Jamie Brown

Handling Awkward Moments: Leading Songs After a Lousy Teaching

word I am incredibly grateful to serve in a church where, week after week, God’s word is preached strongly by those who tremble at it, and where the teachings are consistently biblically sound, convicting, and Holy Spirit-empowered. In this environment, the songs I’m choosing and leading are helping people hear and respond to what God is saying through his Word and by His Spirit.

In contrast, many worship leaders serve in churches where the teaching is weak and ineffective, or worse, heretical and unbiblical.

What’s a worship leader to do in that environment?

I recall one occasion when I was asked to lead worship for an event held somewhere away from my church. I felt I knew enough about who was hosting the event to feel comfortable saying yes, so I did. I prayerfully chose the songs, prepared for the event as well as I could, prayed a lot, and rehearsed with the worship team. The event finally arrived, the opening time of singing went really well, and then the teaching came. It went on for over an hour, and, as my British father-in-law so kindly described it, it was “diffuse”. I might describe it as “lousy”.

Leading songs after a lousy teaching can be awkward. Here are some ideas on how a worship leader can handle it, particularly if it’s unexpected.

Pray
If you’re listening to the teaching and beginning to realize it’s going off-track, pray and ask God for wisdom about what to do. Especially if your songs come immediately after the “teaching”, how you respond will be critical.

Ask for advice
If you’re near anyone you know you can respect as someone who loves God and his Word, just ask them: “what do I do?” I did this at the event I mentioned above, and the advice I received was the way God chose to answer my prayer for wisdom.

Be prepared to call an audible
In American football, the quarterback will call “an audible” (a last-second switch to a new play) when he sees that the play he had originally chosen just won’t stand up against the defense’s formation.

If you’re leading songs after a lousy (i.e. weak or heretical) teaching, you’ll most likely need to call an audible. You’ll need to communicate this to your musicians, the lyrics operator (if you’re projecting them), and the congregation (more on that later).

Proclaim Truth
You have an opportunity to infuse the truth of God’s word into a service in which it’s lacking. You do not want to do this in an arrogant and preachy way, but in a humble and gentle way. I would gravitate towards songs that preach the Gospel. Some ideas are “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand”, “In Christ Alone”, or “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”. Anything that presents the Gospel clearly would be one of my first choices.

Hopefully, by responding to a lousy teaching with Christ-centered, God-glorifying songs, I can help people walk away from the service with at least some measure of truth being planted in their hearts.

Do it pastorally
When I stepped onto the platform after the “diffuse” teaching I mentioned, I looked out on a congregation that looked really confused. It would have been the worst idea in the world to say what I was thinking, which was: “how in the world did (so-and-so) let that just happen?” Instead, I said something like: “We’re going to spend some time now responding to God by singing to Him, and celebrating what he’s done for us in Christ. Our ‘hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness’, so let’s stand and proclaim that together.”

It’s easy to call this kind of audible when you’re projecting lyrics and you have musicians who are comfortable being spontaneous. If you don’t have either of those things, you can still infuse God’s truth into the service by turning to a different hymn in the hymnal (just call out the page number), singing a song of response all by yourself, encouraging them to a simple (but truth-filled) song sing from memory, reading from scripture, repeating a good song from earlier in the service, or just continuing on with what you’ve planned.

(If you serve in a church where this is a weekly occurrence – not just once in a blue moon like it is for me – plan ahead and choose music that will subtly yet clearly, correct error in the teaching. Also, check out this clip of John Piper answering a worship pastor’s question along these same lines.)

Ten Questions for My Worship Team – Pt. 2

growth2 Yesterday I shared the first five questions I asked the worship team at my church in order to challenge all of us to continue growing, stay focused on God’s glory, and not wind up an unhealthy and dry worship team one year from now.

Here are the last five questions I asked:

Am I a foot trying to be a hand?
“For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body” (1 Corinthians 12).

Paul is making the point that every member of the body is equally a part of the body. No part is more or less important than another. But, every member has a different role.

