New Song

Throughout the Bible God celebrates creativity and unique ways to worship him. Continually, he reminds us that all things that are good are from him. We need this constant reminder because we often find ourselves creating rules and putting parameters on what we consider to be the best way or the only way to worship Him and provide worship opportunities for others to worship Him.

One example that Noland highlights is the way God explains how He wants the tabernacle made in Exodus 28:33. It gets interesting when God explains to the "artists" how to construct the priests' garments. These artists were "instructed to create blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates" (Noland, 141). Isn't it interesting how pomegranates "can be purple and scarlet during various stages of their growth, but never blue. Imagine that - a blue pomegranate. In other words, the artists didn't have to make exact duplicates of nature. They could bring something new and refreshingly different to their work" (Noland, 141). This highlights the fact that we are given the freedom to bring our artistic gifts and creativity to how we worship.

Because there are so many pleasing ways to worship God, we may find that we do not agree with each other on the way that worship should be conducted. Some of us love the tradition of hymns and songs that we loved as children in the church. Others of us may want to experience Sunday worship by bringing down the house with joyful jubilee and professed hallelujahs. Then again, a portion of us may be thinking too much about what kind of worship is best without allowing for God's input or work on our spirit. How many of us have sat in the congregation on Sundays and spent more time thinking about the worship music than focusing on our own worship?

Noland emphasizes in this section that we need to embrace different kinds of worship, which means being open to the new and different. He states, "that's why God's Word encourages us to sing to the Lord a 'new song' (Ps 33:3) (Noland, 142). We need to be open to other forms of worship (not just musically) and feel that our worship community is open to our ideas of worship. (Spoiler alert: the next post will be about open communication...).

For this post, reflect upon a current worship method at our church that you love and/or you feel the congregation loves. Then, explain a worship style or practice that you would like to add to our current method.

Heat, Light, and Magic

Have you ever taken the time to really look at our worship team? We are a bunch of neurotic, quirky, passionate, intelligent, and deeply devoted people! Each of us brings something completely unique to our team that we would be absolutely lacking if a person were missing. No matter how small or large our contributions, they all play a role in the bigger picture of bringing people closer to Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:22-25 says, "Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor... But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other."

In order to develop all that we have to offer into something that God can edify in our team, we need to bring all of our spiritual gifts to our team. Noland states:

"I've seen too many artists neglect their other spiritual gifts. They perform and that's it. What about an artist who also has the gift of mercy or encouragement or helps or shepherding or evangelism? The team is incomplete without these gifts... There is such a wide variety of spiritual gifts, and we we need to look for opportunities to use those gifts whenever the team assembles. For example, rehearsal is more than just practice. It's yet another opportunity to use our spiritual gifts and raise up our fellow artists. Even if you think you don't need rehearsal, you always need the fellowship and the fellowship needs you. If you have the gift of encouragement, you can come to rehearsal looking for someone to encourage. If you have the gift of helps, you can be on the lookout for someone to serve in this way, someone who just might be sitting next to you at rehearsal. Instead of asking, "What do I get out of this?" we should be asking, "What can I give?" (108-109, Noland)

Hebrews 10:24 tells us to "consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." This means that we need to see our role on the worship team as using our gifts to lift others up by asking ourselves "How can I use my spiritual gift today to stimulate my fellow artists spiritually?" or "Is there anything I could do or say that could benefit someone else on the team?"

The result of this is that our role on our worship team is valuable not matter how small. Noland states:

"Every team has members who know their roles on the team and perform them well. They're content to play their roles, because they know that if they don't, the group will not function as a team. The best team leaders are the ones who help their members identify their roles and set them up to be succeed in those roles. Some roles are more behind-the-scene than others. Some are more prominent than others. But the mature team player knows that a team can't function without all members pulling their own weight, without all members performing the roles they play to the best of their ability." (109, Noland)

In addition, being a part of the worship team means that we are all actually a part of our Church's mission and success. Thus, we may be required to step out of our comfort zone and help out in the church in other ways. We may find ourselves helping Grounds and Maintenance fix a wall or serving food with the Deacons on Wednesday evenings. Noland states, "We need to do our fair share whether it's in our job description or not."

Next, we need to give of our spiritual gifts without caring about who gets the credit or the glory. Noland states:

"If you really believe in the cause of [our] team, does it really matter who gets the credit or the glory? Is it more important that you get the credit or that the work gets done? It's typical for us to want to receive all the credit and glory for something we have done, but if you look below the surface, there's almost always an unhealthy, self-serving motivation behind this desire. In many cases there's a craving for attention that drives us to seek the spotlight. And nowhere was this more prevalent than in the world of the arts." (107, Noland)

"Sometimes we get all bent out of shape when someone else gets all the credit we deserve or glory we covet. A wise man once said, "It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit." (108, Noland)

No matter how much we try to not care about attribution, eventually we may come to a point where we feel the need to say something. Noland states:

