Moving From Performance To Power (Part One)

Recently, I was meditating on what I do – leading praise and worship and ministering to the Lord (and His people) in song.  As easy as this sounds, you may not know how complex leading praise and worship can become.  Learn these words, know these vocal parts, don’t forget to move in sync with the rest of the group, drop your jaw, vibrato…and on and on it goes.  How did we make such a simple act of love and adoration into such a performance-driven act?  That’s exactly what I was pondering.  I guess, my background, being so diverse, causes me to look at praise and worship, in church, a tad differently from other people.  See, I grew up in the Southern Baptist denomination.  “Praise and worship” was not a common term I remember in those days.  We had “hymns” and “song services”.  Of course, there was that seasoned soloist who would sing a “non-hymn” song (usually accompanied by a performance track purchased at the local Bible Book Store) on a Sunday or Wednesday night.
                In my teens I started meeting Pentecostals.  Now, they had “expressions of praise” I had never heard or seen before, like lifting up their hands and actually clapping their hands.  Every once in a while one of them would get to dancing or “doing the Holy Ghost hop” as they affectionately called it.  The only expressions of praise I had known before that was standing and sitting.  There wasn’t too much in between.
              My freshman year of college I found myself in a predominately black church and learning about the “shout” and “the praise break”.  Being one of the few Caucasians in the bunch, I found myself clapping my hands or jumping up and down during those times.  The Holy Ghost never “took hold of my feet”, so I just learned after serving there for a few years how to “get in where you fit in.”
              The last church I served in before coming to Jacksonville in 2009 was a small church of about 75 people.  The interesting thing about this church is that 90 percent of the congregation was from Zimbabwe.  The pastor was American, but the church was started by a Bishop in Zimbabwe.  Their expressions of praise and worship were not what I saw in any other churches I had served in because it wasn’t really a “performance-style” of praise and worship.  They didn’t like using microphones.  They didn’t know anything about singing Soprano, Alto or Tenor parts, they just sang what they heard or felt in their spirit.  They didn’t lift their hands much in worship either.  If the Spirit of God was dealing with them they would just lay prostrate on the floor.  Their vocal and musical ability wasn’t much to be desired, from a natural stand point, either but their focus and their heart beat was to connect with God in praise and worship.  They sought the power of God to show up in the service with signs and wonders and praise and worship was a starting point to get to that end.  Nothing else mattered to them.  They expected to see God’s Hand move upon the congregation and on themselves and everything else was secondary.
              So, here we go, back to my original thought.  I was meditating on what we do.  Is what we do mere performance?  Are we just repeating what we’ve seen in the past?  Past churches? Past concerts?  Are we trying to mimic what we’ve seen at a concert, on a TV show or on the internet?  Are we putting on a show for the people to be entertained? Or are we seeking God and allowing the congregation to become involved?

              As I was pondering these things, I received an email from Integrity Music with an article by Paul Baloche.  He is a well-known and well-regarded singer-songwriter and praise and worship leader.  And his article was dealing with the very thing I was pondering.  Let me share a little of what he wrote in his article:

              “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come back from a conference pumped and instead of letting that encounter pace itself over time from the inside out, I end up trying to copy the experience.  But I’ve come to realize that the concert experience doesn’t translate to most of our churches on Sunday morning.  Sunday mornings are more of an ‘un-concert’.
            Our role is to help others worship.  Period.  The people that attend my fellowship don’t want or need a performance.  They need connection – with God and with one another.  So, our job is to facilitate that as best we can.  Let’s break down the invisible barrier between ‘the people on stage’ and ‘the audience’.  This is not ‘American Idol’.  This is God’s people singing their prayers to their Father, their Savior, and to the Holy Spirit.
            At the end of the day, God is not calling us to perform on Sunday mornings, but rather calling us to become more authentic and more transparent in our times of worship.
            There are many things that we can do to help us from being infected by our performance culture and as always we find timeless wisdom in the ancient text of scripture.  There is a priestly model described in 1 Chronicles…as ‘ministry to the Lord.’  The Levites didn’t ‘lead people’ in worship but instead were charged with the task of ‘singing praise to God both day and night…in the temple.’  They sang to the Invisible God.  An audience of One. 
            How often do we minister to God in private?  Ideally, worship leading is publicly modeling what we have been doing privately.”

              I believe that is what we should be pursuing – the Power of God working through us instead of performing for people’s applause.  On stage (and off) we should be seeking God first and not seeking the approval of an “audience”.  Now, understand, there is a balance to this because not only are we renewing our minds to this, but the congregation must go through a mind renewal as well.  We are not here to put on “show” for them to watch and be entertained.  They should be participating.  So next month, I will share some things on how to get the congregation involved in corporate praise and worship.