This worship team will get into trouble if we start wanting to play different roles than God has assigned. Play your role as healthily as possible and rejoice at how God has arranged the other members of the body. A healthy body rejoices in the varieties of gifts displayed, all empowered by the “same Spirit”.

Am I more eager to play music than I am to lead the congregation?
In order for us to be a team of worship leaders, and not just musical back-up, we have to share the same passions and priorities when we gather together. I suggest this order:

(1)   God’s glory
(2)   The congregation
(3)   Our skill

When our skill helps the congregation encounter God’s glory, we are an effective worship team. It’s OK to be eager to play music – but make sure your priorities are straight.

Am I at a loss for words when I’m asked to pray before a service begins?
I long for our times of prayer before and after rehearsals and services to be characterized by specific and heartfelt participation by the whole team – not just one or two people. If we are not able to articulate prayer for God’s guidance and anointing, it may be an indicator that we are not aware we need it. These prayers don’t need to be eloquent or verbose. If you’re not comfortable praying out loud, ask God for boldness. No one is forced to pray. Not everyone has to pray. But this is area in which we can and need to grow.

Has my skill improved at all in the last six weeks?
This is an easy one to answer. If your skill as a worship leader and musician doesn’t improve, the worship team won’t improve. Be a good steward of the gifts God has given you and never settle for getting stuck.

Am I relying on my own talent or on the power of the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is passionate about revealing the glory of Jesus Christ. If we’re filled with and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, this will become our passion too. A lack of passion about God’s glory reveals a lack of reliance on the Holy Spirit. Every day, every rehearsal, and every service, we need the Holy Spirit to help us point the congregation to the glory of God. Without the Holy Spirit, our natural and sinful inclination will be to point the congregation to our talent. Not only will we become arrogant, but the worship team will become proud, and our services will become dry. Friends, “…be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

It’s important for anyone in ministry to regularly step back for a period of honest and prayerful evaluation. These questions are not exhaustive, and may not be applicable to every worship team at every church. But there are some good questions here for our church and our worship team as we seek to be a healthy body that exists to serve the congregation by leading them in “worthily magnifying” our glorious God.

“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”
(Psalm 145:3)

Ten Questions for My Worship Team – Pt. 1

growth This past Monday night the worship team that I have the privilege and joy to lead at my church gathered for our October “tune-up night”. We typically begin at 7:30pm with pizza, drinks, and snacks, and then around 7:45 move into a time of extended and unhurried singing and prayer. After that, I’ll share some thoughts either on the practicalities or principles of worship leading, and then we’ll close by praying for our ministry together. We’ll wrap up by 9:15 and people will hang out for a while afterwards.

We started these meetings about three or four years ago and they have made a tremendous difference to our effectiveness as a worship team. It’s taken me a while to figure out how best to lead them, what night to have them on, what time they should be, what room to have them in, and how to structure them – and I’m sure they’ll keep evolving – but overall, they’ve been crucial to our growth and maturity as worship leaders.

I’ve learned that only the worship team that worships together is able to lead worship together.

For this reason, I expect every member of the worship team to make these “tune-up nights” a priority. Occasionally, because of work or family commitments, sickness, or travel, people have to miss them, but if someone is committed to serving on the worship team, their regular attendance is the primary way of displaying this commitment.

Last night, after our time of singing and prayer, I asked each member of the worship to share how and when they came to The Falls Church, when they joined the worship team, and why. It was great to hear from everyone, and I expressed my genuine appreciation for their humility and passion for God’s glory, and my gratefulness for the health of this worship team. I meant it! Then I said I wanted to challenge everyone – and I meant that too.

If we’re not intentional about growing in our gifts, dealing with our pride, and prioritizing God’s glory, we will just spin our wheels as a worship team over this coming year, and slowly lose effectiveness. We’ll go through the motions when we lead worship, our services will feel the same, the songs will feel the same, our tune-up nights will feel the same, we’ll eventually burn out, and our worship team will become unhealthy. I don’t want to see that happen, so I posed ten questions for everyone to seriously consider. If a particular question made someone uncomfortable – that’s fantastic. If not, that’s fine too.

