Worship Teams on Stage: Part 3

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A brief rant on church history

I have one more major point in the discussion of a worship team on stage. But first, I want to re-visit the concept of “showy” for just a moment. I’ve reflected more on what it means to be too “showy”. I don’t think the concept starts with a group of people on a stage. I think it starts with the stage itself.

I’ve read a lot about the first century church. I have read how these early churches met in homes, hid in caves, etc.  No stages. No chairs. No suit and ties. Just small groups of people gathered together as a church (a family), eating together, serving the poor, worshiping God, and loving each other.

So, where did the idea of church members sitting in pews all facing toward a “stage” come from? An appointed leader stands on this “stage” facing the “audience” and leads them in a “church service”. Where did this whole concept emerge? Polycarp? Constantine? Peter? Our whole Sunday morning church experience is set up for an audience to “receive” from whomever is standing on the stage. Sounds a bit like “Christian theater”, doesn’t it? If we are going to argue that everything feels too showy, then we have to get at the root of the issue:  The concept of a group of people facing a stage is already set up for people to “expect” a performance. And that doesn’t just go for the praise team, it goes for the preacher as well! If we feel that a performance is a threat, maybe we should eliminate the very surroundings that encourage such an idea. Take out the pews and stage and all sit in a circle!

OK, ok- I digress. Though I agree with the above paragraph (I should, I wrote it!), I also realize that we can too easily become argumentative and reactionary. Those of us pushing for such changes in our churches can’t let Satan get a foothold on us. We can’t let it drive a wedge between those “for” or “against” it. This issue truly does not matter – like so many other issues and concepts. We have inherited this church, with its strengths and weaknesses, from our forefathers.

Now, back to the last group of people I want to aress. We’ve discussed the suppressed voice of women in our churches, but there is another group- equally silenced in my church heritage. This group hits home for me because I’m one of them.

Standing praise teams encourage those with musical gifts to get involved.

I was an extremely musical kid growing up at an extremely conservative church of Christ.  I can remember singing songs on Sunday and hearing music in my head that wasn’t written in the hymnal. I heard Christian songs on the radio and knew that I could come up with an arrangement that we could use in church. I could use the music that God gave me to encourage my church family.  I wanted to be used for Him!

But those ideas were unwelcome. I had more than one meeting with elders telling me that those kinds of gifts weren’t useful in the Lord’s church.  I was literally told I had a “bum gift” and I should become a band director if I wanted to use my gifts. At the same time, I saw some of my friends who were gifted musicians and vocalists (both male and female) leave the church to sing and play in bars.  Some still loved God and ended up at churches that were more “user friendly” to those with musical skills.

Seeing my friends leave killed me. I’ll be honest- I wanted to leave too.  I had a “bum gift” anyway, so what was the point?

But then I went to a church that welcomed such “bum gifts”.  They didn’t alienate the right-brained, creative types… they embraced them! They found ways to use those with musical giftings to bless the church body. My first experience with this was seeing standing praise teams at Woodmont Hills Family of God and Otter Creek Church of Christ in Nashville, TN. I saw people (like me!) who were able to stand on that stage and pour out their praise to God.

I wept.

Then I came across this passage in 1 Corinthians 12 (NIV):

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Paul wasn’t writing the definitive list on gifts. These were examples of giftings and how they all were designed to work together.  I didn’t have a bum gift after all!  God didn’t curse me with a musical ear; The Spirit BLESSED me with it! It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders!

Too often our churches alienate the right-brained, creative types. There is no wiggle room in our liturgical formulas. Can we find ways to incorporate those with gifts in music, painting, pottery, and poetry into our church services? Are there other areas of giftings that we tend to alienate? Good questions to ask ourselves.

Final thoughts

It is because of all these things that I believe that standing worship teams are a good idea. They can be a healthy and encouraging part of the worship experience. They can bring a counter-cultural message of hope through diversity. They can bring an energy and air of excitement to our services. They can bring a variety of previously suppressed but valuable voices to the table.

Are there mistakes made along the way?  Sure. Can we figure out the perfect system?  Never. But we CAN know that God wants us to be one body. His Spirit gave us these gifts and there is nothing better than to give them back to him.

The Lindberg Road Church of Christ has just transitioned over the last few months to a standing praise team. I have shared all these thoughts at some point or another with several of our church members. Our leadership has discussed and prayed over them. Finally, our last piece of the transition was Easter Sunday. It was fantastic!! For those who are working toward this change- don’t give up. It can be done.  Be encouraged and have hope! Why?

Because there is something powerful about the body of Christ when it does what God made it to do!