Team Devotions

There is so much that happens during a rehearsal - especially if that rehearsal is immediately before service. Set up, soundcheck, practicing parts, transitions, and working on harmonies just to name a few. Yes, rehearsal is in part for working through the practical details of the worship gathering, but shouldn’t it be more than that? My hope is that a rehearsal also gives us a chance to take a breath, to be present with God and with one another as we serve the people of God together. But do not be fooled, this does not happen by chance - your rehearsal must be intentional.

Ideally, every person serving comes practiced-up, and prayed-up. Fully prepared in skill and spirit to lead and serve. But even if that is the case, how can you as a leader use the rhythms of your rehearsal to prepare your team not just practically, but also to prepare their hearts to serve together? Prayer is never bad. Reading Scripture is never bad. I believe those two elements should be the baseline for leading our team in a time of devotion and personal preparation for our service.

Personally, I like to place a time of devotion following setup and sound check. More often than not, I like my devotional time to be reading through the passage of Scripture being preached, and then walking the team through the progression of the morning - why I chose these songs in this order with this particular text, what I hope will be the threads running through the morning. At that moment I want to encourage our team to lift their eyes to see the beauty of Jesus, the wonder of the Gospel, the glory of God, our dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and the joy and gift that we have to gather and to serve.

I have served in churches where the whole team has been reading through a book, or devotional together and will use this time to share what they are learning. Some teams like to rotate responsibility for leading the devotional time, focusing on a specific reading, a passage of Scripture, and a brief exhortation to live in light of God’s Word and to serve from that reality. Another consideration for a time of devotion is focusing on different aspects of a theology of worship. There are many ways that you can redeem your rehearsal time to train, encourage, and equip your team. If this is all new to you, start slow, and think through these questions:

What does my team need? Does this team need a deeper understanding of worship? More discipleship in how what we are doing connects to what is happening this morning? Do they need encouragement? Do they just need time to seek God’s face in the quiet of their own hearts, and collectively as a team?

Who is here? Are there other voices that can shape this team spiritually? Maybe another team member, or a pastor or elder would like to lead a short time of devotion, reflection, and preparation for the rehearsal.

How can I make the space? If this is new for your team, you will have to train them to expect this time. Maybe you need to move rehearsal back by 15 minutes to make sure that you are not rushing through this time.

Help your team prepare musically, practically, and spiritually. If you’d like another place to start, you can download my free worship leader devotional. A 52-week study with Scripture quotes, and questions to ponder as you prepare your hearts to live lives of worship, and lead in sung worship. Download it for free here.

Leading From The Congregation

One of the things I say most frequently to my team: we lead more off of the platform than on the platform.

For me, there are at least three things that I am trying to help my team understand with this language, first, that each member is a worship leader. Whether they are a musician, vocalist, sound person, running lyrics or lights, or the person who has assembled the set list and is leading the congregation verbally - each person is a worship leader. Second, it matters what we do, where we are, and how we are responding after we step off a platform, out from behind our instruments, and the way we engage in the rest of the gathering. And third, that each team member carries the responsibility of worship leader even on weekends where we are not serving on the platform.


Here are some considerations when it comes to leading worship from the congregation:

Presence.

This means after we serve on the platform, we go and sit through the sermon as a member of the congregation. That our presence is visible not just during ‘our part,’ but that we are identifying ourselves, and being identified, as sheep - not just as shepherds. Our presence in the gathering matters not only on the weekends where we serve up front, but also during those weeks where we are not. My personal conviction is that our team should be primarily made up of people who call this specific congregation their home church, and therefore would be attending this home church even if they were not serving on the team. If team members are only present at church on weekends that they are serving, it would beg the question, why?

Posture

As a follower of Jesus, and as a worship leader I want to be fully integrated. I do not want to have a ‘stage-self’ and an ‘off-stage-self.’ If I see myself as a worship leader, as someone who is carrying the culture of the team in a visible role, or among the people, there should be no division in the way that I posture myself, and respond leading up front or in the congregation. If you raise your hands on the platform, raise your hands in the congregation.

