Nov 07 2011

3 Pitfalls of Worship Posted 93 days ago ago by Bob Burroughs     4 Comments

Quote

“The whole person, with all his senses, with both mind and body, needs to be involved in genuine worship.” Jerry Kerns

Scripture

“Everything went without a hitch in the worship of God that day.”  2 Chronicles 35:15

Prayer

Great God, Creator God, Lavish God, Redeeming God, Celebrating God, how I bless You this day for the privilege and honor that so many men and women have in planning, preparing, and exciting the power of worship in their churches. What an awesome challenge it is for them to be so in tune with You that the worship experience becomes something of mystery as well as an art. Both bring holiness to the worship experience. Grant that Your people will be careful in how the worship is brought forth to the congregation. Let it be God-ordained from start to finish. In the strong name of the One who worshiped even unto death, Jesus. Amen, and Amen.

What Think Ye?

3 Pitfalls of Worship

There are some pitfalls in worship! I'm sure you have also come to this conclusion. Some times, things go wrong at the right time! We try hard to overcome these obstacles as the appear and try to patch them as best we can with temporary solutions, but some may keep reappearing! It is frustrating, isn't it?

Here are three reoccurring pitfalls that might interest you.

• Traditional/Contemporary

I have had the privilege of having conversations with two gentlemen who are at the extreme ends of the concept of worship in today's churches. I thought MME readers might be interested in their comments and my thoughts on what they said to me.

The first gentleman is 70 years of age, lives in Virginia, is healthy, strong and does an amazing about of farm work--the difficult kind, with cows, planting and harvesting hay, and much more! He is a believer and loves God. He is very frustrated at this time in his life because he cannot find a church that meets his spiritual needs, so he has quit trying to find a place of worship and only goes rarely.

My question to him: "Tell me what it is that keeps you from finding the church in this area that fits your needs?"

His long response, edited: "There is one church that we love to attend, but it is 30 miles away, difficult to get to often and we feel we would not have any church community, living 30 miles away. Churches near us are in two categories: the music is either so loud that my ears ache when the service is over or so 'high church' it is blandly boring. I get little from attending. I love to hold a hymnal and sing. I love to hold my bible as the Word is being read. So, I'll just communicate with God on my farm!"

The second gentleman was in his late 20s. He was a professional business man. In conversation, I asked him why he liked the contemporary service. He said (edited): "I love our contemporary service--the louder and more exciting, the better. I can praise God best in this way. The traditional service is so boring. Who wants to hold a heavy hymnal and sing when one can look on a screen for the words! Maybe when I get much older, my worship experience may change, for now, bring it on!"

My observation: I don't think traditional worship folk will ever truly accept the contemporary worship concept and the contemporary folk will never accept the traditional style of worship. "Blended worship," to my thinking, tends to offend both sides. But…I've been known to be wrong before!

Lack of planning

Lack of planning is a major worship pitfall. Scripture tells us over and over about the preparations that went into their worship experiences: dance, instruments, singers - lots of all three, and this just didn't happen! It had to be carefully planned. We do the Lord a great disservice when we do not plan worship carefully, and ask His blessing in the process. Worship is truly an art form.

Same old - same old

As worship leaders, we should never, never, never get into the habit of doing the same old--same old in worship week after week. Never just change the hymn numbers and rely on the order of worship that fits YOUR needs. Worship is NOT about YOU! Worship is about God - and His people. Changing the order of worship often is healthy, keeps the people on their toes, and extends their interest in the worship experience. No order of service is OK, if--the worship experience doesn't fall into the same style very Sunday! If your worship leaders do the same order every week, Sunday after Sunday, they need to be called on it and asked why they never do anything creative, innovative or out of the ordinary!

Pitfalls of worship…there are more. Want to share them with others? COMMENT at the end of this MME.

What think ye

Leadership

FIND YOUR GROOVE

Devoting a little of yourself to everything means--committing a great deal of yourself to nothing!

People in leadership who are busy, busy, busy are not necessarily being productive--a difficult lesson to learn. A full schedule doesn’t always equal maximum productivity. True productive leaders control their calendars and schedules rather than allowing the schedule and calendar to control them.

The 80/20 Principle, by Richard Koch, says that a minority of causes, inputs and effort usually lead to a majority of the results, outputs or rewards. This means that 80% of what you achieve in your job comes from 20% of the time spent! Thus, four/fifths of the effort—a dominant part of it—is largely irrelevant.

A 60-80 hour workweek will not compensate for a poorly delivered sermon. Church people just won’t show up on Sunday morning because the pastor is a leader, shepherd, counselor, and all-around good guy! His pasturing skills have almost nothing to do with his success as senior pastor! In his realm of leadership responsibilities, communication skills make the difference in success or decline of church service attendance.

So…where should a pastor focus most of his time?

• Working in the Wednesday noon Bible Study Lunch line?


• Spending 4 hours per day in hospital visitation?


• Checking the restrooms to see if they are clean and ready for Sunday?


• Proof-reading the church newsletter?


• Micro-managing the staff?Micro-managing the staff?

