Get Outta Their Way!

My last post raised lots of eyebrows, I know. The way I summed up everything I teach with: always keep the congregation in mind. Isn't that what most of the worship ministry people are already doing?

No, they're not. And that's the reason why I have to make it my message.
Examples? Look at the majority of what people call worship songs. How many of them have a wide vocal range? The low parts are really low and the high parts are really high (examples: Ancient of Days, Did you feel the Mountains Tremble). No matter how you shift the key of the song, either the guys or the gals in the congregation can't sing it comfortably. In fact, only trained singers can manage the song. Making the average congregation member try it only frustrates them. Whoever wrote those songs didn't keep the congregation in mind.

Or how about the rhythm of the lyrics? Are the lyrics in a rhythm natural for people to speak? If not they're not natural for people to sing. If it's not natural people pay more attention to trying to sing the song correctly than to the God they're supposed to sing to. Do the lyrics go into syncopated sixteenth-beat (semi-quaver) patterns? These are too floaty, hard to people to sing with passion and intensity. (example: the verse from You Are My World) Whoever writes songs like that didn't keep the congregation in mind.

Or how about the worship leaders? Did they give clear directions through out the song? Did they structure the song to maximize the impact of the song? Or were they more interested in showing off their singing skills or the instrumental skills of their musicians? Those who do that aren't keep the congregation in mind.

I think you get the picture by now.
What happens when people structure a worship session without keeping the congregation in mind for every aspect? Very simple, the congregation just doesn't respond. Is it any surprise? They were not given what they need to sing their praises to God, worship songs which touch the heart (rather than just tickle the head) and appropriate music that encourages singing to God rather than listening to the band. What else do you expect?

Now I am a worship leader myself, and I cannot accept the idea that any worship leader will mess up the worship of the people on purpose. I prefer to believe that they are just mistaken or inexperienced. But the damage is done nonetheless.

Let's think of it from a worship leader's point of view. He has taken his favorite songs from the latest, greatest "worship" album by some big-name church or singer, enthusiastically tried them in church, and fallen flat on his face. He'll probably think it's because of the musicians he's working with, that they're not skilled enough.

So they get sent for worship seminars (re-read my post on those) and special classes. They spend hours and hours in practice sessions, drilling the riffs from each song. They now can play what's on the "worship" album note-for-note. The worship leader now goes up to try those same songs again. And falls flat on his face again.

(Hey, in one of the largest churches in Singapore they think copying the "worship" album note-for-note shows their level of skill and excellence. If not for their choir and back-up singers singing their hearts out every Sunday, they'd soon discover the shocking truth that despite how anointed their senior pastor says the worship is, the congregation JUST AIN'T SINGING!)

So now he thinks it's the question of spirituality, that he or his worship team isn't anointed enough. He then implements team prayer time, special Bible studies on worship, and brings the whole team for special worship retreats where they encounter the presence of God in a powerful and personal way. Finally he is certain that the whole team (and himself) is spiritual enough to lead worship. He then goes up to try those same songs again. And falls flat on his face again.

At this point, the worship leader has to decide if it's because of his pastor (not supportive enough, not spiritual enough, not a true worshipper, and other excuses) or because of the congregation, that they're resistant to true worship, unwilling to give their all for God, and are lukewarm or backsliden. Or that what he's taken as an example of what church worship is supposed to be like is mistaken, that he's been taken for a ride by the people who he thinks are worship experts just because they have the best-selling CDs or have written best-selling books on worship.

More often than not, the worship leader tends to place the blame on the congregation. This then leads to a sense of resentment and frustration. Spiritual jargon may be used to cover up these feelings, but the end result is that the worship leader loses his respect for congregation.

If you are such a worship leader, let me tell you something about the congregation of your church. They did their darned best to wake up early on Sunday morning and get to church on time. On the way they probably quarreled with their spouses, children or parents and are feeling lousy about it. They're now at church, tempted to arrange for a last minute "emergency ministry counseling" appointment at Ya Kun (Coffee, tea and kaya toast) but deciding against it because deep in their hearts they truly wanted to worship God. They step in and see you, the worship leader, realize that you're going to try those weird songs that they can't click with, and STILL decide to stay. Now, what are you going to do?

As I told many worship leaders before, the people turning up on time really want to worship. The only question is this: are you going to frustrate them further? Or get outta their way?