Here are the ten questions I asked the team (this is taken from a summary I emailed to the worship team afterwards):

Do I see myself as a worship leader – or backup to Jamie?
I am not interested in leading worship with musical back-up, but with a team of worship leaders. Each member of this worship team should think of him or herself as a worship leader. This will radically change the dynamic of our team and the services in which we lead. Our priority and passion must be, along with the congregation, magnifying and encountering the greatness of God. If you’re on this team just to play music, you’re in the wrong place.

Do I sing?
This is a direct, but loving, challenge for every instrumentalist, every sound engineer, and every lyric operator on the worship team – particularly the men. If you’re consistently not singing, you’re inadvertently sending two messages: First, singing is for girls. Secondly, what we’re singing isn’t important. Shame on us if we’re sending any of those messages. We need to be sending a message, loud and clear, that we are here to proclaim and celebrate the glory of God in Jesus Christ, and that what we’re singing about has changed our lives.

I know it’s hard to sing and play an instrument at the same time. There may be times, during a particular section of a song, when you have to stop singing in order to concentrate. I understand. But try to grow in this area, however incrementally. If it means we are a little less “tight” musically for a time, I’m happy with that.

Ultimately, don’t sing because I’m making you sing. Sing because “(God) has done marvelous things!” (Psalm 98:1)

Are there physical expressions of worship encouraged in scripture that I do not display? Why?
I first heard this question phrased this way by Bob Kauflin in his seminar at the 2008 Worship God conference titled “Praising God with the Psalmist.” It’s a good and necessary question to ask. We don’t want to elevate physical expressiveness to the point where it either becomes an idol or a gauge of whether or not someone is worshipping – since we know God is first and foremost concerned with the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). But we also don’t want to ignore the overwhelming biblical support of expressiveness as being normal, appropriate and healthy as if it doesn’t matter to us at all. It does. Each one of us needs to grow in this area. If we don’t, neither will the congregation we serve.

(For your own personal study, here are some helpful scripture references dealing with different physical expressions of worship.)

Clapping: Psalm 47:1, Psalm 98:9, Isaiah 55:12
Lifting hands: Nehemiah 8:6, Psalm 28:2, Psalm 63:4, Psalm 134:2, Psalm 141:2, Lamentations 3:41, 1 Timothy 2:8
Dancing: 2 Samuel 6:14, Psalm 30:11, Psalm 149:3, Psalm 150:4, Ecclesiastes 3:4
Kneeling/bowing: Genesis 24:26, 48, 52, Nehemiah 8:6, 2 Chronicles 20:18, Psalm 5:7, Psalm 22:27, Psalm 66:4, Psalm 72:11, Psalm 95:6, Matthew 2:11, Revelation 5:8
Lying prostrate: 1 Kings 18:39
Shouting: Joshua 6:20, 2 Samuel 6:15, Ezra 3:11, Psalm 20:5, Psalm 27:6, Psalm 33:1, Psalm 33:3, Psalm 42:4, Psalm 47:1, Psalm 66:1, Psalm 71:23, Psalm 81:1, Psalm 126:2, Psalm 126:5, Psalm 132:9, Isaiah 12:6, Matthew 21:9
Smiling: Psalm 34:5
Jumping: Acts 3:8

Do I base my value as a person on how often I’m scheduled on the team?
If you’re not scheduled to sing over a four week period, do you feel crushed? If you’re scheduled to play an instrument every weekend, do you feel puffed up and validated? If the answer is “yes” or even “sort of” to either of those questions, it might be a sign that your understanding of who you are is frighteningly tied to how often you’re asked to serve on the worship team. Read through Ephesians 2 where Paul tells us how we were once “dead in (our) trespasses and sins”, “children of wrath”, “without God”, and “strangers”, – “but God… rich in mercy… lavished his grace on us.”

Our identity and value has nothing to do with how often we’re asked to serve. It has everything to do with how God gave us Jesus Christ who bore our sins, died our death, and raised us to life, and sealed us with his Spirit.

