23 April: Tuesday Refocus

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” - Romans 12:3

God has uniquely gifted and wired every follower of Christ. We are given gifts by the Holy Spirit not for selfish ambition, but for building up the body of Christ. For God’s glory, and for the good of His people and His world. Thinking of myself with sober judgment means I can celebrate the gifts of others without despairing of the gifts I perceive I do not possess. It means that I can also acknowledge the way God has gifted me without boasting in myself or belittling others.

Each of us is more than our gifts. But we are given gifts to spend selfishly but to invest selflessly.

Father, may we use the gifts you have entrusted to us for your glory and the good of your Church and your world. Amen.

Amen,

AB

Don't Jump Off A Bridge

“If everyone else was jumping off a bridge, would you do it too?”

Maybe that was something you heard growing up. The truth is, we are just as susceptible to peer pressure as adults as we were as children. And even as worship leaders, we can feel pressure to participate because it is what everyone else is doing. Song choice, style, format, aesthetic, technology - just because ‘everyone’ is doing it doesn’t mean you have to.

So much of what we do is gray, and requires a knowledge of our people, our culture, and our the communities in which we serve. As worship leaders our decisions about what, why, when, and how should be measured over and against the mission, vision, and values of our church and a philosophy of ministry.

I am incredibly grateful for the way technology, and the internet gives us access to songs, churches, worship leaders, training, and artist we would otherwise not know. But one of the downsides to this reality is that we can only see the outworking of another group’s philosophy of ministry. When we simply adopt the songs, style, or aesthetic of another church, group, or worship leader, our services can easily become cheap, karaoke versions of something that was originally crafted with intention. We want the look, feel, style, and response we see on those beautifully lit, and mixed YouTube videos, when our unique contexts look nothing like what we see online.

I am not saying, ‘Don’t use those songs…,’ I use those songs! But do not let what you see, or what others are doing be the single most significant determining factor in the decisions you make as a worship leader. Do the hard work of understanding your people (the congregation), and your team (the skills, gifts, and weaknesses), and allow the mission of your church, and your philosophy of worship to shape the decisions that you make.

Know Your People

If you would have asked me ten years ago if relationships were important within the role of leading worship I would have said, ‘yes.’ But what I did not understand was the fundamental connection between leading worship and being in relationship with the people you serve. If we see the role of leading worship as primarily musical, relationships will be secondary. If we see the role of leading worship as primarily pastoral, shepherding the people of God, then relationships become inextricably linked to the responsibility of leading worship. If you, like me, struggle to understand the value of relationships to your role as a worship leader, here are some of the things I have learned over the years:

We need relationships to be reminded that we are sheep before shepherds. We must remember before we have a role, exercise any gifts, walk in a God-given calling, we are sheep. When we intentionally create distance by things like staying backstage, being disengaged during the sermon, or staying out of the room our presence communicates what we think is valuable in significant and subtle ways. We too are sheep needing the voice of our shepherd.

Relationship informs the way that we serve because discipleship is rooted in relationship. We are not people-directed, but Holy Spirit led, but knowing the stories, struggles, and experiences of those we lead in song should shape the way we pray, prepare and point them to Jesus. As leaders of sung corporate worship, I believe that we are making disciples through our liturgy, song choice, and leadership on a Sunday morning. But true disciple-makers are those that make disciples as they go, not just when they are wearing the vocation/volunteer hat as a worship leader.

Relationships help us see the individual, not just a crowd. Standing in front of 20 people or 2,000 there is a temptation to see a crowd rather than the individual. But as we begin to enter into personal relationships with people in our church, it adds perspective to the crowd. We can begin to see the individual - made in the image of God, completely loved, completely known, as we stand before the crowd.

What are you learning about relationships and leading worship?