"If credit is constantly attributed wrongly, it can be very demoralizing. It's true that God sees in secret, but it's the wise and sensitive leader who makes sure credit is given to the appropriate people. Sometimes people are not looking for a large display of public recognition. They just want to be thanked and appreciated for their contribution, so let's be sensitive to this on our teams." (108, Noland)

Conversely, if you are unhappy with your perceived role or you're unclear about what your role really is on the team, "I would suggest that you talk to your team leader about this right away. If you don't, you will end up frustrated, bitter, and resentful. Don't let this happen to you. If you're confused or disappointed about your role on the team, please talk to your team leader." (110, Noland)


If this conversation feels like we have come full circle, it's because we have. As a team, we need to make the members of our team feel valued and have a specific role on our team. Think about members of our team whom we have seem to lost some contact with, members of our team whom do not seem to have their own role and purpose, and members of our team who may be feeling overworked. What can we do to incorporate them into our team? What can we do to give more roles and areas for ownership? What can we do to take away some of the stress of other members?

In the comment section, write about a specific thing that our team can do to help utilize everyone's gifts on the team by using the previous rhetorical questions as prompts.

Together We Stand, Divided We Fall

Just because we are all Christians, members of the worship team, and have spiritual gifts, does not mean that everything will be rainbows and unicorns. Unfortunately, our spiritual gifts come with a huge dose of hubris. Hubris is the extreme amount of pride associated with the way we feel we need to do things in order to have our spiritual gifts utilized in their self-perceived "perfect" way. Hubris is an extremely dangerous a double-edged word because it is directly associated with having a very negative outcome. The best metaphor of this is Achilles and his tendon. As artists, we continually have to be evaluating our actions and making sure that hubris is NOT overtaking God's will for our gifts.

In the Heart of the Artist, Roland lists 3 tasks that we need to focus on to make sure that we are using our gifts in the way God intended them:

1. A team player is committed to the the cause of the team

In ministry being committed to the cause of the team means that we put the church's mission above our own agenda. From time to time [we all] hear stories about arts ministries in which the team members aren't all on the same page. The result is musicians, drama people, dancers, etc. all doing their own thing instead of coming together for the common good. For example, a musician who uncompromisingly pushes a favorite style of music, even though it doesn't fit the occasion, is putting his or her own agenda ahead of the team's. (97, Heart of the Artist)

2. A team player encourages and supports his or her teammates

When it comes to the arts in the church, we need to cultivate an environment that is encouraging, life-giving, and supportive. That's part of what it means to nurture artists, especially the artists with whom we serve. Most of us have no difficulty encouraging someone whose gifts pose no threat to our place in the ministry. Our character is truly proven when we can root for those who have the same gifts we have. Can you sincerely encourage and pull for someone who has the same gifts you do? Another test of character some when someone else gets the opportunities we wish we could have. Maybe it's the solo we wanted, the part we wanted to play, or the recording opportunity we wanted. First Corinthians 12:26 (NASB) says that if "one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." Can you rejoice for someone who gets the opportunities you wanted? (102-103, Heart of the Artist)

3. A team player holds onto to his or her gifts loosely

Every once and a while [we] run into people [or find ourselves saying], "I'm not going to give of my time and talent unless my gift is used exactly how I think it should be used." NBA coach Pat Riley says, "Doing your most for the team will always bring something good for you. It means believing that everything you deserve will eventually come your way. You won't have to grab for it. You won't have to force it. It will simply catch up to you, drawn along in the jetstream, the forward motion of your hard work." Especially if God is in the picture, I think we can say with confidence that good things will come our way if we work hard and don't try to force it. If our talents and abilities are from God, who really owns them? He does. They're on loan to us and we are to faithfully steward them. So we can relax our white-knuckle grip on our gifts and lay them at the feet of Jesus, to be used to edify His church as He sees fit. (104, Heart of the Artist)

Roland's words are powerful, they speak right to "our hearts as artists." Of course we want to participate. Of course we want to share our gifts in the way we think that they should be shared. Of course we want to be an integral part of something that leads people to Christ. Of course we want to be recognized for our gifts. Of course, though, we need to understand that the use of our gifts is up to Him who gave them to us.

Our worship team is blessed with some of the most astounding hidden gifts. It seems like every day a member is stepping up and portraying God's will in remarkable and influential ways. Since we are so gifted in our team, we need to make sure that everyone is allowed the chance to use their gifts in the way that "God intended." This means that a few of us will need to start asking others if they would like to participate before taking on a task by ourselves. It also means that others of us will need to start sharing more about our hidden gifts and look for ways to serve our congregation, our team, and our Father.

The reflection assignment for this post is somewhat simple:

Identify and post about something that you will now start doing to make sure that other's gifts are celebrated and used better within our team. An example of this may be: "I will recognize that the congregation worships in a multitude of ways and instrumental interludes with electric guitar or drums or harmonica provide an equally beneficial moment for the Lord to do his work as vocal lyrics do."