Am I comfortable (and faithful in) attending services of The Falls Church at which I am not scheduled to be on the team?
When members of a worship team begin to think that they belong on the worship team to the point that they are uncomfortable not being scheduled – or to the point that they won’t attend services unless they are – the worship team ceases to exist to serve the congregation and begins to exist for its members’ personal gratification. A worship team will only remain as humble, Christ-centered, and congregation-focused as its members.

I’ll post the last five questions tomorrow.

Who’s In Control Here?

Some Sundays just really work. The songs you choose are just right, the band plays well, the sound system sounds really good, you can hear each other, the congregation is engaged and enthusiastic, there is a sense of the Holy Spirit being at work, people are encountering the glory of God, and you’re actually enjoying yourself.

awesome Some Sundays just don’t seem to work at all. The songs fall flat, it would be a stretch to call the musicians a “band”, the sound system feeds back every three minutes, you can’t hear yourself, the congregation resembles a room full of wax figures, it feels dry to you, people are distracted, and you’d rather be getting a root canal.

Most Sundays, though, are somewhere in between. They’re neither awesome nor awful, they just feel kind of average. Some songs work while some songs don’t, the band plays well enough to get by without any train wrecks, sound is coming out of the speakers, you can sort of hear yourself, some people in the congregation seem to be engaged while others look bored out of their minds, you’re trying to discern how the Holy Spirit is at work, and you’re not quite sure what to think when you get in your car to drive home. You get an email from someone who just loved it – and another email from someone who hated it. Lovely.

Worship leaders get into trouble when they expect every service to resemble the upper room at Pentecost. Three things end up happening. First, they try to do what worked last time. Second, if it doesn’t work, they force it to. And third, they get frustrated with the congregation for not responding like they think they should.

This worship leader is the boss, and when things don’t happen like he or she says they should happen, it’s someone’s fault. If only the band had played this way, if only this song had been sung, if only there were more people, if only the Pastor did this, if only people got their act together, and if only God would do what I want him to do.

And this worship leader ends up getting burned out after a couple of years (if not earlier), and either quits or goes to another church expecting it to be better there. It’s not.

It is disappointing to put a lot of work into a service, only to have it fall flat. We wonder what we could have done differently, what went wrong, and whether next week will be any better.

But the sooner we realize that we are not in control, the better off we’ll be.

Yes, our planning, preparation, and prayer are all critically important. But we’re delusional if we think that any of them qualify us to be the ones who decide how and when God is at work. We’ll either manufacture or quench a genuine move of the Holy Spirit, imposing our demand for an “awesome” service onto the congregation. It would be good for us to ask in these situations, “who do we think we are?”

God asked Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements – surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7) He goes on. And on. Job answers in chapter 42: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…”

As I walk away from a service that felt average, or really bad, wondering why it didn’t seem to go as well as a previous week, I hear God whisper in my ear: “where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?”

To say that I cannot contend with the sovereignty of God is the understatement of the century. But it’s true. Who do I think I am – that I would be so powerful as to control when and how God moves, or when and how people encounter Him?

Have you ever wondered why, on the Sundays when you’re the most prepared, things seem to fall flat, while oftentimes on the Sundays you’re the least prepared things seem to go really well? Perhaps it’s because our preparation can lead to an arrogance which has us believe that we’re the ones in control.

If I’m in control of a service – then step back – it’s going to be really bad.

If God’s in control of a service – then whether or not we can see it with our eyes – it’s going to be awesome.

We cannot see or even comprehend how God is at work when we gather together. All we can do is be faithful – in our preparation and leadership – and beg him to use us for his purposes. Then, and only then, will we know the joy of leading people in worshipping God in song, in the freedom that “(God) can do all things, and no purpose of (his) can be thwarted”.

Just Relax

drop It’s 10:15am and people are milling around before the service starts at 10:30. You’re the worship leader.

The songs are picked and rehearsed, the microphone and guitar amp are set up, the projector is connected to the laptop, the PowerPoint slides are ready to go, and you’re starting to feel really nervous. You have that feeling in your stomach like you’re on a roller coaster that has reached its peak and is about to drop you straight down 200 feet.

