Friday, July 28, 2017

Wailing and Worship

July 28, 2017

Tonight I’m at the National Sidecar Association Annual gathering, sitting in the campground lodge, writing my nightly gratitude blog. In the background (but not far enough in the background), someone is playing guitar and desperately trying to sound like Dwight Yoachum, all twangy and western-sounding. The only problem is, he can’t sing. At least, not on key. If this were vaudeville, he’d have gotten the shepherd’s crook long ago. It’s almost painful.

Which leads me to what I’m thankful for tonight. Every Sunday, we at Park church get to listen and sing along with some amazing musicians. They aren’t professional, most of them don’t read music, but they sing on pitch, and lead us week after week with dedication and ability. In thousands of churches all across the country, Christians struggle to sing often without any accompaniment, or with accompaniment that is more of a hindrance than a help. God has blessed us with enough talented people that we can field two worship teams, giving us the ability to follow his leading as we launch a second campus. 

Some churches have worship bands that are so proficient that they become performers instead of leaders. The real test of worship leadership is having the worship leaders themselves worshipping, and leading the congregation in the same. If when the worship team backs off from the microphones there is near silence, they aren’t doing their job. If however, they back away and the congregation can be heard offering their own songs of lament, praise, and worship, all is as it should be. 


No one was singing along with tonight’s human tomcat wailing in the dark. It’s just as well. They weren’t songs of praise anyway, but they were a divine reminder to be thankful for the real deal that comes around every Sunday. 

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