At what point does excellence and production value become too much?
When does it cease to serve the local church and instead, distract us from our goal – equipping the saints for the work of ministry?
We’re always waiting for what’s next. Doing more. Making everything better.
I’ve heard the argument on both sides.
If your production is over-the-top excellent, you are a seeker sensitive, sellout church with no Bible, no depth, and a congregation that shows up to be entertained.
If you’re a small church with little to zero production value…well, that’s also looked upon with a certain degree of chagrin. You at least have to be using a click, right?
Of course, these are blanket statements to illustrate a point.
Today, I’d love to set the record straight as far as excellence goes. As best I can.
The Role of Excellence
Problems surface when excellence becomes the end rather than a means to an end. When it becomes a competition to prove yourself or your brand. When you want to be impressive.
I think we all agree that the greatest strength of a worship team isn’t just musical ability. We’re after heart. We’re after unity. We’re after something more than just flawless worship sets.
The Bible has something to say about this.
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).
In this passage Paul goes on to say that if anyone has a reason to boast, it’s him. He has the skills, the good looks, the resume, the bloodline to boast.
The problem is that Christian ministry isn’t about what you can do. It has everything to do with what God can do through you.
[bctt tweet=”Christian ministry isn’t about what you can do. It has everything to do with what God can do through you.”]
The best ministry teams don’t flaunt their talent. Even if they’re the most talented, impressive singers and musicians this world has ever seen, it’s not the weapon they lead with. Rather, they put no confidence in the flesh and serve God by the Spirit.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we outlaw talented people and lower our standards of excellence.
I noticed that this past weekend. I want my musicians to be excellent – not as an end in itself but as a service to something greater. Practice finds its proper place when your heart is captured by something greater – the glory of God.
The Intuitive Musician
You know what practice affords you? Hours upon hours of time in the practice room? Day after day playing the difficult, boring, hard scales and technique?
Intuition.
Yep, that’s it. Music becomes a matter of intuition. You no longer have to think about how to play the instrument and you can focus your full mental energies on leading people in worship. This is why we’re after skill and excellence.
It’s not because we want to sound great. It’s not because we want to make a name for ourselves or be the most creative bunch in town. It’s because we want the practical matters of music and music theory to be automatic…without a thought. That will enable us to lead worship more effectively.
Consider when you weren’t a good musician. Or maybe you’re just learning right now. It takes all of your mind and more to figure out what you’re doing. I remember those days. I had no clue. Nothing was intuitive. Every chord required every mental faculty and every drop of sweat in my body.
Let’s relate this to some practical band issues:
- Memorizing your music forces you to be prepared, thus being more ready to be used by the Holy Spirit to do what He wants to do, and see what He wants you to see (rather than having your head in a chord chart).
- Knowing the Nashville number system helps you see music more clearly and flow easier because you can transpose into other keys quickly. It increases your versatility to be used in spontaneous/prophetic ways.
- Having your rig set up in advance takes the guesswork out of your tone selection in a worship set. Instead, you can focus your mental energies on the question, “What is the Holy Spirit up to today?”
- Knowing the setlist backwards and forwards enables you to temper your playing to serve the moment. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.
Do you see where we’re going with this? Catch a vision for excellence that is bigger than getting opportunities. Catch a vision that is bigger than sounding amazing. Catch a vision that is bigger than how many compliments and social media likes you can amass.
When music becomes intuition, you can play prophetically on your instrument. You can look up with eyes of compassion.
So let’s move beyond our skills. Let’s use our skills in pursuit of God doing the miraculous through us. Let’s put zero confidence in the flesh. I don’t know about you, but I want to do with my life the things that only God can do.
Are you in?
How do you manage to talk about excellence as a team? Always love to hear your thoughts. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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Such a great post, David. Couldn’t agree with you more. Preparation and putting in our best effort ends up being the very thing that sets us free to lead worship without being distracted.
Very true. Thanks for stopping by, Kade!
Really timely and powerful message, thanks. One issue about memorization. Some are more gifted than others in memorisation. It can be an issue of the amount of time a volunteer with a full time job and 3 kids has to memorize a body of work that in some cases comes and goes as rapidly as playing in a Top 40 cover band. I like to lead my teams in the direection of flexibility and learning to shift when needed and learn to “smell” where the expression of the song is headed, and be able to go to a different section of a song, or even a previously learned segue on cue. I have no interest in being somebody’s human jukebox to play the k love chart by wrote. If they want that just turn on a radio and worship God… I feel we are in a season the Lord is calling for a rise in creativity but even more a rise in following where Holy Spirit is taking us. May He bless you all with powerful and refreshed sense of His presence!
I like that, to “smell” where the expression of the song is headed. Great mental picture! I might have to steal that. haha.
Hey Barry, I know memorization is a challenge for a lot of people. But I don’t think it’s beyond reach. By developing your ear for chords, it can become a lot easier to feel and hear chord progressions. Especially when worship songs are all very similar in their chord structure. Maybe don’t start with a whole set, but start with one song. Little by little, you’ll be memorizing more than you thought!
Wow, this is SO good. You put into words something I knew but didn’t really KNOW. The reason (as a vocalist and co-leader) that I want to know my music inside out and (including having the lyrics memorized) is so that I don’t have to think so much about what I’m doing but am more available to listen to what He’s doing and where He is moving, so I can follow and lead others. Thank you!
Exactly. The more skilled you become, the more you can be present with God and lead people.
I’m watching my current team walk through the balancing act of what you are talking about here. I sent it to them because I thought what you said was so good.
I believe in excellence, I would probably error on that side, but I like how you balanced the two. “The truth is in the middle somewhere” is what I always say. There is a balance and we need to find it. Great post David! Thank you.
I’m the same way, Darren. I sometimes lean a little too heavy on the excellence and don’t emphasize the heart matters enough. Definitely a balance!