Engagement

What we do in subtle and significant ways communicates what we value. If musicians ‘do their job,’ walk off the stage to back stage, a backroom, or a coffee shop - what does that communicate to the congregation? If we are to be leaders - servant leaders specifically - we must model what is important and valuable for our people, by being engaged in the life of the church outside of our role, responsibility, and jobs. Sit in the sermon, pursue new people, be connected to community, listen, learn, grow, and then pour out from a place of being deeply rooted as a member - not just of the worship team - but of your church.

Another way that you as a leader can encourage your team to lead from the congregation, is providing new music that you will be introducing to the entire team - perhaps even elders, and ministry leaders, so that when you introduce a new song, it is not just the musicians serving that particular week that will know the music, but those people who can also lead from the congregation. We have a responsibility to equip and lift the eyes of our team to the significance of their role - not just in it’s forward facing nature, but in ways they can lead and shape the culture from the congregation as well.

A Team Of Worship Leaders

What does the title worship leader bring to mind?

One individual?

Someone who can play an instrument and sing at the same time?

The person building a set list, leading a rehearsal, and giving the congregation verbal cues for the next lyric being sung?

While there may be some overlap in the functional role of a worship leader with what I have listed above, today I want to make the case that every member of a worship team is actually a worship leader.

Let’s start by removing the word ‘just,’ from each role within our teams. There is no such thing as ‘just.’

I am just a musician,

just a vocalist,

just a sound engineer,

just running lyrics.

No.

You are a worship leader.

It takes each one of those roles functioning together to serve the people of God in their response to His revelation of Himself in sung corporate worship.

We do not just sing songs, we lead people in worship.

Musicians and vocalists, you are not just singing songs, you are going first, leading with your lives, leading with your instruments, leading with your hearts as you are led by the Spirit of God, to lead people in worship to Him. You are a worship leader.

Sound engineer, you are not just moving faders, you are mixing melodies and production, enabling the team to hear one another and the congregation to sing out in response to who God is and what He has done. You are a worship leader.

Lyric runner, you are not just clicking slides at a computer, you are helping to put words in people’s mouths, truths in the hearts and minds so that we can sing with one voice as one people to the glory of God and the building up and edification of His people. You are a worship leader.

And for a host of other roles that are a part of the corporate gathering of God’s people - there is no just - there are only worship leaders. No true encounter with Christ ever leaves us the same, it will naturally flow from our lives like the woman at the well, like the disciples, like Mary at the empty tomb - ‘come and see…’

We are worship leaders when we encounter Christ, and use our skills and gifts to point people to Him. Yes, you are a worship leader.

Songs of Devotion, Songs of Corporate Worship

Corporate worship is an industry. With worship leaders, songwriters, and churches releasing new music to radio, going on tour, and selling tens of thousands of records. With the rise of an industry, there is also something of a hybrid - the worship artist. A blend of contemporary christian music sensibilities, corporate worship production, and singer-songwriter confessionals. For me, artists such as United, Maverick City Music, and several Bethel artists would fall into this category. Much of this music I enjoy, and find personally beneficial. But something that gives me pause is how undiscerning worship leaders can be about introducing - what I would call - songs of personal devotion - into the corporate worship space.

I do not believe that there is anything wrong or heretical about singing songs of personal devotion in the corporate gathering. Songs of personal devotion like, ‘I Love You Lord,’ and, ‘Give Me Jesus,’ have their place in the life of the Church. And clearly we see in the Psalms (the song and prayer book of the people of God) very personal pleas, confessions, prayers and celebrations from the Psalmist - intended for corporate use. What I am primarily contending for here is best practice - bringing songs to the congregation that will serve the people well in the corporate gathering and daily life.

Here are some filters for consideration when a song connects with you personally, or is being suggested by someone in the congregation, as to whether it may fall into a category of corporate worship, or personal devotion:

True.

