Lesson from 1 Corinthians 14

A few Sundays back, one of the church leaders spoke to me after the service. He told me “I just want to tell you that you minister on the piano, really minister. Not just today, but every time…”

And that really encouraged me a lot.

Before you get me wrong, I am not one of those high-maintenance musicians, who need to be affirmed and encouraged every week. In fact, one pastor I serve with mentioned that I am very low-maintenance, and he’s glad for that. There are two reasons why I am low-maintenance: 1) I enjoy serving in the worship ministry, so I am self-motivated; 2) I am very confident of what I am doing, so I am self-directed most of the time.

But sometimes I go out on a limb and decide to try stuff out of nowhere. For example, that particular Sunday we used the song Dance with Me, by Jesus Culture. At one point the worship leader did not indicate which part of the song to do next. On the spur of the moment I turned up the keyboard volume and played the melody of the chorus. Because my church worship band is really a dream team, the whole team went that way too, and it all sounded prepared and rehearsed.

It wasn’t.

And later the worship leader directed me to just linger after a song and give the congregation room to sing their own songs unto the Lord. Err… I immediately launched off into one of my trusty chord progressions, Bm7 – C#m7 – D – E (we were in the key of F# minor), and stayed there until the worship leader went into the next song (which was in the key of A major). Again unrehearsed and unprepared, but it all worked out ok, at least to me.

1 Cor 14:29 (NKJV) - Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.

So to have that church leader approach me and affirm me after the service meant a lot to me.

Acts 2:18 (NKJV) - And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.

This passage tells me that the New Testament church is to be characterized by prophecy (we can argue what prophecy means some other time). But if you want to prophesy you have to be willing to let your prophecies be judged by the rest of your local body of Christ, as instructed in 1 Corinthians 14:29.

So I take the same principle and apply it to my playing. I have to be open to having it judged by the body of Christ, especially my church leaders. Now, it isn’t practical for me to go around making a nuisance of myself and bugging the worship leaders and my pastor for feedback after EVERY service. But 1 Cor 14:29 does mean that I do have to be open to feedback on my work and ministry unto the LORD.

So what does it mean for you?

Two things:

1) Be willing to submit to judgment.

It’s unrealistic to believe that diligently seeking God's guidance will mean that you will make no mistake or have everyone approve of your decisions. And if that worries you, you are operating from fear rather than faith.

All it takes is humility, being willing to accept feedback and maybe realize that sometimes we don't hear God as clearly as we'd like. Exercise humility and teachability when you're serving God with other people. It's less pressurizing in the long run...

2) Be gentle and generous with your feedback.

If someone went out on a limb, either in the worship ministry or some other way, be quick to affirm the good in it. How about problems or mistakes? Personally I would not mention the problems or mistakes unless I have a relationship with that person (he/she trusts me) or if I am in a leadership position in that group.

Why? Because of my manner. I can come across as strict and harsh in person, so I have to be extra careful to be gentle, to not crush someone's spirit.

Isaiah 42:3 (NIV) - A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

Watch out for that too, if you are in a leadership position. There will be times when you will have to call someone out on his or her mistakes or defiance, especially if the culture in that group has gone haywire. But hopefully that is not going to be common in the church or fellowship you serve at!


Conclusion:

We love God by serving his people (Heb 6:10) and we become effective only when we work together with others and let them sharpen us (Pro 27:17). So be open to the feedback and advice from others, and also remember to exhort and encourage one another, especially when they go out on a limb to serve God!

Worship Ministry Foundations - Time and People

One thing about ministering to another church, it makes me look again at the foundations of worship ministry. I have to explain again to a new worship team why what I do works, as well as why they sometimes get results even though they don't do everything the way I tell them to.

When they have this understanding they are able to adapt to any changes that happen, because they know the foundations and principles that give them results. And that is what I want for you too, of course!

2 Chronicles 5:13-14 – The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God.

Time:

How long has this group, fellowship or congregation been around? The longer it has been around, the more time it has had to build up their unity. And that is something that will be expressed in their worship.

In 2 Chronicles 5:12 (not included above) we read that the musicians involved at the dedication of the Temple were Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun. They were around and serving ever since King David's time (1 Chr 25:1). Solomon started building the temple since the 4th year of his reign, and completed it in the 11th year (1 Kings 6:37-38). And this tells us that Asaph, Heman and Jeduthan were already serving and heading their respective worship teams for at least 11 years.

Of course we can expect some turnover (some musicians would have retired ever since and some new ones introduced). But the fact remains, 11 years is a considerable period of time. Enough to build a unity of heart and mutual understanding that allows them to work well as a team. In 1 Chronicles 25:7, we find that they were sorted out by family groups. That means that even outside of ministry time they were in considerable amount of fellowship with each other.

What this means:

This means that the worship ministry of a long-standing group can do things ineffectively and still experience the glory of God in their worship. However, this ministry may end up thinking that they have results because of their heart, skill, methods or their super-anointing. You can just imagine the books, worship albums and worship seminars that will follow from that!

And if they ever minister at another church and the people there don't respond, they may think it's because the congregation are not true worshippers, not serious about God and all that. The congregation may also end up suspecting that there is something wrong with themselves, why do they not experience the glory of God when the 'anointed', famous worship team from another church comes to minister to them.

