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March 2000 Table of Contents
Special Feature
After God's Own Heart
By Joel Sanders
Orchestra Leader, Tri-Cities Baptist Church
Over the past few years, praise and worship teams have popped up everywhere. It seems they continue to be the "in thing" in music ministry for churches of all sizes. While I think the use of these praise teams can be an effective asset to the ministry, something about them does concern me. In discussions regarding praise teams, I have heard different theories offered regarding what they need to sound like, how they need to look, what microphones they need to use, how they need to stand, whether they should memorize their music (yes, by the way!)... the list could go on and on. However, the critical area that is not often mentioned is a group's relationship with God.
Praise teams can be wonderful, but we need groups that can lead us to the very throne of God in worship. Most of them can sing, but few truly lead us in worship. If you have praise teams in your church, what are they "known for"?
The Bible says that David was a man "after God's own heart." Even though David had committed adultery and had plotted a murder, we tend to remember him most for penning many of the Psalms. In fact, he is "known for" his praise and worship of the Father.
In looking at David's life, it's clear that worship flowed from his relationship with God. I know that may sound simple, but how can you worship something or someone that doesn't mean anything to you? We can praise policemen for arresting drug dealers or doctors for saving lives, yet not know anything about them. It seems that in some of the churches I've visited, there is a trend to sing this song at this time, modulate to this key with this tempo and POOF…you have "worship". Can we really call this worship or is this from the "Magic Formula for Effective Worship, Volume 1"? Are we concerned about having a topical theme for the music, making sure we have 3 fast/2 medium/3 slow songs in a medley, or do we have as many hymns as we do choruses in a given service? God longs for us to get away from our cookbook approaches and simply worship Him, meet with Him, and sing praises to His name.
We need to meet with God before we meet with the congregation. What can we do to help them see Jesus in the music and not a group of people on the stage? Of course we need to be prepared with our music. Certainly we need to let the "joy of the Lord" show on our faces as we sing. But what can ultimately help the congregation worship at the throne of God? WE, as worship leaders, must have been at the throne of God ourselves. We cannot take someone else to a place that we have not been before.
Having a time of worship as a group is an important aspect of this ministry. Include a time of sharing what the Lord is doing in the lives of the group. It's one thing to offer praises of how the Lord is working and answering prayers the way we've hoped they would be answered. It's quite another to be able to share our struggles - to be able to take the "masks" off and truly be open about our shortcomings, our fears, and our problems. Spending time in prayer, as a group is vital in the process of drawing near to God.
Your reaction may be "wait a minute, we pray as a group every time we're together." That's wonderful - I'm glad you do. But stop and think for a moment about what you pray. If you're like most of us, the prayers seem to focus on seeking God's hand. Now there's nothing wrong with that - God wants us to come to Him with our needs. But the prayers only seem to ask God to bless what we've already planned. For instance, "God, bless our service today." "Father, be with us as we sing." "Keep us healthy and our voices strong." "Guide our accompanists as they play." It's almost like we say..."Here's the plan, Lord - we'd like for You to hop on this bandwagon and bless what we're going to do!" We need to seek God's face to truly meet with Him in worship.
Of course we want to give our best for Him, but He does not need us to always sing perfectly, select the latest and greatest songs, or have a certain mix of instruments in our praise band. What He wants is found in the greatest commandment, Mark 12:30 - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments, the glory of God's presence caused his face to glow for days and the people could see that he had been in the presence of God. The only way for our congregations to see the God of our worship is for that glow to show not only on our faces, but also in our lives. He is there in the midst when two or three are gathered, but can people see that we have been in the presence of a holy God?
For example, I dearly love my wife. But what if I never spend time with her or never talk to her? How is she going to feel when I look at her and say I love you? Because I say I love you to my wife in public people could assume that I must have a wonderful relationship with her. However, if I don't spend time with her or talk to her, she would know that those "I love you's" sound hollow. We should not expect God to feel any different about our "praise" when we have not spent time with Him or talked to Him. We should not expect Him to come down and shake the walls like He did in the jail when Paul and Silas praised Him. Paul spent time with and talked to God daily.
Our practice times need to involve prayer, Bible study, fellowship, as well as music. How many times has a rehearsal turned into a time of weeping over a lost family member? How much time is spent on your faces before God, crying out for a member of the congregation that is struggling with a serious disease? Worship really becomes alive as we hear how God is at work all around us. For instance, you may be singing "God Will Make a Way" while knowing that one of your worship team members has just lost his job. It's very powerful for that group to know that he believes what he's singing about and that God will make a way for him in his situation.
My wife and I were members of a worship team/ensemble several years ago. This group was frequently called upon to sing throughout the area in addition to leading worship at the local church. Every member of that group was adept at sight-reading and could learn new music quickly. Most of the rehearsal time could be devoted to "polishing" a song - working on the blend, diction, expression, etc. However, the thing I remember most about being involved with that group is not how we sounded or the selection of music we sang. It was the time we spent together each week in a Bible study. We actually used the "Experiencing God" course for this study. We divided the lessons into smaller segments for use before each rehearsal. Hearing how each person in the group was experiencing God in their daily walk brought that ensemble closer together. We were able to "become real" with each other. We came to a point where we could talk about the tough things going on in our lives - we could get beyond the surface "stuff" that we so often build relationships around. And for us to understand how God is working in our fellow believers' lives, we have to share these things.
This relationship with God and with each other is not going to happen overnight. But you can initiate this process. Begin by sharing your vision of becoming a group that truly worships as they lead in worship. Start by praying together - share concerns as well as how God is working in your lives. You may not be able to have a full-fledged Bible study, but you can discuss the songs you're singing. Have a short devotional on a related scripture. Get a group member to give a testimony related to the song's message.
Your worship as a group will naturally flow from the fellowship and relationship with God. Of course, our worship won't be perfect until we meet Him in Heaven one day. But we can help each other on our journey of becoming ministries "after God's own heart."
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