Keeping Worship In Your Worship

“And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning]” – Isaiah 29:13 (Amplified)

A few Sundays ago, the Holy Spirit arrested me during my prayer time.  I heard so clearly in my spirit the Lord ask this simple, but convicting, question: “Are you going to worship Me when you worship today?”  At first, I was slightly offended.  “God, how could you ask me that?  I worship you every Sunday.  And every Wednesday.  Whenever I listen to worship music or spend time in Your Word!  Of course I worship you!!”  But like a well-seasoned teacher speaking to his young and cocky student, the Lord asked me the question again – “Are you going to worship Me when you worship today?”

It was then that the verse from Isaiah (repeated in Matthew) came to me and I began to see what God was teaching me.  I can be present in worship, but not really be in His presence.  My body is there during the “worship” time, but there is no worship going on.  I’m singing songs.  I’m lifting my hands.  I’m closing my eyes. I’m hearing His Word.  But, as the verse says, my heart and my mind are far from Him.  My heart and mind have set their attention on other things.  Not necessarily sinister or evil things.  Just things that distract and divert.  I believe the Bible calls these things “the cares of this world” (Mark 4:19).

Now as a worship leader, this can become dangerous.  As a leader, I am leading the congregation to where I am.  If I’m not worshipping when its time to worship, then I am leading the congregation in false worship.  Empty worship.  Vain worship. (You can see now why the conviction came so strong) But whether you are the set “Worship Leader” for that time or not, you are still leading others in your worship.  You are still a model that others are following.

For an instrumentalist it may seem that this as just a “singer’s problem”, but I have to disagree.  As a musician, you may not necessarily worship with your mouth, as the verse says, but you can still fall prey to the trap of having no worship in your worship.  You may be playing your instrument during worship, but are you playing unto the Lord?  I think of David as a shepherd boy.  His audience every day and every night wasn’t a church congregation or even a great assembly of people.  There were actually no people hearing him play at all.  Just the sheep in his care…and the Lord.  He wasn’t playing to impress the sheep, or even trying to impress the Lord he was just playing before Him out of his love for Him.  Whether he was singing or playing his harp (or both at the same time), he was worshipping.

Now, am I talking about a feeling or an emotion to tell us that we are worshipping?  Absolutely not, even though there’s nothing wrong with feelings or emotions in worship. I think about what Elder David Goodin shared with me a few years ago – “How would you sing your song (or play your instrument) if you were standing before Jesus?”  Would you be trying to impress Him with your knowledge and skill or would you simply play as an expression of love?

I remember when Hanna (my daughter), who was just a baby, began smiling at me.  I didn’t command her to smile.  I didn’t get angry with her if she didn’t smile.  I just held her, looked at her and smiled at her.  Then one day when I smiled at her she smiled back.  That was her expression of love to me.  It didn’t have to be forced or coerced. She didn’t try to fancy it up with a wink and a nod.  It was just a smile. She loved me and the way she knew to express it was to smile at me.  That showed me an aspect of worship that I hadn’t seen before.  Worship is just an outward expression of what you are experiencing on the inside.  How it is displayed varies on your knowledge and ability of expression.  Hanna knew how to smile so she smiled at me.  Now, if I’m sitting in the room with her and she’s playing with her toys and begins to smile and laugh, I can’t say, “Oh look, she expressing her love for me.”  I can’t say that because at that moment I am not the center of her attention.  When I’m holding her and she’s looking at me I can say that.

Now let’s see that from God’s perspective.  Some of our expressions of love (worship) are to lift our hands, sing, play our instrument, etc.  But just because we are doing these things doesn’t mean we are worshipping.  These outward expressions are worship when He is the center of our attention. So, are we playing our instrument just to play? Are we singing our songs just to sing?  Is God the center of our attention?  Is He even the center of our affection?  Is there any worship in your worship?

“Worship Watching: A Worship Leader’s True Life Confession and His Challenge to Those on Both Sides of the Pulpit During Corporate Worship”

Recently I attended a Youth Ministry Party and was struck with a thought while watching a dance crew perform.  They weren’t just dancing; they were worshiping with their entire bodies.  I believe I caught a glimpse of what David must have looked like when the Bible says he “danced before the Lord with all of his might” (2 Chronicles 6:14).  These four young men offered an unashamed living sacrifice before their peers for about fifteen straight minutes while all those around them just stood in awe.