I shudder whenever I think about the times I sat in the back half of the hall/auditorium and heard the musicians playing away and realized that from the later half of the place onwards no one was singing. What a tragedy! Whether it’s a fully charismatic church or semi-traditional one, when the worship team forgets to keep the congregation in mind the congregation isn’t going to respond. And how much you practice or pray or how pure your heart is isn’t going to make a difference. If you are not going to give the people what they need they are not going to worship.

In fact, in one of the mega-churches the senior pastor often remarks that the worship in the early days of their church history was more powerful, more sincere and more anointed. Having been around I'd say the only difference is that the musicians didn't have the music standard to try any performance stuff before. Now that they have the standard (and the freedom), they started doing performance music rather than worship music. And that is the path taken by many a mega-church. Believe me, in such a church the congregation also longs for the good old days. Only the worship team is happy because they play what entertains and amuses them musically. And call that ministry done with a spirit of excellence.

Well, most of us are not in a position to do anything about what is going on at church level. But we are to be faithful with what influence God has entrusted to us. And when we have shown ourselves faithful with the little and are being entrusted with much, let us keep our perspective and remember that greatness in the Kingdom of God is the result of serving his people (Mark 10:43-44) Keep the congregation in mind in what you do. Either that or get outta their way, right?

Prayer Time: Getting a deeper understanding of teaching worship at this time. Really grateful to God. Will share with you the revelations over time. Be blessed, everyone!

Don't Drown Them!

I see this happening so often it’s sad. An unprepared, unequipped music student is thrown into the deep end of the pool of music ministry, pressurized into playing for worship before he or she is ready.

The usual excuse given is “He’s grade 08 in piano/guitar. I’m sure he can do it, after all the other guy is only grade 05 (or has no formal training) and he plays so well for church!”

And the poor unfortunate soul is plunged into the deep end of the pool, thrown in to either sink or swim. More often than not they sink. So that’s why I say, don’t drown them!

Let me make this really clear. There’s a world of difference between classical music and contemporary music. And between the contemporary music used for entertainment and the type used for worship.

Thinking that a person with extensive classical training is able to manage contemporary playing is like thinking that a person who has studied Chinese is able to manage Japanese also, since they use a large number of common characters. The only people who can believe that are people who don’t know either language. The grammars of the two languages are radically different.

Just as people who know Chinese can fully utilize Japanese ONLY if they’re been sufficiently exposed to Japanese AND given some teaching (because you can’t learn pronunciation without some form of help), likewise people who know classical music can utilize contemporary music only with some help. The concepts and ideas (the grammar, from a language point of view) are radically different. That’s a huge gap we have here.

And just as large is the gap between contemporary music for performance and contemporary music that works for worship.

Performance music gets people to sit back and listen, to go “wow! What are they doing? How did they do that?” Music meant for worship gets people to sing their praises to God. If it’s working no one notices the music. They’re too busy worshipping God and the musician(s) just kinda fade into the background. Can you see how the two are diametrically opposite?

The problem is this: True worship music isn’t attention-getting and it isn’t appealing to listen to, in fact it’s quite boring. It fulfills its purpose ONLY if people are singing along with it. And that’s not what we hear from the so-called ‘worship’ albums and CDs that are being sold these days and that our church musicians find inspiration from.

So what’s a classically trained musician to do? Seriously, they are starting from scratch. In fact, they often have lots of unlearning to do. And frankly, the ‘worship’ trainers that I know of are not much help, teaching performance music and calling it worship. Not only is performance music more complicated, it doesn’t work in worship and leads to serious problems.

Why don’t more people want to teach true worship music, music that edifies the people of God instead of entertaining them, music that doesn’t distract the people from worshipping God? It’s an absolute mystery to me. Can it possibly be that people just don’t get the secret to worship music?

Let me spell it out for you right now. If you get this simple principle and know how to apply it to any instrument or to worship leading, you don’t need me to teach you anything. It’s this: always keep the congregation in mind!

That simple principle has been the foundation of all I teach in the worship context. I don’t care if it’s not fancy enough to create an intellectual property asset that will rake in tons of money, it’s what I’m doing and I’ll stick with it.

So if you’re thinking of getting worship training, get the real thing. Evaluate what you are being taught with the principle I’ve just explicitly shared. And if it’s true worship music, use it to bless the people of God.

God knows, they really need it!

Prayer time: In the midst of everything else I’m doing I’ve just started a special intensive worship drums course for a couple of drummers from Petra. Pray for me to be blessed with wisdom and discernment, because I am holding myself to higher standards of teaching now, to get more skill imparted in a shorter time. Pray also that I will manage my time effectively to get my next post out to you quickly. It’s something that has been on my heart for nearly two months. Thanks!

Be blessed, everyone!