Everything we put in the mouths of our congregations should be true. Not just truth adjacent, but true true. Can you trace every concept, idea, and even lyric back to Scripture? The lyrics should reveal what God has first revealed to be true of Himself - His heart, and His character. The content of the song should also be universally true for the life of every believer - not just telling a story of personal experience. An example of this kind of song of personal devotion is a song like ‘Talking to Jesus’ from Brandon Lake - ‘Grandma used to pray out loud by her bed every night. To me it sounded like mumbling like she was out of her mind. She said, ‘Boy, this kind of praying is what saved my life you outta try it sometime,’ and now I know she was right.’ - Clearly, this is a lyric that is personally meaningfully, but not necessarily universally true.

We Over Me.

Corporate sung worship is corporate. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a fan of changing all personal pronouns in corporate worship songs to plural pronouns (I have known of churches who have done this), but our corporate worship songs should be filled with more ‘we’s than ‘me’s.

Accessible.

Melodies and lyrics should be accessible to the congregation. Songs that contain multiple parts lyrically or melodically can make learning and ‘entering into that song’ difficult for the average congregation. Choose lyrics that are poetic, thoughtful, unique and unfold with meaning the more they are sung, absolutely! But will what you are singing make sense without any explanation, or if someone walks in halfway through a song? Songs of personal devotion can often have compelling melodies, that change from verse to verse, or never come back to repeat specific parts - this can be especially difficult to teach, let alone grasp in the corporate worship gathering.

Regardless of whether a song leans more corporate worship, or personal devotion, choosing songs for your congregation should be something done with a critical ear, and a discerning heart. One that is familiar with your congregation specifically - what do they need to sing right now? What will we need to sing a year from now? What songs will they need to sing over their crying baby in the evening? What songs will they need to sing in celebration of the care and provision of God? What songs will they need to sing around the gravesite? Whatever songs we choose, may they be ones that are good, beautiful and true.

Team Meetings

There is a little ribbon I’ve seen online - the kind that you got for track meets in elementary school - that says, ‘This meeting could have been an email.’ Especially in our (post) COVID world, why would we meet when so much can be communicated digitally? Especially as people who lead teams of volunteers - aren’t we already asking for enough of their time? Truth be told, I’ve never been a fan of meetings, but I do think there are some essential things that happen when you gather a team - yes, even a team of volunteers.

See people.

There is a temptation to see people as objects, serving a utilitarian purpose in accomplishing what we are trying to do in a worship service. When we gather with our team outside of our shared weekend responsibility, we can see them removed from a task, and simply as people. People who have relationships, responsibilities, pain, interests outside of what you get to glimpse for a few hours during your time together.

Be together.

Depending on how many people participate in your team, there may be several people who do not actually know one another. Giving people the opportunity to grow and develop relationships outside of a Sunday service will help to develop trust, camaraderie, and respect - that will serve the team, the congregation, and the songs better as you lead together.

Cast vision.

We can and should lead by example. We can and should work to communicate clearly and effectively in digital correspondence. But there is something different about having your team together to be able to articulate all at once the vision and direction of the team as well as the goals and desires within this area of ministry. I have found team meetings to be an amazing time to teach theology, to help the team see that what we do is so much larger than playing music, sliding faders, clicking slides. I want to be able to connect the 30,000 foot view of this area of ministry, to what the team does week in and week out.

Celebrate.

I tend to be task driven, and when one task is complete, I am ready to move on to the next. When we do not take time to pause, reflect, and remember, we can quickly run ourselves, and our team into the ground. Raise your ebeneezers - those stones of remembrance - mark out God’s faithfulness to your church and the team, let gratitude be a consistent heart posture, honor the work and growth of those who are serving week in and week out as a part of your ministry. One of my favorite pastors was fond of saying, ‘Everyone you meet is under-encouraged,’ may that not be true of anyone on our teams.

Show hospitality.

Our teams pour themselves out to serve God and His people each weekend, how can we as leaders pour ourselves into them? Use your home, use your church building to make a space that is inviting and hospitable for the team. Share a meal, or make some coffee and desserts. Create a space where your team feels valued, safe, and cared for.

