In the songwriting jungle, melody is king.
For a few years before I became a pastor, I messed around a bit as a songwriter. I wasn’t phenomenal at it, but I approached it-like I approach most things in life-with a lot of passion and intensity.
As I got to know different successful songwriters, one common theme emerged as the most important component of composing good music:
Having a great melody is the top priority.
It doesn’t matter how deep the lyrics are, how atmospheric the guitar textures sound, or how skillfully the track is mixed. If you don’t have a great melody, you don’t have a great song. And if you do have a great melody, even poor production and bad instrumentation can’t bury the potential.
The songs that stick around are the ones that get stuck in our heads because the melodies are catchy and singable. And usually, the simpler the melody, the better.
I’ve translated the principle of the priority of melody into my leadership style and preaching to help me focus on what’s important.
It doesn’t matter how funny my jokes are, how engaging my stories are, or how hip our sermon series are. Without a great melody-or in the case of preaching, a penetrating point of revelation and application in every sermon-my message is just noise.
In my leadership, I’m learning to let the melody take the center stage.
Keep the vision at the forefront of every decision we make. Invest the right stuff in the right leaders at the right times. Hear from God about our next steps. And maintain pure motives.
Bells, whistles, riffs and solos can certainly enhance music and ministries.
But in the end, it’s all about the melody.
Gather your leadership team together this week and define your melody.
And then make it loud enough in the mix that no one can miss it.