I’ve been realizing lately that I tend to gravitate towards the same strumming patterns that I’ve always used. I think most acoustic guitarists can relate. This video gives some very simple alternatives to the basic strumming pattern we all learn in the time signature of 4/4.
Author: Jamie Brown
Have You Received Criticism Lately?
It’s always so encouraging to see an email in my inbox with something like “awesome service this morning” or “when are you going to record a CD?” in the subject line. Someone has actually taken the time to sit down to let me know that they appreciate me. It makes me feel good about myself. It makes me feel like I’m doing a good job. I love those kinds of emails.
Conversely, I always take a deep breath when I see an email in my inbox with something like “suggestions for you” or “can we talk?” as the subject line. Someone isn’t terribly happy and they want me to know about it. It makes me nervous. It makes me feel tense. And if I’m honest, it makes me a little angry.
No worship leader enjoys criticism. We all wish that every email could be affirming and that every comment could be congratulatory. However, if we never receive criticism, or if we haven’t received any lately, then we aren’t growing.
When I look back over my worship leading “career” (it feels weird to call it a career), from high school, through college, a volunteer, a part-timer, and now a full-timer, the times I have been most forced to get out of ruts, to break out of bad habits, and to step out of comfort zones have been when I’ve received criticism. Most worship leaders I know say the same thing. Somewhere along the way, when they were happy as could be, a critic came along and mentioned some way they thought the worship leader could grow. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t a “you’re awesome!” email. It was hard. But it was good in the long run.
Not all criticism is helpful, because not all people are healthy. You know this. Your church is made up of sinners (including you). Sometimes you’ll receive criticism you’ll need to ignore. Aren’t you glad we have the Holy Spirit to help us discern what is truth and what isn’t?
But don’t be so quick to ignore criticism. If you really want to grow as a worship leader – whether in leading a band, choosing songs, leading a congregation, working with volunteers, your musical skill, your “stage-presence”, praying out loud, exhorting the congregation, etc. – then you’re going to have to allow yourself to receive criticism.
Some people are bold enough to approach you, either in person or via email, to share an observation with you. If you can, thank them for coming to you. But other people aren’t so bold. They’re afraid they’ll come across wrongly. They appreciate you and don’t want to make you think they don’t. They think that all you hear is criticism. These people might be your colleagues, your worship team members, your friends at your church, or your own family. Maybe you could think about asking them from time to time if there’s anything in particular that they think you could grow in.
I had one of these difficult conversations a little under three months ago. It was hard, I was defensive, I was a bit surprised, and I didn’t really enjoy it. But I’ve grown since then, in small ways, but I’ve grown. I’m grateful for the criticism that God allowed me to hear in order to help me become a bit more mature. No worship leader can grow without hearing criticism, and the good news and bad news is that this includes you!
The Power of Worship in the Midst of Trials
A few weeks ago my church got word that we will most likely lose our building. This means we’ll give up our Historic Church (“the” Falls Church, after which the city was named), our offices, classrooms, meeting space, fellowship space, and Main Sanctuary (built in 1992, holds 900 people, 3 services per weekend) and all property acquired prior to January 30th, 2007, to the Episcopal Church (from whom we separated five years ago).
You would think that on Sunday mornings the congregation would be fearful, anxious, discouraged, or downcast. Not so. Since the ruling, our times of worship have been vibrant, heartfelt, and Christ-exalting. I haven’t seen this much freedom in worship in my 7 ½ years here.
We know we have difficult days ahead. The prospect of losing our campus and our property, relocating to temporary worship and office space, and perhaps building a new building is exciting but also daunting. I’m sure the excitement might wane after a few months (years) of not having a permanent space. Many of you reading this blog deal with this every week and I now have a new appreciation for you.
But this time of uncertainty (and others that our congregation has weathered over the years) has reminded me of the power of worship in the midst of trials. The words on the screen now become the cries of our hearts. The Jesus about whom we’re singing is now our very present help in time of trouble. The Gospel that we’re declaring is now our common assurance and defense. The Holy Spirit in whom we believe is now actively pointing us to Jesus and giving us peace.
Rahm Emmanuel, a former congressman from Illinois, White House Chief of Staff, now the mayor of Chicago, and an infamously shrewd politician is notorious for his statement, “never let a good crisis go to waste”. This is the unspoken creed of most politicians.