Little things over a long period of time make such a difference in shaping people, shaping culture, and serving your team. Don’t use meetings as the place to shotgun information, or vent frustrations, but as a place where people can get to know one another, feel valued and celebrated, and you are able to articulate the mission, vision and values of this particular area of ministry.

Hymns

I am not a cook, but I do love cooking shows. One of the most interesting things to me is the part that time plays in creating a dish. Time strengthens a dish by melding individual ingredients into something cohesive. There is a depth of flavor that is created by time, that no other process can create. I think songs are the same. As a worship leader, I am often surprised how few hymns are included in the regular rotation of the life of a church. Or how familiar worship leaders are with the newest songs of particular writers, worship leaders, churches, or movements, but how little time they spend seeking to understand the songs that have laid a foundation for our faith through the generations.

Maybe you are thinking, but the Bible tells us to sing a new song, why bother with old songs? Here are some reasons to consider hymns:

Depth.

Just like time on my cooking shows, there is a depth to hymns that have been passed down through the generations. Chances are, if hymns have made it through different centuries, various languages, assorted denominations and are still standing, there is probably a reason we still know them and should sing them today. The depth of flavor that hymns offer brings balance to your master song list, and weekly setlists.

Topics and content.

In the wake of September 11th, Matt Redman talked about how many churches were at a loss as to what to sing to give people the space to know how to grieve, lament, and worship. It was in that space that many churches turned to hymns… and where Matt and his wife, Beth, wrote the song ‘Blessed Be Your Name.’ Perhaps less so now than in 2001, but many of our modern songs simply do not have the variety and breadth of subject matter that we can tap into from hymns. If being a disciple of Jesus is about ultimately preparing for our death, what are the kinds of songs that represent the full spectrum of life in a fallen world that we can give our people to both comfort and convict, instruct and equip them for this journey?

Thinking and feeling.

A fellow worship leader once told me that we need thinking songs and feeling songs. We need songs that help form our theology, and songs that allow us to respond to that beautiful truths. One of the things that I appreciate about hymns is the poetic, sometimes archaic language. When we sing words that we do not use in our everyday vocabulary, words that require us to slow down, think, and engage our minds (not just our emotions), hymns begin to slowly reveal more meaning over time.

Connection to the Church.

In the West, we are a people who value individualism like almost nothing else. But when we sing hymns, we are reminded that we are a part of God’s global church that exists throughout time, history, and place. The Church was here long before us, it will be here long after we are gone, and will continue on into eternity. When we sing these songs, we join in their song.

Our culture is obsessed with instant gratification, the latest and the greatest. And praise the Lord for the new songs that are being written for the Church to sing in response to the beauty of our Savior. But often I wonder when someone says, ‘Wow, have you heard the latest <fill in the blank> song?’ if the Church will still be singing that song 100 years from now… or even three years from now. Perhaps there are better markers by which we evaluate what songs we put into our people’s mouths each weekend.

Romans 12

After years of reading definitions of worship by others, I have settled on a definition that has stolen the best parts of the definitions of others:

Worship is the right response, of our whole lives to God’s revelation of Himself.

Now, I say this is a definition stolen from lots of definitions, but in reality, we have all stolen our definition of worship from the Apostle Paul:

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.” (Romans 12:1, CSB)

Romans 12:1 shows us the rhythm of worship: God reveals, we respond.

Real worship, true worship, right worship always and only begins when God reveals Himself - when God acts first. Romans 12:1 is no different, showing us the rhythm of revelation and response. In this passage, God has revealed Himself as merciful. Certainly, we see this throughout the previous 11 chapters of Romans, but we also see this throughout the entirety of Scripture. In fact, when Moses asks to see God’s face, God allows His glory to pass before Moses (because no one can see His face and live), and God reveals something about Himself at that moment:

‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.’ (Exodus 36:6-7).

