A First in Forever
Today was a first in what seems like forever for Johnny and I. Today we attended church without being on stage singing. It was strange. Even a little hard, but it was also pretty cool to be able to sleep til 7:30 on a Sunday morning. Having said that, here were my first 2 thoughts from my experience…
- I don’t know how people go to church week after week, year after year and simply warm a seat. People, you need to do something. Seriously, if that’s all I did every week, I’d be bored out of my mind or I’d pick apart everything that I didn’t like without being able to understand why things were the way they were.
- If you are in any kind of ministry you need to take a step back, observe every once in awhile so that you can see what others see. You might learn something.
Here’s what I learned.
- All those times Carolyn kept telling us we didn’t look happy and we needed to move around and have fun…well, today I got it….its just like dancing at a performance, when you are on stage, your expressions, movements and energy have to be over exaggerated for them to even be realized by the congregation.
- Working on parts is important and knowing the songs and flowing with your team is crucial, but more than hitting every right note, YOU have to worship if you are going to lead others into worship. If you aren’t comfortable with what you are singing and are unable to worship, that is going to affect the people you are trying to lead into worship.
- What does better look like? If we aren’t moving and engaging the congregation enough, where are there videos of worship teams that do? How can we get better? What does better look like somewhere else and how can we make their idea of better our own?
- Comfortable doesn’t cut it, this is how we always do it won’t get us there, and our best has to get better to be what God has called us to be.
The concepts God showed me today are things I practice on a daily basis with my job. In order to be a better teacher, I reflect on what is working and what isn’t. I record and observe my interactions, I have others observe and critic me, I visit other great teachers, learn from what they are doing and take away inspiriation and ideas that I am then able to make my own…so the question is why have I religated that philosophy to just my job? Why isn’t that how I live every aspect of my life? What about you, when’s the last time you took a step back, examined what you are doing, and asked yourself how can I get better?
