Most of us have grown up watching and enjoying worship songs by Hillsong, Bob Fitts, Don Moen and many more. We’ve loved their set up and the way they lead their crowd. Deep down, we would have even craved to be where they are. But has their journey been that simple as we see and think of it to be?
Since a long time I’ve been wanting to write this blog. Before completing this blog, I had passed on a questionnaire to a few worship teams; the response I received was overwhelming. I personally learnt a lot from a different perspective.
I had been a part of the worship team for a long time. I’ve seen many leaders and the different ways they lead their team; and I’ve learnt a lot from each one of them. When I got a chance to lead our worship teams, I understood what it actually takes to be a worship leader, or for that matter of fact, even to complete a small responsibility as a part of the worship team. What I learned, helped me get better as a worshipper. I hope my findings may be helpful!
•God has chosen you. You grow and get better where you are because God has chosen you. If not for God’s plan, you would have been a mess. God searches the depths of your heart and gives you the privilege to serve Him. https://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/john/passage/?q=john+4:23-24
When God has chosen you, He will also give you the skill to glorify Him. https://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/exodus/passage/?q=exodus+31:1-6
But that doesn’t mean that you have no work to do. Your role is to remain committed and passionate about your role. One response I received about passion was wonderful. If you have a passion to work for God’s kingdom, you will be ready to take all the pain it requires and make the necessary sacrifices to give God the best in what you do. As I earlier mentioned about Hillsong and other artists, they are where they are because of their passion for God; they spend hours meditating on God’s word and practicing music. That’s how they not only are able to minister to many souls, but also attain perfection.
•The next important thing is to pass on the mantle. Are you preparing someone after you? Moses prepared Joshua to be the next leader. Joshua failed to prepare anyone after him which created chaos for a while. It is always important and good to have a backup in case you are not available. With that attitude you ensure that you would not want the worship team to lack in any area. Preparing someone after you also shows that you are not wanting all the attention; it’s not about you, but it’s all about the work in the Kingdom that must continue. Sharing your knowledge also enriches you and you may end up discovering something new each time. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013:16&version=ESV
•Discipline is one of the most important principles in any person’s life. Being punctual, taking care of your resources, respecting each other, constructive criticism is all important to improve as an individual and as a team. Being disciplined does show how involved you are in your role. I am not talking about following hard and fast rules that don’t provide any space to a person, but reasonable rules that also display honour towards God’s work and maintain a good testimony. You might be elder than your leader, but that doesn’t excuse you from being submissive. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3fsearch=Hebrews%2b12:11&version=NIV&interface=amp
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3fsearch=1%2bTimothy%2b4:12-14&version=HCSB&interface=amp
•Stressed leader? Lack of transperancy, passion and commitment in the team members will lead to a leader being stressed out trying to hold all of them together. A worship team will get better only if each and every individual is passionate about learning and getting better; if they are ready to commit themselves totally for their calling. Rejection of constructive criticism will only lead to stagnancy. Only encouraging or only criticising will bring a stop to all scope of growing. There has to be a balance. Some people say that Church is not place to please people, but I’ve mostly seen such people end up as man pleasers. Honestly speaking, there shouldn't be any place where you please men. We should pelase God in all that we do. The Bible clearly mentions that we must encourage and uplift each other in truth and love. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Thessalonians+5%3A11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+4%3A2&version=ERV
In order to improve, we need to learn to accept our flaws and work on them. We need to commit our time in practice which may require hours. When I say commitment, I mean both time and money. Without time your skills won’t get better and without money you won’t be able to upgrade yourselves with better equipments. It’s true that the heart matters more to God, but the use of instruments in worship (Zamaars) is mentioned in the Bible. It is not only the responsibility of the church to invest in better equipments, but also an individual responsibility and passion to improvise and get better. When people in the world are so passionate about giving their best, why do we limit ourselves when we worship God? I don’t find anything wrong in getting better equipped as long as your focus is God and worshipping Him and not self-glorification. At the same time, the church also has to be sensitive and supportive to the needs of their worship team and contribute in the investments. It goes hand in hand.
Finally, we need to realise that we are there to serve the people of God by leading them to the altar. It’s not a stage for our personal glorification, but an altar to get the lost and brokenhearted to. It is not the song that is annointed, but you are annointed and you minister to people through worship songs. It isn’t wrong to aspire to be like great worship leaders and worship teams, but it’s wrong to expect that any of it will come to you without any sacrifice. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+11:1
Worship is not only singing, but every person in the team playing the instruments, displaying the lyrics, handling the sound, etc are worshipping God by catering to His people with passion in carrying forth the responsibility given to them. Let us focus on getting better for the glory of God and being able to cater to the broken hearted through our worship.
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