The second rhythm of worship we see in this passage is our response. The offering of our bodies as a living sacrifice. Not just our time or talent, but our very lives. This is not worship relegated to a Sunday service or a mid-week bible study, but an all-encompassing response to God that is evidenced by loving the

‘Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ (Luke 10:27)

For those of us who lead corporate sung worship, we have a responsibility to help people see that our songs of response are only that - a song of response. True worship is the right response of our how lives to God’s revelation of Himself, and there is no corner of our lives that God is not displaying some aspect of His heart, and character. Let’s be worship leaders who help people lead lives of worship, not just worship leaders who help lead songs of worship.

Interview Questions: From A Worship Leader

Last week I wrote for the interviewer, the kinds of questions I would ask as a worship leader if I were trying to hire a worship leader. Questions that help you assess not just the obvious and easy - musical ability, personality fit - but questions that give you a sense of a candidate’s theological understanding of worship, the gathering, and how they function in their role. This week, I want to provide worship leaders with questions that will allow them to do the same - move beyond the surface and give some clarity to what is going on at a deeper level within a church.

Tell me about the working relationship between the pastor and worship leader? Relationships can be tense - especially when you are wearing multiple hats. As a worship leader working with a pastor, this person is often your boss, employer, pastor, coworker, friend, and direct report. Trying to understand what has become ‘normal dynamics’ and ways of operating between the pastor and worship leader will give you a good sense of what is acceptable across the whole staff.

What things did you love about your previous worship leader? Getting a sense of what is valued and celebrated will help you understand in what ways you will be similar, and different than a church’s previous experience. If a pastor, leader, or team cannot name anything, or at bare minimum be able to speak well of someone - regardless of how poorly the relationship has gone - that too will communicate about their culture to you.

Can I speak with your previous worship leader? An interviewee has to provide references, why not also ask for references from the church? This can be another piece of the puzzle of understanding relationships, dynamics, things to be aware of, and things worth celebrating.

How engaged are pastors, elders, staff during the worship gathering? A church will only ever be as engaged in the corporate gathering as their leadership. A pastor’s presence, or lack thereof, communicates to the rest of the church how the worship gathering should or should not be valued. If the pastors, elders, and leaders do not see themselves as leading from the congregation, it does not matter how much they tell you they value the worship gathering, that behavior communicates otherwise.

What kind of training and discipleship have you historically provided for your worship leader, and the volunteers on the team? We invest in what we find valuable. Most churches will say that corporate worship is valuable, but are slow to invest money into quality equipment, and/or haphazard about the discipleship and development they are providing for their worship leaders, musicians, vocalists, sound and tech team. We need both.

If you are a worship leader in the interview process, I know how hard, discouraging, and exhausting that can be. I hope that these questions can open up deeper conversations, and provide more clarity in being able to assess the things you value and what you are hoping to find as you partner with a local body to serve God’s people.

Interview Questions: For A Worship Leader

Regardless of what side of the interview table you are on, interviews are stressful. The stakes are high, the time is too short to know anyone in any depth. Much less to assess their skills, heart, experience, and if their personality will fit well in your specific context. I have been the one being interviewed, and I have had many conversations with pastors, leaders, and search committees looking to hire a worship leader, I am always surprised at the kinds of questions that are asked - some great, some not so great.

If I was looking to hire a worship leader, here are a few questions that would be at the top of my list:

How would you describe the working relationship, and dynamic between you and your previous pastor or pastors? The relationship between a pastor and a worship leader can be tense. Whether the previous relationships have been healthy or completely dysfunctional, hearing how people speak about former coworkers or employers communicates a lot about their hearts. And understanding their history will help give you a sense of the type of hurts they may be carrying into a new team.

What does your workweek look like? The smallest part of the time we as worship leaders spend in our week is the visible part - actually leading the congregation in corporate sung worship. What does preparation look like for this worship leader? How are they using their time not just to execute a weekly service, but to build into and grow the team, grow their own personal relationship with the Lord, and move this particular area of ministry ahead?