People:

As we saw from 1 Chronicles 25:7, the worship ministry was made up of Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their relatives. That is quite a closed group. At the dedication of the Temple, they were joined by 120 priests on the trumpets, another closed group. Once you have a closed group of people who have spent a lot of time together, unity is easy to build.

But what if your church is NOT a closed group? What if you have new believers born-again into your church regularly? What if you have people from other churches visiting or switching over to your church? What if your group is growing, as the LORD desires?

Acts 2:47 – And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV)

That means that you have to discover what is the most user-friendly approach to worship ministry and stick to that, unless you want to alienate the newer people. Your congregation may already be used to your various musical and worship leading quirks, but wouldn't it be better if what you do works not only with them but also with newcomers as well?

This means cleaning up your worship team of any musical distractions. Make sure your drummer can keep time and your keyboardist or pianist isn't doodling or rambling away on the instrument because he or she is bored. Make sure your overall band sound isn't too loud or too full, since the more you play the less they sing.

And most importantly, make sure the congregation always knows where you want them to sing next. I've seen too many lead singers rather than worship leaders, people who are more interested in their own singing rather than leading the congregation. Musicians, you are not exempted. If your worship leaders are not musically inclined or trained, and they have difficulty knowing when to start singing, then you are not doing your job as a worship musician. If you can't even cue in the worship leader, who has some idea of what is going on, how much more lost would the congregation be?

All those tips and pointers I just gave are not new. I have mentioned them before in my emails and posts (and taught in greater detail in my book, of course). If you get good results in your church even in spite of not following these tips, it would most likely because you have a long-standing, closed group. Nothing wrong with that, just remember that what you are comfortable with now may not work should the group dynamics change or if you have to minister in a new congregation, OK?

Be blessed!

Another Source of Worship Ministry Conflicts

Some time back I talked about one of the causes of worship ministry conflicts, people placing different levels of priority on performance and participation. There is actually another cause of conflicts and misunderstanding in worship ministry, and it is how we see worship ministry through the eyes of our own personal giftings.

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) - Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

What usually happens is that people will tend to fellowship with others with the same gifting. Teachers will enjoy hanging out with other teachers, prophets with other prophets and so on. This is how they develop themselves to be even stronger and effective in that particular area. The problems arise when they assume that they are the only ones who are right and the others are wrong. And THAT can lead to massive conflicts, strife and even people leaving the ministry.

Let's see how it works out in the following scenarios

1) Choosing songs for a worship set –

If you are a teacher, you'll probably prefer songs that are Scripture set to music and those that have solid lyrical content (like hymns). If you are an evangelist, you might prefer invitation-type songs such as So You Would Come (Hillsongs). If you are more prophetically inclined, you may prefer songs that are more figurative, poetic or symbolic, such as Dance with Me by Jesus Culture.

You can already see from here how conflicts can arise. Not many people are at the level of maturity when they can see the differences how other people approach worship ministry and celebrate them.

2) And how about worship music?

An evangelist will prefer what appeals to the pre-believers, exciting, performance-style music. Why? Because it is more likely to bring in the crowds for him or her to preach to. A prophet will prefer more a repetitive, droning style of music. A teacher will prefer more laid-back, unobtrusive musical accompaniment that does not distract the people from the lyrical content.

3) What if the church is spiritually dead in the area of praise and worship?

A prophet will be more inclined to think finding an anointed worship leader or on-fire worship team to minister to the congregation will work. This is more like the style of Old Testament prophets; they would seek God, speak to God's people to bring them the message on God's heart, and things happen. A teacher will try to get a worship trainer or pastor to teach the congregation. A pastor will be the one who worries about whether there are groups of people within the congregation who are alienated by any changes in the worship ministry or style, because it's unacceptable to him (or her) to rejoice over the 99 sheep who remain and write off the 1 who leaves (Luke 15:3).

Conclusion:

Of course, we know everything isn't that cut and dried in real life. Many church leaders have a mix of giftings. For example, many pastors have the teaching gifting to some degree, in fact, Paul puts it as a requirement (1 Tim 3:2). Timothy was supposed to both teach (1 Tim 4:11) and do the work of an evangelist (2 Tim 4:5). And Peter, in Acts 2:17-18, says:

Acts 2:17-18 (NIV) – "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy."

This suggests to me that every believer has the potential to move in the prophetic gifting in some way. By the way, Jack Deere has written a chapter on how the key people in the history of the Presbyterian denomination (such as John Knox) actually moved in the gift of prophecy. It makes an astounding read. It's in his book Surprised by the Voice of God. Do check it out, it's a very good example of how a teacher (Jack Deere) sees the gift of prophecy from a teacher's perspective.

Anyway, many people I have met slant their thinking along one particular gifting, and have the priorities that come with that gifting. So I hope that this post will help you see your own slant and understand the perspectives of those around you, so that we can understand each other better, have less conflict and work together for the glory of God!

Be blessed!

P.S. Jack Deere's book, Surprised by The Voice of God, is a well-thought-out, Scriptural look at how God speaks to his people today. It has my highest recommendation for every believer, especially those who are seriously want to hear the voice of God in their lives and want to avoid the common mistakes. You can get it here!