In between two of the songs, the leader of the dance crew encouraged the youth and youth leaders to join in the worship.  At one point he was pretty much begging and pleading for them to stop becoming spectators and to become participants.  And that’s when this thought hit me in the gut – “There are those that would rather watch someone else worship than actually worship themselves.”  It struck me so strongly because that is exactly how I felt in that moment.  See, I’m not a dancer.  Dancing isn’t something I would ever want to do in public.  And here was this worship leader imploring me to join in worship, and I, a fellow worship leader, declined to participate because I didn’t want to embarrass myself.

In that moment, I saw what I do from a different perspective.  On Sunday mornings when I’m leading worship and I encourage the congregation to sing along I think nothing of it.  I may even be thinking, “Just sing people.  Its not that hard.”  But singing is easy for me and what I often fail to remember is that singing isn’t easy for everybody.

So I want to charge both sides of the pulpit when it comes to corporate worship.  If you are a worship leader, you must remember that just because you’re gifted with a specific expression of worship (such as playing an instrument, singing, dancing, etc.) doesn’t mean that everyone else is.  You must also be mindful to keep the worship “simple” enough that anyone can join along, no matter what his or her skill level is.  I must admit this can sometimes be hard for a gifted and creative leader.  When it comes to the creative artists, average is often deemed a dirty word.  “Creatives” (as we are often called) are always looking to stretch the boundaries or to think outside of the box.  That’s great for a concert or a showcase, but when you need to have a group of people follow you without any rehearsal, you’ve got to keep it simple.  Not everyone in the congregation can follow you (and your sopranos) through four key changes in one song.  And you may not want to lead a song that has four different verses, two different choruses with a vamp and tag ending.  No matter how “anointed” the song may be, if the congregation is watching you worship instead of worshipping themselves, then its all for naught.  You gave them a good show, but no one got to experience an encounter with God except for you and your team/choir.

On the other side, if you are a congregant (and feel you are lacking in the talent department) when the worship leader is asking you to participate, whether it’s to sing, dance, clap, shout, pray…just do it.  Even if you can’t sing, sing anyway.  Even if you can’t dance, dance anyway.  When you don’t feel like clapping or shouting, clap harder and shout louder!!  God isn’t in our spectating, He’s right there when we are participating.  James 4 says that when you draw near to God, that’s when He draws near to you.  He’s waiting for you to engage in worship, not just watching the worship around you.

What's On Your List?

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Imagine with me, if you will, that the next time you go to God for a time of worship that He interrupts you, before you can begin, and tells you to take out two sheets of notebook paper.  Suppose that He instructs you to take the first sheet of paper and write down every request you can think of.  Write down every need.  Every desire.  Every dream you are still waiting to be fulfilled.  You quickly find yourself scribbling frantically on line after line, hoping that you don’t forget anything.  New car. Promotion on the job with a nice pay raise.  Supernatural weight loss. Healing of a loved one.  “Whatever your heart can dream to ask”, God says, “ask for it.”

A moment or two later, you’ve filled the sheet of paper.  You glance over it again to make sure it is complete.  “Surely”, you begin to ponder, “the Lord wants this list so that He can fulfill it.”

You’re ready to hand it in, but the Lord interrupts again, and instructs to you take out the second sheet of paper.  His next statement is clear: “Now, write down every thing you are grateful for.” Suddenly, your mind goes blank. You begin to write a few lines. You’re thankful for your parents.  Your pastor. Your spouse. Your salvation…

Your scribbling doesn’t seem to be as frantic as before.  The sheet of paper isn’t even half-way complete, so you start writing bigger, hoping to take up more space.  Your mind is racing.  “What else am I grateful for?”

Time’s up.  God reaches for the paper and you reluctantly hand them over.  God folds them up and slides them into His pocket.  And then as quickly as He appeared, He is gone.

Pretty crazy right?  I mean, really, God wouldn’t do that. That’s just silly.  But, silly or not, it’s a pretty accurate indicator of the condition of your heart.  As a matter of fact, I asked a group of worship-leaders-in-training to do the same thing last year.  I had them make a list of all of the things that they were thankful for in that moment.  Some had ten things.  Some had fifty.  But none of them were quick to begin.  They all had to stop and think for a minute before they began to write.  When they were done, I asked them to share their “Grateful List” with the group.  And after each one shared their list, in turn, I presented this simple phrase that I believe God spoke to me several years ago: “You cannot worship God and be ungrateful at the same time.  It is virtually impossible.”