What would be the five songs you would want to introduce to any congregation where you are leading? This will help you understand not just the musical leanings of a worship leader, but their theological persuasion as well. Songs are contextual, theology is not. You are looking not just for a competent musician, but a competent theologian to build set lists and shepherd your people from the platform.

What is worship? Basic, I know. But you’re not hiring a musician primarily, you are hiring a theologian and shepherd. It is imperative that the person filling that role has at least a basic grasp on a theology of worship. And an understanding of how worship fits into the corporate gathering, and the rhythms of life.

What is the purpose of the corporate gathering? What you are trying to understand from this question is if the worship leader understands their role narrowly (only responsible for music), or as a small piece of a larger story - and how their role fits into that larger story.

These questions are not exhaustive, but hopefully, they will give you a greater ability to assess not just someone’s musical ability and character, but their personal understanding of worship, and the role of corporate worship in the life of the Church. If you are in the process of looking to hire a worship leader, let me help you ask the right questions, not just for the potential candidates, but of your church culture and organization as you begin that process. Send me an email here.

Entertainment | Worship

Last week I wrote about dealing with blank faces. How outward expressions are not always an indication of an internal reality. And how worship leaders may be tempted to try and elicit a response from those gathered corporately. As I was writing that post, I was reminded of this quote from one of my favorite authors:

’The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment.’ - A.W. Tozer

Maybe like me, when you think entertainment the first thing that comes to mind is high production value. A very attractional church model: the band is good-looking, the lights, loops, and lasers rival what could be seen at a mainstream concert, and the music is highly produced, and executed flawlessly. This is a service that is more concerned with playing than participation. And to some extent, this model does represent a form of entertainment over leading in worship. But to define ‘entertainment’ this narrowly would be unfair. Because at the core, entertainment is more concerned about passive engagement than high production value.

Regardless of the production value, we entertain rather than lead worship when we are not concerned about engaging our hearts and minds to behold and respond to God. We entertain when we get up and sing, rather than lead people to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice. We entertain rather than lead when we are more concerned about being in our own private worship moment with God, instead of inviting the congregation to engage through song and Scripture. We entertain rather than lead when we choose songs and keys because they sound good, not when they serve the people well. We entertain rather than lead when we are only concerned for smashing a service, rather than deeply forming the people of God. We entertain rather than lead when we do not understand what it is to lead God’s people in corporate worship.

People will default to entertainment because worship is costly. People will default to entertainment because they do not understand that true worship is the right response of our whole lives to God’s revelation of Himself. People will default to entertainment because they have not been led, truly led, by worship leaders who desire to provide the words and environment to respond to the beauty of God as revealed in His Son, His character, His Word, His creation, and His people.

If we want to be worship leaders who lead people in worship rather than provide them entertainment, we must first be worshipers before we are worship leaders. We must be led by the Holy Spirit, to behold Jesus, and to live our whole lives in worshipful response to Him.

Blank Faces

If you have led worship more than one time you have encountered the expression. Apathetic, disengaged, perhaps a yawn, folded arms, a slight scowl, and maybe even in extreme cases - hands clasped over ears, certainly not singing along with the band or congregation. What is going on here? The truth is, we do not know. As worship leaders, we can be tempted to cajole a response from the congregation. And base the effectiveness of our leadership, songs, or service on the response - or lack thereof - from the congregation. But an outward expression is not always an accurate judge of what is happening internally in an individual, or corporately in the room.

Here are some things to consider when you find yourself frustrated or measuring your ability against the response of the people:

Heart preparation. As a worship leader you have (hopefully) spent your week preparing for this moment through prayer, planning, rehearsal, and studying Scripture. The average person in your congregation has not thought about the church gathering corporately until they are in their car on the way to church that morning. You have readied your heart, chances are, they have not readied theirs… People come with divided hearts and affections, how are we pointing them to the One who can unite their hearts to fear His name in those moments of the song?

Familiarity. Sometimes people do not seem engaged because they do not know the songs, the style in which you are playing, or the key is too difficult for them to sing, they would like to participate, but simply do not know how to engage.

