Shaun Groves has a new job. He’s accepted a position of leading a group of worship leaders at his church. You can read the full story over on his blog. I loved Shaun’s view on how he will be measuring success. Do you have similar ideas of what success should be as a worship leader, or maybe something completely different?
If success is innovation and cranking out a CD of original tunes penned by our team or doubling church attendance because of awesome music then, well, I’m not the guy.
Thankfully, that’s not our definition of success. Success is: If the music is very very bad one Sunday, nothing goes right, and no one complains. If musicians are worshiping without songs all week, reading the bible, meditating on it, memorizing it, silently listening to God every day – because they want to. If there are more people in line to teach and serve and give than there are to sing and play. If we can cancel music for a month and people still show up on Sunday to be with God and each other. If silence isn’t squirmed through. If great players befriend pretty good ones and treat them with respect and genuine love. If musicians quit to tend to their marriages or their kids or their faith. That’s what success looks like to me.
I don’t think Shaun is against church growth – not at all. It’s about our focus. If we invest time in those around us, helping them to grow and develop, we as a church will have much deeper impact, and much wider reach. Again, it’s about our focus. It’s not about the band, the fancy preaching or anything like that. It’s about community, being there for each other and showing God’s love to a hurting world.
