Heart attitudes – Page 7 – Worthily Magnify

Calling it Out

Far too many worship teams, choirs, and entire music ministries are riddled with pride. Competition, territories, and non-negotiables abound.

“How come Sally gets to sing once every 2 weeks, but I only get to sing every 2 months?”

“This worship team is the only reason why people come to this service.”

“I have played trumpet on this team since long before this worship leader got here, and I’ll be playing on this team long after he leaves.”

“Our choir is what holds this church together. If we weren’t here, half the church would leave.”

“Don’t mess with our services They’re fine the way they are.”

“I’m the best guitarist in the church.”

I am increasingly convinced that one of my roles as a worship leader, and as someone who oversees the worship teams at my church, is to foster an atmosphere in which two things happen: First, pride is not tolerated, and second, pride is called out.

We talk about it. We laugh at it. We say how silly it is. We pray that God would point out evidences of it in our lives. We don’t dance around it and pretend it’s not there, while year after year it festers and grows and eventually chokes the life out of our ministry. We call it out.

Most of the time “calling it out” happens in an intentionally humorous manner. If God “mocks proud mockers” (Proverbs 3:34), then it seems to make sense that we would also view pride as deserving mocking. At our monthly meetings, or in rehearsals, I’ll just try to find ways to poke fun at my sinful desire to be the best, and good-naturedly joke with instrumentalists and singers in a way that encourages not taking ourselves too seriously.

Other times, I’ll call it out in a more serious way, since the warning that “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6) should cause us to take pride seriously. I want to communicate to the worship team three things: First, I struggle with this, and you all struggle with this; second, here are some specific ways we might be tempted to embrace pride as musicians; and third, here are some general ways we’re all tempted to embrace pride as sinful human beings.

Once you call it out – get it out in the open, name it, and expose how destructive and petty pride really is – you can explain why it can’t be tolerated.

The worship leader, choir director, or pastor who’s afraid to address the problem of pride is contributing to an atmosphere in which God’s glory becomes less and less of a priority. I encourage you to call pride out – most of the time gently, sometimes sternly, but always firmly.

Say No To Just Standing There

At our Monday night meeting, I encouraged my church’s worship team to “say no” to three things: (1) sameness, (2) winging it, and (3) just standing there.

For fun, I made up little stickers and handed them out at the beginning of my talk. It made everyone laugh and (hopefully) helped them remember what I said once they got home.

Here’s what I shared about not “just standing there”.

Fresh, creative, excellent, and well-rehearsed music will never change anyone’s life. Jesus will.

Good mixes, proper speaker placement, in-ear monitors, and skillful lyrics/video operation will never bring anyone salvation. Jesus will.

Our areas of giftedness can so easily become idols: things we look to for comfort, deliverance, help, and companionship. We consider them worthy of substantial time and/or money, and pour our lives out for them. Eventually they leave us empty.

We must never worship at the altar of relevance, freshness, music, technology, arrangements, or creativity. We worship the “Lamb who was slain”, who is worthy “to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:11). “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen!” (Revelation 7:10b, 12).

Your job is not to just run sound. Your job is to lead people in exalting the greatness of God in Jesus Christ.

Your job is not to just play drums. Your job is to lead people in magnifying the one who is “great and greatly to be praised”. (Psalm 145:3)

Your job is not just to sing. Your job is to lead people in encountering the glory of God.

Do we make it clear on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings that our passion is for the glory of God, and that our lives have been changed by the gospel?

When people look at us (and they are looking at us), do they see people who are in their position first and foremost to make much of Jesus? Or do they see people who are in their role just because it kind of seems like that’s where they should be… and they could take it or leave it… and they’re not really into it… and they’ll just let the worship leader do his thing…?

