Lower the Stage; Raise the Seats

In our fallenness we tend to venerate people based on their platform. 

This is so unhealthy. Whether Labron James in the NBA or Tom Brady in the NFL or Scarlett Johansson on the movie screen… we give them authority they haven't earned. In some churches this even happens with preachers and worship leaders.

All of this is in direct contradiction with the teachings of our faith. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. The teaching of James the brother of Jesus is that you are to “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor.”

In Romans 12 we’re told to outdo one another in honor. 

And so in worship ministry, our effectiveness is maximized by "lowering the platform." Doing everything we can to make ourselves appear the way we really are—the same as everyone else. Here are some things we do:

• I ask the folks on our team to greet people before the services. First time I saw this happen in earnest was at Passion City Church. It made a huge impact.
• I sometimes encourage people to scan the crowd from the platform and pray for the needs they see, and even the ones they don’t know about. 
• We don’t call it a stage; we call it a platform. The platform is for truth. The stage is for actors. (This is a general principle; we don’t punch people for calling it a stage!)
• Speaking of the platform, we approach it from the congregation, not the “wings.” The leadership emerges from the congregation; it doesn’t appear from some mysterious place.

There’s a second half to this, though. We want to both lower the platform AND raise the seats.

The role of the congregation must be core to the planning of--and execution of--the experience of worship.

Philippians 2:3 says, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.”

When those of us on the platform think of those in the seats "as better than ourselves," the whole paradigm shifts. We aren’t trying to impress them with our musicality, but with the reality of Who God is. What Jesus has done. The role of the Spirit in the gathering and in our lives. 

If our goal is to get the souls in the room to sing about Jesus, it reduces nervousness and surpasses pride. A double win!

A handful of practical ways we do this:

• Songs are choses to give voice to the congregation. 
• Keys are picked so the most people can sing, not so the person on stage sounds great.
• Very rarely do we include “presentational pieces” in our services. If we do, the goal is to have someone sing something a congregation can’t or have instrumental music that points people to scripture.
• The loudest voice in the room — both by virtue of instrumentation and audio mix — is that of the congregation.
• Nearly every Sunday there is a moment (or more) of a cappella singing.

Help one another out. Leave a comment. How do you do this? See it done in other places? Let’s build a tribe inspired to serve “so every soul sings."