entertainment versus worship

Rich Mullins died ten years ago. You may not even know who he was, but for a glimpse, see one of his last concerts posted on youtube. Rich clearly understood the great divergence between “Christian entertainment” and worship.

At that concert, he reminded the crowd, “Congregational singing is the best. . . I hope you sing a lot. It is the most reiterated command in the whole Bible . . . .” After leading the concertgoers in several old gospel songs and “It is Well with My Soul,” Rich started them on “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” and walked off the stage.

The concert ended, but no applause ensued. The audience slowly realized the message of Rich’s action: He was not there to entertain them. His purpose was to point them to the One True God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to help them realize their purpose: to express worship to the only One truly worthy of praise, applause or adoration.

What does that have to do with being on worship team? Leading worship is completely different from performance. There is nothing wrong with being involved with bands, musical theater productions or even gigs on the street, if those things are the ways God has directed you to use your time and talent. But as with Rich’s action, leading worship is an action we take to help people engage their hearts in expressing their love for God.

An artist once drew his expression of what leading worship meant to him: The drawing showed a hand holding a microphone—with no one behind the microphone. That may not be the popular mindset but it is essentially what it means to lead others in worship—humbly focusing others on God, willing to be invisible enough that people’s attention is drawn to Jesus Christ, not to “how good the band is” or “how hot that worship leader is.” When a spirit of self-glorification creeps in, we’ve become self-focused performers who settle for a powerless substitute.

So what difference does it make if we’re truly worshiping? Perhaps most people won’t know the difference. Perhaps other members of the band or choir won’t even notice! But if God is the One we worship, not the approval or opinions of those around us, then we must trust that He sees, that He notices, that He is the one whose opinion matters.

Leading worship in this way requires examination of our inmost motives—and possibly repentance from that spirit which whispers that we need and deserve the spotlight. When God’s family comes together to worship Him collectively, those who lead need hearts prepared to facilitate that worship (even largely unnoticed) so that we may unite as a family to focus on the One who is worthy of our worship.