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.