Not any of these! His focus, attention, and drive should be on preparation of the Sunday Sermon—period. His communication and teaching skills should be his passion for the coming Sunday, and let the staff care for all other details that should not be on the senior pastor’s plate.

What is YOUR groove? Are you doing too much that is not really important to the task(s) ahead of you? Are you majoring on minor things instead of the other way around? Are you giving quality time to those things that will make your program more attractive to your people so they will become involved with you?

Your leadership groove is important! Find it!

(Article is based on the out-of-print book, THE NEXT GENERATION LEADER, by Andy Stanley. If you can find a copy, get it!)

This Idea Will Work

 

Thank you!!

In his book, Men In Leadership, Bob Briner (Broadman & Holman), Day 21, makes this statement:

“Good leaders understand that they don't need to do it all...really cannot do it all...and even it they could do it all, they shouldn't! Quality leaders understand that a team effort is always better than on person doing it all.”

Along with those words, Briner also says, “ ‘Thank-you’ notes should be a staple on your desk or in your briefcase, so that any moment, you can jot a quick word of gratitude to someone who deserves it!” Someone has wisely said: “You can't appreciate people too much!” That is so very true. Yet, many church leaders never bother to let their people know how much they are appreciated! You would be amazed to see how your people will respond to a simple 'thank-you' note, hand-written by you for something they did! It will go a long way. Never underestimate the power of a ‘thank-you’ note.

Taken from the book: This Idea Will Work! 136 Ways to Revitalize Your Music Ministry Lorenz #30/1794L / $12.50

Humor

Pitfalls. . .
 

To read more of this week's MME, including new music reviews, please look to the right.

 © 2011 Creator Magazine All Rights Reserved

• John Cotten 92 days ago
  0 likes
  Another pitfall of worship: Seeking "excellence," instead of seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Hear me out! I'm not advocating giving our Lord any offering than the best we can give, but rather reminding us all that even our very best is but "filthy rags" compared to Him! I've seen Christians act in decidedly un-Christlike ways in the name of human "excellence." It is a subtle, deadly temptation to shift our focus from the Lord and what the Spirit is doing in and through us, and onto ourselves. We sometimes act as if the Holy Spirit cannot move among us if our tempi are too slow (or fast), our decibels are too few (or too many), or our songs too old (or too new). Oh, we know better, Biblically, but we act that way, don't we? Taking that a step further, we are sometimes prone to putting physical appearance high on the list of qualifications for worship leaders or team members. Someone who is too this or that in their appearance is un-chosen, in favor of someone who looks like a star, regardless of their spiritual qualifications. I am glad we have good instruments and technology to use as tools to enhance worship, but my soul cries out in pain when such things draw attention to themselves and away from the Lord. If we are not diligently seeking first the Lord, we fall in a pit of lesser things, the very finest of which is worthless compared to Him.
  
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  • Bob Burroughs 92 days ago
    0 likes
    John! Great thoughts! I agree 100%. We don't normally see obese people in ensembles or doing solos. Ensembles are often chosen for the "look" rather than the spiritual qualifications or musicianship! "Excellence" is a term all worship leaders need to come to terms with. We can't push for excellence and not be totally aware of spiritual issues contained within a group and the music they are singing! Thanks for your comment.
    
    Reply
• Bob Burroughs 92 days ago
  1 likes
  Excellent words, Jim! Wow. Maybe YOU should have written about pitfalls in worship instead of me!! All your comments are right on target. This editorial was simply to encourage thinking and evaluation. You have certainly contributed to that goal! Thank you! Thank you! Very thoughtful response, Sir. Burroughs
  
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• Jim Lowery 92 days ago
  0 likes
  I get so tired of these "I can bring peace to your worship wars" editorials that so clearly ignore God's Word. After all it IS about Him, isn't it?? The issues are not about: + Traditional ve Contemporary: This tired, fleshly argument is easily answered by The Lord Himself in John 4. + Lack of Planning: is easily answered by noting that God wages war against pride but gives grace to the humble, AND realizing that the service performed by the worshippers in the Tabernacle was modeled on the service renedered by an inferior to a superior, by a SLAVE to his Master.(Js. 4/I Pet. 5; references too numerous to note) + Same Old Same Old: is also easily answered by looking again at John 4, and being obedient to "sing to the Lord a new song"- not necessarily new in time (this is NOT a denial of the need to write new songs!), but a "fresh" song based on the fact that God's mercies are new every morning. The bottleneck is not necessarily the planning (although you make EXCELLENT points in issues 2/3) but often on the worshipper who is simply "along for the ride" and not involved himself (Matt. 15:8) All of these issues would be solved if layman and leaders would simply submit themselves to The Lord in His Word, and do a little biblical and historical research and note that the tabernacle/synagogue services followed a mostly regular pattern. HAVING SAID ALL THAT, there IS something to be said for the judicious use of the symbolism of loudness. And also the still small voice. Of holding the hymnal, and singing from memory (!). Of reverance and following biblical principles in planning and presentation. All three of these issues occur because "my people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge" of The Word of God Himself, the failure to humble oneself under the mighty hand of God, and to live by faith: three key concepts in God's relationship in Christ with us. Jim Lowery Richmond, VA
  
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