Keeping Worship Holy
There’s a lot of conversation going around at the moment about worship music and the ‘industry’ of worship music. Jeremy Riddle’s book ‘The Reset’ has opened up a whole debate around how we, as a western church, have made worship into an industry and how we have forgotten the sacredness of worship.
I’ve had a lot of conversations recently with some of my friends who are on worship teams, some of them on the same team as me, about competitiveness. This is such a dangerous dynamic within a worship team, where our one goal should be to worship and glorify God through our musical worship.
The nature of being a musician means there is always going to be a feeling of competitiveness between musicians, in its worst state this sometimes is displayed as jealousy. Playing music in any setting, even in worship times, is an opportunity to display skill. This naturally feeds into competitiveness and comparison and it is human nature to look at the other keys players and think his pads and so much more ‘shimmery’ than mine, to look at the other sound engineer and think their mix is tighter than mine.
Why is this so dangerous?
Competitiveness and jealousy is not compatible with unity. We are called to be united in Christ, worshipping with one Accord (see what I did there?) and to be solely focussed on Jesus in our musical worship. Unity is the key to removing the spirit of competitiveness within any team. This doesn’t just apply to worship teams, but any teams whether that’s a sports team or a workplace. Teams that are not united, are not all going after the same thing. In this case, this is sacred worship.
So how can we encourage a united team? Here are some tips I have learnt over the last few years of serving on a team.
1. Champion each other
Encouragement and celebration is so key in developing a strong team spirit. ‘Championing each other’ is one of our key values on the worship team at Gas Street. We have a real culture of encouraging each other and calling out any positives or successes that we each experience. This creates a sense of unity within the team that we are all going after the same thing, and that we want to celebrate each other.
2. Be open to criticism
Alongside championing each other comes a need to be open to real, honest criticism. Be accepting of others thoughts – allow them to call you out on your ‘stuff’. Create space for others to talk to you about their observations of your behaviour. This goes both ways – if you are open to others calling you out, they will be open to you calling them out.
With this comes an expectation of self-awareness. It’s so important to be aware of when feelings of competitiveness or jealousy are creeping in to your behaviour. If you’re feeling this about someone in particular, don’t be afraid to have a conversation with them about it. They may be feeling the same way and you may be able to journey this together with them.
3. Worship from the congregation
This is such a simple tip and might seem fairly obvious, but as members of worship teams we are worshipping when we are in the congregation as well as when we are serving on team. A key step to creating a united team, and even a united church, is to break the divide of ‘us and them’ – by which I mean the people on the stage and the congregation.
Practically, this may look like sitting towards the front of church. Obviously, it’s important to say this isn’t to show people that you are on the worship team, rather to show that we are all together in this and going after the same, sacred worship of God. Another really practical thing here could be to physical remove the stage for a week. Why not try having the band on the floor, in the middle if that’s possible in your building? I’ve found that this creates a real sense of togetherness in worship, and ultimately, a united church.
Joe Rivers
Joe was the keys player for Gas Street Church and now works for UCB Radio.