Overlooking the sneakiness of that statement, I see a morsel of truth and a lesson for worship leaders who serve churches experiencing crises or trials. Don’t let a time of trial go to waste. It is an opportunity for your congregation to experience so much more of the power of worship to point us to the glory of God in Jesus Christ. This can be taught, but it takes a while. In the midst of trials it can be caught, and this doesn’t take as long.
I’m not suggesting that you pray for a crisis for your church so that they can grow in worship. It’s also probably not a good idea to covertly create one.
But when trials come to your congregation (and they will), don’t pick phony triumphalistic songs, or pull back and treat Sunday mornings like they’re funerals, or ignore the elephant in the room. Follow Rahm Emmanuel’s advice to “never let a good crisis go to waste”. The power of worship in the midst of trials to point individuals and a congregation to Jesus can transform your church’s time of singing.
And whether we stay in this building or worship in a barn, we’ll keep exalting Jesus higher and higher. The power is in his name, not in our trappings.
When Your Congregation Isn’t Into it
Few things are more discouraging, disheartening, and demoralizing for a worship leader than leading a congregation in half-hearted, disengaged, bored singing week after week after week. This will do strange things to a worship leader’s heart, head, and leadership. He might experience temporary times of lift-off, maybe his first Sunday back from a worship conference, or a Sunday when for no reason at all everything feels awesome, only to return to the frozen tundra the next week with a thud.
Obviously, the more anchored a worship leader is, the less susceptible he will be to the normal ebb and flow and ups and downs of leading a congregation. But even the most seasoned, refined, smooth, mature, seen-it-all worship leader will experience thoughts along these lines when looking out at a congregation with the enthusiasm level of people waiting in line at the DMV:
“Would anyone care if I just stopped this song right now?”
“Why in the world did I pick this song?”
“I must stink as a worship leader.”
“Where is the reset button?”
“What is wrong with these people?”
“Is God even here right now?”
“I need to juice this service up somehow.”
“These people will never get it.”
And some (all?) worship leaders who experience these thoughts start to respond by doing impulsive things:
Pick really intense songs the next week in hopes that those really get people going.
Interrupt the time of singing to give a mini, unplanned, spontaneous, unhelpful
sermonette.
Shout out things like “come on!” or “here we go!” or “let me hear you” or “are you not
impressed?” (OK, maybe not the last one, although I have been tempted on many
occasions to use it.)
Revert to safe, tried and true oldie goldies.
Do what worked at the conference/concert/stadium.
Close your eyes and just go for it on your own, whether or not people are with you.
Tell people what to do.
And when none of your quick fixes seem to make any long lasting change you start to get discouraged. You lower your expectations. You get stuck on the spin cycle of worship leading. You’re not really motivated to try very hard anymore. You’re not particularly excited to lead worship but you do it. And once in a while there’s a bit of take-off, but mostly you’re on the tundra, but the prospect of taking off keeps you coming back.
(Some worship leaders don’t have to do deal with this. Their congregations are ready to blast off every Sunday. These worship leaders are like the kids in school who were really good at math and could also play sports and had nice clothes and were tall and got elected class president. They have it easy now, but just wait until they grow up and lose all their hair!)
Seriously, though, I think most worship leaders on planet earth experience what I’m describing. I’m not talking about one Sunday or one song when the congregation seems out it. I’m talking about weeks, months, and years in a row of seeing very little, if any at all, outward/apparent/obvious growth and enthusiasm in corporate worship. It can suck the energy out of you, little by little, Sunday by Sunday, and before you know it you’ve given up hope.
I think there are a few things worship leaders forget.
God is working his purpose out. You might not be able to see it. Actually, you probably can’t. You have no idea what’s bubbling underneath. Your faithfulness and your perseverance as a worship leader is water to the seeds buried deep underground. You can’t see the roots that are being laid.
You can’t base everything on what you see. Yes, what you see is important. But it’s not everything. You could have months and months of services that appear, outwardly, to be stale. But God may very well be working under the surface in ways invisible to you.
