Stop Pleasing People, for God's Sake

I’m a worship pastor. In my job, it is impossible to please everyone.

If you regularly lead worship, you are aware of the long list of possible complaints:

Too loud

Too soft

Too new

Too old

Too many people on stage

Not using enough people on stage

Too much lighting

Not enough lighting

I could go on, but you get the idea. I am not complaining; in fact, I’m grateful that apathy is rare in conversations about worship gatherings. Passion is hard to stir up. There’s a lot of passion about what we do in worship ministry.

This dynamic offers a massive temptation: to make decisions that displease the most people. It cuts down on the complaints. It makes for better personnel committee meetings. It just makes life easier.

So why not focus on pleasing people?

Because it’s not enough. Not nearly enough.

“Don’t just pretend to love other. Really love them.” (Romans 12:9)

Pleasing is pretending to love.

If it’s too loud, love the person who offers that complaint by considering them. Listen to them. Honor them.

If it’s too soft, love the person who offers that complaint by considering them. Listen to them. Honor them.

And then make the best decision you can about the volume level in your worship space.

Some will be pleased and some will be displeased, but all will be loved.

That’s the better path.

With that in mind, savor some of Romans 12…

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them.

Singer Stamped

I'm a fan of Ravi Zacharias, the Christian apologist. I've read some of his books. I've poked around his website. And mostly, I've listened to dozens and dozens of his podcasts.

One of my favorite Ravi-isms... his observation about Jesus and taxes.

What?

Well, sort of. You remember the story? It appears in the synoptic gospels. Matthew 22:15-22, for example. The Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus, so they ask him about taxes. He asks for a coin, reminding them whose image is stamped on it. "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God," he says.

Then comes Ravi's brilliance. He says something like, the Pharisees missed an opportunity to ask a follow up question, "What belongs to God?"

Jesus might have said, "Whose image is stamped on you?"

Sisters and brothers, whose image is stamped on you?

"Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us." Genesis 1:26

The image of God, of Jesus, of the Spirit, is on you. Stamped on you. Imprinted on you.

Astounding.

Understanding Who God is and what God does takes on a whole new dimension, doesn't it? Who God is has been stamped on you. What God does has been imprinted on you.

In Zephaniah 3 we experience God as a singer. You've been made in the image of a singer. Not only is God singing over you, God's image is expressed when you sing over someone else.

So sing! With all you are, sing! Sing lullabies to little ones. Sing praises to the holy One. Sing love songs to your beloved one. Sing when you're by yourself, sing when you're with friends, and please, sing when you worship.

Sing to the One who is singing over you. Sing of the One who knit you together--as a singer.

It doesn't matter if you sound good when you sing; it does matter that you do what God made you to do. Life is better when we live it the way God created us to live.

So sing like God made you for it. He did!

So Every Soul Sings

This content is the framework for my first podcast episode, coming next month, hosted by my dear friend and gifted worship leader Bethany Pedigo. I'm excited to share the "bones" here, and really hope you'll hear it fleshed out when the podcast (So Every Soul Sings) debuts in September!

Why do I do the things I do? Why do those of us in worship ministry do what we do? 

So every soul sings.

1. So— Whenever we are reading, listening to a podcast, hearing a sermon in church, having a conversation with a friend, I believe we’re alike in that there comes a time when we say, “So what?” This is my so what: So every soul sings. It penetrates every part of my life, and I want it to be infused into every part of my ministry. Why do we do it that way? So that… every soul sings.
2. Every— Young and old, really young and really old, rich and poor, dark skinned and light skinned, male and female, long-timers and first-timers, singers and non-singers, and—this is essential—those who are not yet walking with Jesus.
3. Soul— Voices sing; souls worship (The old hymn... “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee.” And Matt Redman's classic worship song... “Bless the Lord, O My Soul")
4. Sings— Sometimes our voices can’t sing; a flute player or trumpeter who has a mouthpiece in the way, or someone who has been embarrassed about their singing voice, or someone who is overcome with emotion or is buried in grief. But when your voice can’t sing, your soul still can.

The ancient song writer got it first: “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” (Psalm 103:1)

These 4 little words (So Every Soul Sings) affect everything: song selection, key choice, instrumentation, screen backgrounds, amount and color of light, loudness of the sound system.

It isn't so those on the platform sing, or those in the crowd are impressed with our musicianship and talent. We do worship ministry so every soul sings.

If you'd like to get a heads up when the podcast launches, email me at RodEEllis@gmail.com. I'll send you a dozen original devotionals based on song lyrics and scripture!

Are You Abandoning a Tribe?

In the business world, it seems tribes are all the rage. I just finished reading the book Tribes by Seth Godin. In the church space, I've read Tribal Church by Steve Stroope. When I talked with a publisher about a book idea, he encouraged me to build a tribe.

Tribes are not a new idea. You may recall reading throughout the Old Testament that there were twelve tribes of Israel.

Consider the worship war between the prophet of God and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:30-32, "Elijah called to the people, 'Come over here!' They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons."

I'm concerned that many of our churches have shattered altars, figuratively speaking, and they need to be rebuilt in a way that all tribes can worship as one people.

This is no small or simple task. And because the tribes are always growing and changing, it's a bit like nailing Jello to a tree. Those of us privileged to serve in intergenerational churches can never stop looking for, and listening for, the tribes in our churches.

Just last week, one of our retirement age folks sent me a gracious email that I wanted to listen to. They'd been hearing that I wasn't choosing songs that include her tribe. In my gracious response, I mentioned that we virtually always include songs from "the hymnal" but also confessed that if people don't feel like I am, I've failed them. (I was grateful that I'd already chosen a rather traditional setting of one of my favorite hymns, "It Is Well with My Soul" for the next Sunday!)

At the same time, I need to listen to the tribe of students on another part of the spectrum. And the parents who listen to Christian radio. And those on staff with me, especially my pastor. And the list goes on.

By the way, just to make it a little more complex, not all tribes are age-oriented. Some have to do more with musical taste--pop, rock, classical, etc. Some are new believers and others long time Christ-followers. Some has to do with ethnic upbringing, or cultural context.  The deeper you dive, the more you can discover: examine the extroverts and introverts in your worship gathering, learn about Enneagram types, etc.

Be assured: this is about more than musical style, but it is not about less than that.

Let me pass along the counsel of my pastor when I first came to Woodburn -- become a sociologist and study this church and this community. And then serve them well.

So as you plan, as you lead, and as you encourage those who do, let me offer three quick action ideas:
1) Pray for unity. Just putting the stones on the altar won't bring people together. That's the work of the Spirit.
2) Plan for unity. Even though we are utterly dependent on the Spirit to provide unity, the Spirit calls us to action. Like Elijah did, gather the rocks. Assemble the people. Call them--all of them--to worship.
3) Lead for unity. Make choices that unite the tribes in your church. Find new ways to sing old songs (Wherever He Leads I'll Go by Travis Cottrell has been powerful for us) and old sounds with new songs. (All My Hope by David Crowder comes to mind.)

And if you're not the person in charge, may I implore you... help those who are. Fight for unity. (Ephesians 4:4) Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21) Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. (Romans 12:9)

Let's move from scattered tribes to a unified people.