Is it supposed to be easy?

One thing I realized a couple of Sundays ago, it's actually quite an easy job playing for my church worship team.

One thing, the skill level is there, but there is no one trying to hog the limelight or the sound mix by playing too much or random doodling on the instrument. We are all content to play what is necessary, to flow with the dynamics of the session, and no more.

And flowing with the dynamics is easy also. Almost every musician in the team is also a worship leader in his own right (we have an all-guy band), so it's easy to just ride the wave, so to speak. Seriously speaking, how many professional church musicians, even in mega-churches, are effective worship leaders in their own right? Not that many in Singapore!

One worship leader I was chatting with once asked me, "Don't you think the musicians need sensitivity to the Holy Spirit during the worship?" and was a bit surprised when I answered "No, they just need to follow the worship leader. We don't need great spiritual sensitivity, just some basic humility!"

(have I offended anyone yet?)

In my experience, if the worship leader isn't flowing with the Holy Spirit, there is very little a musician can do. Little, subtle nudges through the music are about all we musicians can try. And even then, if the worship leader doesn't get it, we have to flow with the leader anyway, or there would be dis-harmony in the team. And that's not good.

Let me put it this way…

A good worship musician cannot help a bad worship leader very much, but a bad worship musician can definitely drag a good worship leader down. So as a musician, my job is mainly to support the worship leader with what he or she is doing. It's up to the worship leader to make sure he or she is doing the right thing!

Why do some people think being a worship musician is difficult?

Basic skill – if your basic skill level isn't there, you will of course have to put in effort to manage. If you are a drummer and can't even play consistent quavers (eighth-notes) on the hi-hats, for example, you can be sure the rest of your skills aren't up to par. Playing for worship will then be a stressful experience, both for you and for the rest of the band.

Worship music – Let's be frank, what passes for contemporary church music these days has grown a lot more complex. In the old days, the most musically challenging arrangements and songs would come from an occasional Ron Kenonly album, where they would pull all the stops on the band, orchestra and choir. Tom Brooks would unleash his usual musical genius to create arrangements that would leave everyone going "wow!!!". And everyone would be awed by the entire album.

But those were special albums, special occasions. For every one of those special albums, Integrity Music would have 10 or more that are taken from what churches did and found effective. These days, many albums seem to be concert-like standard, with a professional band, huge choir and enough attendees to fill a small stadium. The average church is left with the impression that they are supposed to have music like those albums too, or it wouldn't be acceptable praise and worship in God's eyes…

Talk about a heavy burden!

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, good worship music is what unifies the praises of the congregation. Oftentimes, what is simpler tends to work better in a real-life church, as long as the counts and the chords are clear. As a general rule-of-thumb, the more you play the less they sing.

(more on this in the Invisible Worship Musician, chapters 9 to 11)

Worship dynamics – As I said earlier, musicians just need to be able to follow the worship leader. For us, worship dynamics made up of whether to build up the intensity or bring it down. For worship leaders, core decisions will be:

1. Do you bring up or down the intensity? That's easy, let the congregation's singing be your guide.
   
2. Do you move on to the next song with high intensity or bring it down again before you go there? Again, let the congregation's singing be your guide. Just remember that you need to be sure the people know the next song if you want to go there high. Or else the whole thing will just crash on you. Painfully.
   
3. And at the end of the song, does God want to exhort the congregation through you? This is something you need to consider at the later part of the worship, IF the praises of the congregation has been unified. Just be ready for it. Since the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10), don't be surprised if God wants to exhort, encourage and edify the congregation through you sometime during the worship session.

These three concerns are the ones a worship leader has to deal with. Us musicians have it easy, by comparison. Just how to build up or bring down, and maybe what to play during prophecy, spontaneous worship or during prayer time (my book, chapter 11). If you have the experience and know what usually happens during the worship session, flowing with the dynamics is actually quite easy. You'd then have a good reason to be confident!

Conclusion:

I share all this not to gloat or boast, but to show that it CAN be easy to play music for worship. If it isn't, check to see if you have the basic skills, an accurate understanding of what worship music is like, and confidence in flowing with the dynamics of the worship set.

Just remember, God isn't in the business of giving us burdens to heavy to bear. He's in the business of giving us rest. So get any unnecessary clutter out of your way and enjoy serving God in the worship ministry. Be blessed!