Outward physical expressiveness in worship is gratifying to a worship leader, but if it’s not an outgrowth of genuine worship, it’s not honoring to God. The foundation of a house is the most important thing. But you never see it. If the foundation is solid, then you can add things on top of it that will be secure. The same principle applies to worship. Physical expressiveness and outward engagement is important but it’s not the foundation. If all you focus on from week to week is getting the congregation “into it” to your satisfaction, then you’re veering close to emotionalism and manipulation.
I’ve used this before, but I love the analogy of a worship leader acting like a tour guide at the grand canyon. Your job isn’t to dictate how people respond to the beauty they’re beholding (i.e. “open your mouth and gasp now!” or “be amazed! Turn to your children and say ‘the grand canyon is amazing!’”). Your job is to point people to the beauty they’re beholding and then get out the way.
Worship leaders will become discouraged, disheartened and demoralized when their congregation regularly looks like they’d rather watch “Cars 2” on the tour bus then look at the awesome Grand Canyon. Especially when you’ve been leading the same group around for a few years.
Take a step back. It’s not all up to you, but is there anything you can do differently? Probably. Lower your demands for how people should respond. Instead of looking for an immediate response, aim to take people deeper and farther in to the beauty of Jesus. Don’t rely on a little sermonette to do the trick. Rely on Scripture – the sword of the Spirit – to wield its power. Don’t compare your congregation to other congregations. God has placed you where he’s placed you for a reason. For his glory. And his glory will keep us motivated through all the ups and downs.
Give Yourself a Break
For many years, too many years in fact, I led worship way too often.
Starting in the Fall of 2006 when my church started a Saturday service, I was the primary worship leader for the Saturday 5:00pm service and the Sunday 11:00am service. Two services a weekend. I would get a free Sunday the weekend after Easter when our student worship team would lead, and I would take two weekends off somewhere in the summer. Three weekends off per year.
So, I was picking songs, leading rehearsal, up front, and leading worship 49 weekends a year. And since we were doing two services each weekend, that means I was leading worship 108 times a year. This doesn’t count monthly healing services, Wednesday staff meetings, and other services and events. But you get the idea. It was way too much.
It was unhealthy for me. It burns you out after leading that many times in a row. You don’t feel fresh anymore. You don’t lead fresh anymore. Everything starts to blur. You get tired of choosing songs. You get tired of leading rehearsal. You lose energy. You fall into ruts. You get predictable. You get safe. Worst of all, you start thinking that your church would fall apart if you were to leave.
It was unhealthy for my worship team. It didn’t give other worship leaders in the church a chance to lead. There might have been an occasional spot for them for a men’s or women’s ministry event, but I wasn’t giving people an opportunity to get experience leading worship in the context of a service. I was hogging 108 opportunities all for myself.
It was unhealthy for my church. Whether they realized it or not, I was fostering an unhealthy dependence on me leading worship, so that when I did rarely get a service off, it was more disruptive than it should have been. If I really did mean what I prayed – that I would decrease and God would increase – then why wouldn’t I take a very practical step toward decreasing and get myself off of the platform more often?
I have resolved to push other worship leaders in my church into at least half of the 108 yearly opportunities. I lead worship very seldom on Saturday nights now. Other worship leaders take turns, sometimes by themselves, and sometimes with a band. I lead healing services very seldom now. Other worship leaders get experience by leading those. I still lead most of the time on Sunday mornings, but this year I’m planning on taking at least 6 off.
You can’t do this if you’re insecure. If you think your church really needs you, or if you’re concerned that if someone else leads worship then your congregation might forget about you, then you’ve fallen into unhealthy thinking. You have to be secure enough to step back and push others into the spotlight, so to speak. It’s more healthy for you, for your team, and for your congregation.
And you can’t do this if you’re needy. Without realizing it, you can begin to need to be needed, and if you’re not leading worship you feel like you have no purpose. This isn’t a good thing.
I remember meeting a worship leader at a church I visited while on vacation a few years ago (during one of my two weekends off). After a brief conversation with him, I said “I hope you get a couple of weekends off this summer”. Sadness fell over his face. He said “I wish”. It turns out that he was allowed – maybe – one weekend off per year.
For your sake and your church’s sake, make sure you’re getting regular breaks from worship leading. Even if you’re not going on vacation, schedule yourself to get a break. Your substitute might not be as polished, or they might even be better!, but just do it. It will keep you from getting burned out and it will keep your congregation from getting too dependent on you too.
Worthily Magnify 