Hey all,
Here we are with the first segment of “The Practicalities Of Worship”. This is a loaded topic that I cannot begin to cover in one post. You wouldn’t read it all even if I tried. So we are breaking it down.
In these topics, I pull from my formal education, but mostly my experience in ministries I have served in across the United States. It is so funny and actually kind of beautiful how consistent the Church can be. I have felt led to discuss the things that I most often hear worship leaders talk about, and how to implement systems that benefit us as leaders, as well as the people we serve. Ultimately it falls on the leaders of the church to steer the ship, and I want to encourage leaders to steer in confidence and with excitement for what we get to do. SO, that said, let’s dive in.
Without a doubt, worship at its core is a matter of the heart. I discussed this at a surface level in my last blog post if you’d like to reference that. So once the heart is in the right place, what else do you need for worship? The actual answer is “absolutely nothing”. Worship can happen in speech, song, and in silence. It can look like joy and thanksgiving, or a grieving heart laying it all at the feet of Jesus. These are equally pleasing postures to the Lord.
So, while nothing but a right heart is required for worship, there are a lot of opportunities to facilitate, and teach postures of worship in a congregational setting. How do we know what these opportunities look like? Some are creative and Spirit led, and others we are given in scripture. There aren’t many hills I will die on when it comes to how worship should be done, but there is one that matters more deeply to me than any other practical concept in musical worship. This is that the hand should be doing what the hand was designed to do, and the foot should be doing what the foot was designed to do. You may be thinking “what in the world does that have to do with modern worship in a musical context?”
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12…
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 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 part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye can not say to the hand, “I have no need of you".” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the great honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Now, what do we take away from this? And how does it apply to a musical, modern worship context? Put simply, Paul parallels the Church to a physical body with different parts, purposes, and strengths. My main takeaways from this passage are:
Different gifts are given to different parts of the body (verse 28)
No gift is more valuable than another (verses 21 - 25)
Every single part of the body is needed (verses 21 - 22)
Different parts of the body are not meant to fill each others roles (verses 17 - 19)
It is not beyond me (or the apostle Paul) that many churches are limited in who they have to serve. But the practical worship hill I will die on is that people who are not gifted in music do not need to be serving musically. In the same way, people who are not gifted in preaching, should not be thrown into the pulpit. This applies in any situation.
While recognizing the limitations that are presented in some ministries, I also believe in the intentionality of Creation and how each of us were woven together with different strengths, passions, and purposes. I believe that He created greeters, ushers, pastors, teachers, singers, instrumentalists, and technology wizards that are designed to operate within those giftings and steward them to excellence in His name and for His glory. So, with the limitations, please don’t put your non-musical friends, family, or insistent church members on the platform. I warn against this for two reasons. 1. It looks a whole lot like nepotism and favoritism (and that’s bad), and 2. You have no grounds to turn anyone down because there is no system for who you allow on the platform. If you have to find a believer outside of your current congregation that can fill that gap, great. I know to some this sounds like a stretch. Many pastors I have spoken to would rather “keep it in the church”. But my questions to them are, what happens when a person uniquely gifted in music comes along? Do you ask the “temporary” person who has been faithfully serving in that role for years to then step aside? If you leave them on the team and mute their mic, what will your response be when they notice? How do you gently communicate that they aren’t needed anymore when they once were treated as essential in a role you no longer want them in?
If we feel the need to turn mics down so people aren’t heard, they should not be given a mic to begin with. Your ministry will attract the standard you set for it. If you don’t require auditions for worship, you will get people that are thrilled to bypass an audition, and the people that are skilled will pass on the opportunity for something more organized. If you do not set a standard for the style of worship you want, you will have a consistent issue with your music feeling non-cohesive. And if you allow people to serve simply because they would be upset if you didn’t, others with that attitude will come. If music is not someone’s gifting, that means there is somewhere else in the church for them to use the gifting they do have. Putting them in a role that they are not equipped for is poor stewarding of the gifts they have been given. It hurts the individual, it hurts the church, and leaves an unnecessary door open for a wound when they find out about what people really think about them being on the platform. It is not about being good enough, it is about people operating in what they were deisgned to. In a real world scenario, you wouldn't look at someone who is really good at math and say, “You should be a chef, we need more of those.” Why not? because that would be a waste of their actual gift.
In my next post, I will get into the details of beginning to remedy a worship ministry that has the hands, feet, eyes, and ears in each others places, and how to implement processes that raise the bar and attract people with the right heart and gifting. Thank you to those to have read and engaged with my writing. My prayer is that as you read, your hope and joy in the gift of ministry would increase. Don’t forget to sit in His presence before you go work in His name. Rest is found there.
Grace and Peace,
Laurel