What exactly does that mean? It means that when we are truly worshipping God, we are not taking Him a list of wants or desires.  When we are truly worshipping God, we are not complaining about the things that we don’t have or about the things we want to see changed.  When we are truly worshipping God, our full attention is on Him.  His goodness.  His mercy. His unfailing love.  And if our attention isn’t on that, then we’re not really, truly worshipping.  We may be singing a song.  Or saying a prayer.  Or lifting our hands.  But worship? No, worship comes from the heart of those who are grateful.

So, today, if God would ask…what’s on your list?

Worship Is More Than A Song

I heard a song the other day that just rocked me to my very core called “Clear The Stage” by Ross King.  The chorus basically says “You can sing all you want to and still get it wrong because worship is more than a song.”

Did that hit you as strong as it hits me? Now, maybe I took it a little harder on the chin because I am the music director and primary worship leader at my church and singing is, quite frankly, what I do for a living.  And I have realized over and over again how it can become quite easy for me to get lost in my gift and lose sight of the Giver.  But I have to say that it can get just as easy for a Christian to fall into the same carelessness in their worship.

When we hear the term “praise and worship” we quickly associate that with music.  More precisely, we associate it with the music we hear at church. Some think of hymns, some think of a “praise chorus”, while others may think worship is any song they have heard from Chris Tomlin or Yolanda Adams.  No matter what “style” of music you think of you would still be incorrect if you thought that style was all that praise and worship consisted of.  Truth be told, music is just one of many expressions of praise and worship.  Unfortunately, over the past few centuries, music has taken over the worship spotlight and thereby deluded the full meaning and purpose of praise and worship.  Now, I’m not saying that musical expressions of praise and worship are incorrect; I’m merely saying that they are incomplete.

I have been taught and come to understand that there are three core elements to worship. Whether you’re singing, dancing, clapping, shouting, serving or giving, if these three core elements are missing, then no matter what your form of worship is, it is being done in vain.

The first core element is having perpetual availability to God.  That means that you live in a state of openness to God by giving Him complete and total access to your life and that you stay in legitimate anticipation of readiness to carry out His instructions.  If God can’t have access to your life then there is no true worship on your part.  To sing “I give myself away so You can use me” and yet hold a portion of your heart, desires, dreams, aspirations or even sin in a compartment that you want to keep hidden from God is void and useless.  Just like Cain’s offering, God rejects it.  Why? Because you are offering something to God that has no sacrifice attached to it.  You’re singing a beautiful song, but every word is a lie.

The second core element is on-going yieldedness or continually giving the “right of way” to the Holy Spirit.  Worship carries with it Christ-interruptability.  You cannot say that you are worshipping God and have a made-up mind in the matter.  Your pastor may be calling a special offering for the church.  Whether you know it or not, writing that check is an expression of worship.  When you value God’s plan and provision over your own personal agenda - that is worship.  You may say to yourself, “Well, I already gave my tithe, so God should be happy with that” you rob yourself of true worship.  You have made yourself just like one of the Pharisees that made sure every tithe they gave was correct to the very penny, but neglected God in acts of charity and mercy.

The third element is complete and willing obedience. That seems simple enough, doesn’t it?  But if we are truly honest with ourselves, we know that complete and willing obedience is one of the greatest tests of our faith.  See, it’s easy to lift your hands, close your eyes and lose yourself in a song in a church full of like-minded believers.  That’s easy obedience.  The worship leader says, “Clap your hands” and you begin to clap along with every one else.  Once again, easy obedience.  But now take that obedience outside of the Sunday morning setting.  Its Thursday after lunch and your boss asks you to work a few hours of overtime.  You have nothing scheduled after work except to relax at home with a warm bath and a good book.  But you can sense in your spirit that you should work the overtime, but you shake it off because really want to see how chapter 16 is going to end.  The prompting of the Holy Spirit hits again and you reluctantly comply by telling your boss that you’ll work until 7:30pm.  But then as soon as it passes five o’clock, you’re not really working.  You leave your computer on and a few files on your desk, but you’ve retreated to the restroom with book in hand to sit and finish a few chapters.  “After all”, you reason with yourself, “there are only a handful of employees left in the building and boss will be in meetings until at least six o’clock.”  So your obedience lacks completeness and any sense of willingness. And worst of all, you don’t even realize that submitting to your authority at work is an expression of worship to the One you really work for and was responsible for getting you the job in the first place.

Now, I didn’t write all of this to shame you or condemn you.  I’m just sharing with you how off balance we (myself included) have made worship.  So the next time you are lifting your hands while singing “Nobody Greater” or giving to the building fund or simply clocking out after a full day’s work, remember to worship.  Remember to open yourself to instruction.  Remember to yield to the Holy Spirit.  And remember to obey fully and willingly.  Because worship is more than a song.