Outward appearances are deceiving. Only God who can see the heart, weigh its motives and responses (1 Sam 16:7). Just because someone appears to not be responding outwardly does not mean they are not beholding the beauty of Christ, and responding to Him. Likewise, just because someone appears to be engaged and worshiping does not mean that is true of their heart posture. Only God can see when we honor Him with our lips but have hearts that are far from Him (Isaiah 29:13).

Some days just seem off. Serve with the same heart, and intention regardless of the response of the people. There are things happening in the hearts, minds, lives, and relationships of those gathering on a Sunday morning of which we are not aware. But God is still worthy of our complete worship. Model for people how to engage and respond.

You are not the Holy Spirit. There is something I find so freeing and liberating about this reality. My abilities as a worship leader are so limited as to only point people to the Truth. We cannot move people’s hearts with the right combination of words, melodies, production, or prompts. So we continue to point, continue to encourage, and exhort people to lift their eyes to the only One worthy of beholding. And trust the Holy Spirit to do the work that only He can do: to lead people in all Truth. And trust that the Holy Spirit will continue to lead people in all truth long after we have struck the final note of a setlist.

Pursuing Unity

‘We are more divided at this moment than at any point in history…’ How often have we heard this or some similar refrain over the past number of years?Politics, racial justice, COVID-19, are just a handful of things which have exposed our deeply held beliefs. And divided not just our nation, but our churches and families.

Jesus prayed for us, that as His followers we would be one, as He and the Father are one (Jn 17:21). He said that the world would know us by our love for one another (Jn 13:35). Love and oneness require considering another over ourselves. We never drift toward oneness. Love does not grow without sacrifice. Working for and toward unity is an intentional, daily, ongoing work, until one day when Jesus returns and all of His followers will be one, and will love one another as He intends.

Specifically as worship leaders, there are many opportunities for disunity:

with your pastor, elders, or leaders about the length of sung worship, or how to structure a service,

with the musicians and vocalists over parts and responsibilities,

with sound and tech people over execution of the corporate gathering,

with children’s ministry volunteers for running too long, or too loud,

and with the congregation over songs and style

just to name a few!

So how do we navigate a fallen world, broken relationships, and our own sin as we desire to become the unified, loving Body that Christ has called us to be?

An obvious, yet critical answer: Pray. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12). When we recognize that this is a spiritual work, we must also recognize, apart from a work of the Holy Spirit, we are incapable of becoming unified and loving - sharing the same heart and mind with our brothers and sisters. Pray often. Pray with those whom you desire unity. Pray for your heart, and the hearts of those you serve alongside.

Die to yourself. This is the work of every follower of Christ - dying to ourselves daily, taking up the cross, and following Jesus. Some hills are worth dying on, others are not worth losing - or splintering unity with - a brother or sister. When we mistake personal preference for gospel issues we do not model the self-giving, self-surrendering love of Christ.

Name and clarify expectations. There is truth to the saying, unnamed expectations are resentments waiting to happen. It may take time to surface subconscious expectations you hold for your relationships, but once they begin to surface you can start to ask yourself: are these expectations reasonable? How do we need to solidify and clarify expectations for this relationship? Are there things in your relationships which need to be acknowledged, forgiven? What needs to be swallowed up by an ocean of grace?

Check in regularly. Once you have named and clarified expectations, checking in regularly is essential - are we okay? Are these expectations reasonable? How do these expectations need to shift and change over time, as the relationship changes? I have found knowing people and being in relationship with them outside of a shared common task enables understanding, familiarity, and empathy.

Be honest. Being honest and being brutal are not the same thing. Honest conversations are truthful, soaked in grace, and motivated by love. Honesty in relationship will help you keep short accounts. It can uproot bitterness before it has the opportunity to take hold. Be honest, and learn to invite and receive honest conversation.

Relationships, location, seasons of life and ministry are not obstacles to becoming more unified and loving, they are the means by which God uses to conform us to the image of His Son. The One who prayed that we would be one, that we would be known by our love. So don’t fight these gifts, embrace these gifts.