons, which I personally make, to our new conducting students, and explain to them the meaning of the ten-inch stick.

If you are a worship leader, conductor, or even a pianist, you assume a leadership role. It may sound like a mistake when you are called a pastor. Still, there is some truth in the Levitical nature of your profession, because your identity as music ministers affirms our Levitical mandate as royal priests with the honour to serve God’s people (1 Pet 2:9).

I myself am a conductor. My first motivation to embrace this profession was the choir. I believe that the choir is one of the noblest biblically endorsed ministries that we should maintain in the church. It is a ministry that glorifies God and edifies the body of Christ. However, I adored the ministry so much that I worshipped it. I was obsessed with the image of a conductor who can shape music by the stroke of his hands while holding the baton.

Why did I love the baton? Not that the baton can magically shape music, but the thought that my hands can control people. I figuratively turned the baton into my sceptre and the podium into my throne.

In my earlier 新神脉动 article, “The Conductor’s Podium” (Issue 263, Nov 2017–Jan 2018), I mentioned that there was a time when I was identified as a sarcastic conductor and a control freak to the choir. Those were the years I struggled in the arts industry to achieve my glory. I praise God that he used godly mentors who reminded me that a choir can always be a choir, even without a conductor. Still, a conductor will never be a conductor without a choir. God used his word to remind me to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit; rather, in humility, value others above yourselves” (Phil 2:3 NIV).

Being a conductor is not about building self-image; it’s about building the kingdom of God here on earth, even through our choir ministry. The Old Testament already has provided us with a model of a great musician and a leader in the person of David, a man after God’s own heart. David shepherded God’s people with integrity of heart and a skilful hand (Ps 78:72). I emphasize “integrity” because a music conductor is an easy doorway toward self-exultation. Many conductors are proud after a good performance.

The conductor’s baton we hold should not be an object of pride and power. The name itself—b?ton in French, batuta in Spanish, bachetta in Italian, and Stab in German—used to refer to a rod or staff, that wooden cane that lowly shepherds used in tending the flocks. The music pastor serves as a shepherd to God’s flock (1 Pet 5:1–3).

We are anointed to be skilful trainers and teachers with the heart of Christ; therefore, we should use the baton rightfully as we tend the flock. We will also pass this baton on to someone else who will continue God’s work.

For Reflection

In my leadership role, do people see me using the baton as a monarch’s sceptre or a shepherd’s staff?