There’s an old man sitting in the third row with his arms folded and you’re afraid he’s going to hate all the songs you chose. There are 200 chairs set out, but only 25 people have showed up so far. No one is talking. It’s now 10:20 and your hands are starting to sweat. This whole leading worship thing sounded like a good idea a few hours ago, but now you’d rather be sitting on your couch at home.

On the worship CD the crowd screamed and cheered, but you’d be shocked if this crowd even sang along. At the worship concert the musicians rocked and rolled but you’d be grateful if your pianist even played the right notes (she’s 73 years old and prefers Bill Gaither music). Your “lighting system”? Fluorescents with a noisy hum. Your sound system? A couple of old microphones, a 2 channel mixer, and speakers built in to the ceiling. Your in-ear-monitor system? You wish. Your “ambience”? Cinder-block white walls and dark brown carpet.

Now it’s 10:29. Now there are 33 people in the room. Now you’re really really nervous.

Leading worship at your local church is not as glamorous as it looks at the worship conferences and concerts, and it doesn’t sound like the worship recordings by Tim Hughes or Matt Redman. When this reality hits you five minutes before the service starts, it’s easy to become nervous, fearful, and discouraged. You end up rushing through the songs, stumbling over prayers and transitions, shutting your eyes tightly, breathing a huge sigh of relief when it’s all over, and never wanting to do it again.

A few words of encouragement for those of us who lead worship in the real world.

First, relax. Your only job is to be faithful.
Hundreds of concerns, doubts, and questions can flood your head before you step up to lead worship, and when you get in your car to drive home. Some of them are valid, most of them are not. The one question that matters most is “was I faithful?”. Was I faithful in prayerfully trying my best to help these people encounter God in song? Was I faithful in making the Glory of God in Christ central? This focus on what matters will give you one of the most important qualities of an effective worship leader: a humble confidence.

Ignore the silly concerns that get you nervous and panicked like “will the old guy on the third row hate these songs?” or “this song sounds so much better on the CD” or “I’m not a very good guitar player” or “no one is lifting their hands” or “I wish I was at a different church”. Focus on being faithful. If you are, it won’t matter if you’re leading 33 people or 3,000, if everyone sings or if everyone stares at you, or if you “feel” good about the service or not.

Secondly, relax. Your only boast is in the cross.
Paul writes in Galatians 6:14 “…far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

If you don’t have things like expensive sound systems, professional musicians, lighting, staging, new instruments, totally engaged congregation members, packed-out rooms, video screens, in-ear monitors, tons of experience, and multiple services, be grateful. While none of those things are inherently sinful, they can become major distractions and sources of pride. And contrary to popular belief, you don’t “need” any of them in order to effectively lead people in worship.

If you’re nervous before you lead worship because you feel inadequate and small, you’re in a good position. You are inadequate and you are small! But don’t allow this realization to be a source of nervousness for you – let it become a constant reminder that your only boast is in the cross. Jesus has covered your inadequacies and sinfulness with his blood, making it possible for you to approach the throne of grace not with nervousness, but with confidence. Effective worship leaders are the ones who boast only in the cross.

And thirdly, relax. You’re only leading one service.
Think back to Sunday, July 27^th, 1997. Did you go to church that day? If so, do you remember who preached? What was the song list? Did the guitarist play the right arpeggio on top of verse two? Did the drummer remember to play the open hi-hat instead of the ride cymbal on the last chorus? Did the worship leader fumble over his prayer after the opening song?

You can’t remember?

Exactly.

Don’t allow yourself to feel overwhelmed before you lead worship. Take a deep breath and remember that it’s just one service. There will be more. Many more. You might make mistakes, there might not be very many people there, and you might be inexperienced. But there will be a service next week, and the week after that. The weeks will turn to months, and the months to years. You’ll get more experience. You’ll get more comfortable with being in front. No one particular service, in the grand scheme of eternity, is critical enough to the souls of whoever will attend, for you to feel sick over. Effective worship leaders have long-term perspective and patience.

So, just relax the next time you get ready to lead worship. Pray and prepare as much as you can, show up early, and then when it’s time to start, be faithful and trust that the Holy Spirit will do his work. He will!