As a Worship Leader, I often feel myself being pulled in several directions. I have a desire to make great music. I have a desire to make music that is relevant. I have a desire to honor the history of music making in the church. I want as many people involved in the music ministry as possible, while wanting to keep the quality as high as possible. Different people in the church prefer different styles of music, and are always vocal in letting me know. Some people want us to use more loops or backing tracks, while others hate that sort of thing all together. Some people wish that we could be more spontaneous, while others get angry if I sing one word that is not on the screen. Sometimes I leave church on Sunday feeling like the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz after the flying monkeys got hold of him.
If you’ve served in a church for any period of time, no matter how great the congregation, I’m sure that you can relate to my experience. Lately, I am learning a lesson that has been quite helpful in this area: Narrow your focus. Set goals. Refine them to their most basic state. Restate those goals in the simplest, most straight-forward way possible.
I take my example from Jesus:
”Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 36-40)
There were a ton of ways Jesus could have answered that question. “Well, no commandment is greater than another, really. They all come from God, so all are great…” He could have been very vague, and confusing, and left the Pharisee with no better understanding than before the question was asked. But no, Jesus narrowed the focus down to two commands that covered everything else. He simplified it to a point that anyone could understand, and more importantly, anyone could follow.
Think, pray, study, discuss…and figure out what is the single most important goal of the worship ministry at your church. Write that goal down, pray about it more, and then refine it. Don’t over spiritualize it. Make it something concrete and measurable. For instance, if you set the goal as “To glorify God”, how will you ever know if you are fully reaching that goal? To bring glory to God should be a given for a worship ministry anyway. Our goals should reflect the means of bringing that about. My goal right now for where I am in ministry is very simple: To get the congregation to sing together songs of praise to our God.
Once you have set your goal, make every decision accordingly. Which songs will we sing? The ones that get the congregation to sing together. What instrumentation will we use? The instrumentation that gets the congregation to sing together. What style? How spontaneous? How loud? Do we use video? The answer for every question is the same and all comes back to supporting our goal.
Your goal will likely not be the same as mine. I would think that every situation would present its own challenges and require different goals. However, finding your focus and narrowing in on it will help you, and your entire team, do everything with purpose and become more efficient in serving the Lord.