Please, in whatever area you serve during a service, don’t just stand there. Sing along, model physical expressiveness, engage with God, pay close attention to the reading and preaching of God’s Word, and “ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name, bring an offering, and come into his courts!” (Psalm 96:8)

Things to Keep in Mind When You’re Driving Home On Sunday

Services are finished and you’re on your way home. Maybe you had a great Sunday where everything clicked. Maybe it was a rough Sunday where everything seemed to fall flat. Maybe you’re somewhere in the middle. Whatever the case, it’s Sunday afternoon and you’re pretty tired. Where does your mind turn?

Depending on the Sunday, you might be tempted to discouragement, or pride, or envy, or frustration. I know that, for me, I’m often tempted to replay in my head things I did well over and over, or obsess over things I could have done better.

Every worship leader, after pouring themselves into a service with several days (if not weeks) of planning and rehearsing, struggles with the post-service let-down. Here are some things I’ve found helpful to keep in mind when I’m driving home on Sunday afternoon:

I am very small. God is very big.
Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus “upholds the universe by the word of his power”. So don’t get caught up in yourself. The world revolves around Jesus, not you or your church.

God sees different things than I see
Maybe I’m discouraged because people didn’t “look engaged”. Keep in mind that “…the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.

The things that frustrate you are good for you
Your drummer can’t keep a beat, your pastor doesn’t sing along, your lyrics operator pulled up last week’s file and didn’t realize until halfway through the second song, no one sang along, your guitar string broke again, etc., etc.

All of these things will make you a better worship leader. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:2-3.

The church needs more worship leaders who will be joyfully “steadfast” in serving their congregations and worship teams.

A week from now you’ll get another chance
If God is “greatly to be praised”, and if “his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3), then no single service will ever be too bad or too good to follow-up one week later. It really isn’t about you! This is really, really good news.

God is receiving unceasing worship right now around the throne
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’” (Revelation 7:9-12)

Never forget that when your Sunday service starts, you’re merely joining in. And when your service ends, the praises keep on going and going and going.

Stay humble
I will never forget the day I was taking a walk and lamenting all the “ways” I wasn’t “getting my way”, when God spoke loudly and clearly to me “Lucifer fell because he wanted my glory”. These words still ring in my ears.

When I demonstrate pride, I demonstrate a desire to receive the glory that God alone is due. God warns us clearly that he “opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. (James 4:6).

Earnestly, actively, intentionally, and brutally attack pride in your heart, especially when you get in your car to drive home after leading worship.

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” (Psalm 115:1).

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)

Do You Despise Instruction?

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

God can communicate instruction to us as worship leaders in numerous ways. Perhaps some of these ring a bell:

An email in your inbox on Monday morning
A church member who comes up to you after a service
A meeting with your pastor
An anonymous handwritten note in your mailbox
An unexpected phone call from a volunteer
Your spouse
Your Mom
A complaint communicated to you second-hand
A meeting with someone who isn’t particularly happy with you
Comments on your “annual review”

As I’m reading through the book of Proverbs this month, I’m struck by how often God commands us not only to receive instruction – but to embrace it. “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching” (1:8). “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (3:11-12). “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight” (4:7).

My natural, sinful response to correction or instruction is to turn away from it, to discount it as unwarranted, and to justify why I should ignore it. When I receive an email, a phone call, or a handwritten note – instead of seeing it as an opportunity for me to gain wisdom and receive instruction – I think of myself as too good to need it. This is a mistake, according to God’s word.

I will never get to the point, either as a Christian, or more specifically as a worship leader, when I no longer need instruction. There will always be areas in which I need to grow, skills I need to improve, habits I need to break, and ways I can be more effective.

As a worship leader in your church, do you despise instruction? Do you look upon those whom God uses to instruct you with arrogance? Do you roll your eyes as you listen to a voice mail or read an email from a church member who is suggesting ways you could improve? Do you consider your pastor as off-base when he offers examples of ways you could grow?

God’s word says that “fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). But “blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold” (3:13-14).

Do what comes unnaturally – intentionally seek instruction, receive correction, pray for humility – and you’ll grow in wisdom.