Re: [Worship] refocusing of our mission

[Ian Goldby <Ian.Goldby@mail.com>]

>Lately, after a little burn out, I have realized that I am making worship
>the only thing in my life.  I have pushed away family in a few ways.  I have
>spent more time working on preparing a 'program' than studying the bible and
>time in prayer.  I was thinking about quitting the team all together,
>leaving a large hole for the church to fill.  After a lot of prayer by
>others and myself, God has shown me that it is not about making a service
>'feel' right.  It is not about having people complement the team about how
>'good' it is.  It is about Worshiping God.
>
<SNIP>
>
>Jamie Larson

Can I offer an alternative perspective? I think that there are two aspects
to our worship as worship leaders. One is our own personal acts of worship.
This is the way we live our lives outside church - the time we spend with
our family and friends, our personal devotions. It is about living a life
that demonstrates how much we value Jesus. The parable of the sheep and the
goats illustrates the point excellently.

The second aspect is our service to the church. This is when we are in our
leadership role, putting in the planning, preparation, and finally leading
the music itself for the sake of the congregation. This is pure
servanthood. We do it entirely for the benefit of the people we are
leading. It is not for the sake of our own walk with the Lord.

If one takes this view, then it is impossible by our worship to push away
family and fail to pray and study the Bible, because these are the very
things that are our worship. It is also part of our service to God and
therefore our worship to prepare music that will benefit the congregation.
We should not fret if our own needs have not been met during the music if
we have succeeded in bringing the congregation to a place where their needs
can be met by God.

A consequence of all this is that no one should lead worship week in and
week out. You cannot spend your entire time serving the needs of others.
Not even Jesus did that. It is absolutely vital to be able to spend some
time 'on the other side of the mic'. In my case, it is one week in four -
but not every week that I am 'up front' am I leading, and I find I can
relax into the music much more easily when I have less to think about.

Ian


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