Making Worship Worthwhile

Have you ever wondered how you could make your worship worthwhile? 

Do you ever question if He's pleased with your praise of Him, and approving of your lifestyle? 

Worship refers to the way we do everything; how we live and relate and regard our Lord every minute of every hour of every day--but for the sake of this post I'm referring to our worship through music and praise. 

For some of you that may pertain only to Sunday mornings in the church pew, for others maybe you listen to worship music before, during, or after your Quiet time with Him. Maybe it's first thing as you start your day, or last thing as you wind down before bed at night. 

Maybe you don't feel like you're giving God your "all" when you're singing the songs, maybe you're afraid of what the person in front of you will hear or you don't feel you're not sure your familiar with the songs in today's set. So, you keep quiet and hold your tongue while everyone else sings around you. 

Does that glorify God?  

God judges our worship, but don't we judge it too? 

Since COVID, we continue to tape the livestream and sometimes Kevin and I catch the video recording after we leave church.  

I tell myself if I watch the recording, I can learn from my mistakes, "see" what worked and what didn't. I can learn what got the most engagement from the congregation. 

Did they: 

•  clap along to an upbeat song? 
• sway in time to the music?, or
• sing loudly and without abandon? 

"If you have to critique your own performance, you' re doing it wrong," my husband told me over toast, cereal and coffee on Monday morning. 

This convicted me.

My husband is right; worship isn't meant to be reviewed or critiqued, or measured up or against any human performance standard, only a godly one. And here's the thing: God already knew what would happen, whose heart He would move, including mine! 

We are judged every service, our pastor told us once. Anytime one is standing on the platform in front of a captive audience will automatically get you judged; and Kevin and I are used to that. We've already experienced being judged by the secular world-which includes drunkards, cheaters, home wreckers, and everyday Joes and Janes, and other "fans and followers" of our bands. 

This is a pressure I face every time I am up there... what can I do to engage the crowd in their worship? 

And, that's just it.... I don't need to ask that! Because it is God who moves the heart.... my only duty is to get out of  HIS way so He can move. 

Too often, worship leaders seek to engage the congregation--and that's a natural part of entertaining and wanting to please your audience. 

So...

Every professional is supposed to seek out ways to improve, and if it involves picking apart a previous worship performance, so be it. 

Right? 

No! I' don't plan to watch the replay ever again, and so far have resisted. God knew how it would go, and how He'd move, and what I'd say, and what congregation member's heart would be touched. There is nothing more for me to learn. The experience has happened. Praise God for it, and move on! 

And I've said it again and again- we sing to an audience of One, and that is God who is the only one who should be judging and moving.

Last Sunday's sermon was entitled Worthless Worship. It was a squirm-worthy sermon --Wait? Isn't church supposed to be comfortable? (No, not always. We're meant to learn and sometimes hear hard truths. Thank GOD we belong to a church that speaks Truth.) I digress.

But, our pastor said this: "One major reason that our worship has become worthless is we're focused on everything and everybody else."

In Matt 7:1-6, Jesus warns us that when we judge, we are judged in return, and more so, when we're judged we're really hypocrites. 

Do Not Judge

7 “Judge[a] not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what [b]judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. 

So, here's what I've discovered and (it has taken me long enough!):

A worship leader's most important responsibility while leading worship is to get (and stay) out of God's way so that the Holy Spirit can move where and how and when He wants to.

Will My Worship Change?

Where do I go now? Will I "step out of the way" so that God can move? 

For most of my life (despite acting in musical theater, modeling, and speaking at conferences, marches, and rallies; read: OLD LIFE (before we had Christ), I was never comfortable speaking before a crowd! I was "too cool" for that. UNLESS I was acting in a role, speaking for the most part felt unnatural and like I was going way out of my comfort zone. 

When God brought Kevin and I to our current church, our previous worship leader would speak... and tell personal stories and share scripture. He seemed to have the worship leading down! But... were others being led to Jesus? I thought they were! 

I have had several conversations with our pastor about how our job as worship leaders is to point the congregation to the words of our songs. Perhaps the role of worship leader is meant to be more or less a facilitator.

We choose the songs, offer up the music, lead the vocals and that's it! 

If it were all up to me, I'd have worship be done MY way:  more instrumental music, more praying, only scripture shared, no personal anectdotes or stories.  

I and the team would be so prayed up and saturated with the Holy Spirit that God would move freely and no one; not me, not the worship team, not the musicians, not the other singers would get in His way. 

They would all follow my instruction ("Let's sing the bridge again," "let's repeat the chorus," "let's just play this verse instrumentally so we can hear from God,"), trusting that it is God-led, and we would each walk away filled and full and with a Word.   

My responsibility is to move out of God's way... And I keep going round in circles because that is hard to do when you feel self-conscious. And, when do you feel self-conscious? When you're thrust onto a platform and asked to lead a congregation!

But, it's not up to me, it's up to God. 

Going forward, I plan to: start praying for a changed heart, thank Him for His trust in our leading the music ministry, ask in prayer --as our pastor does-- that God continue to decrease me (and everyone on the platform behind a microphone or a musical instrument) so that He may increase and people see Him through us, or despite us. 

And, for goodness sakes, stop feeling like I'm responsible for congregational engagement! 

What if?

As a professional writer, one of my favorite ways to brainstorm a story, plot, or character development is to ask What if? 

What if I took the story this direction? What if I had a character respond this way? What if I cause her to ignore the advice or warning she just got?

So, I like to use this thinking in my own life. What IF I was to say nothing more than "Good morning" to our congregation and let the music speak on its own? What if I was to truly ask the Lord to rid me of all self-consciousness so that I could just freely, wholeheartedly, focus and worship?

What if I could forget about whose in front of me, behind me, next to me, and just allow myself to wholly feel God's Holy Spirit, stopping only to pray to Him and otherwise letting Him move, move, move as He wills? 

How would my worship change? How would my role as worship leader expand? And...how would others experience worship and be led further into a relationship with Jesus? 

What IF? 

I can't wait to find out! 

 

Photo by Jason Hogan on Unsplash