The Heart of Worship?

Have you ever seen a worship leader / backup vocalist at a lost because he / she did not have the lyrics? With the advent of technology, it has become easier and more convenient to lead worship. You can have the lyrics / song sheets printed and placed on a stand. You can also have them displayed on a monitor. Or a full blown projector screen.
It has become as easy as a news anchor reading from a teleprompter. But what happens when the teleprompter you depend on is not working? Or when it’s showing you something different? What if your song sheets get blown down the stage?

I am not a legalist. When I was serving in the worship ministry (yes, I do realize this may sound like a pathetic piece of reminiscent), we were all encouraged to know the words of the songs by heart. We were always prepared to face unforeseen circumstances, including the time the worship leader (namely, yours truly) could not make it in time. That was one of the reason I quit as the head of the worship team. If I failed to set a good example, I should not stay on.

What I wanted to discuss is the current state of the church. I think it has become harder to differentiate movement of the Spirit and scripted theatrics.  It is one thing to have some one sense the Lord saying something … but if this happens three worships in a row, won’t you be a little bit more curious about the odds of God saying the exact same things again and again? You may argue, God is consistent in his message. He is telling the same thing again and again until he gets through to us. But the same '”atmosphere”, the same “expression”, the same “spot”?

I am not relating any real life incident. I am just bring up a hypothetical situation for the sake of discussion. I am glad I have not been to a church that practiced “scripted” move of the Holy Spirit on stage.
Now, let’s go back to remembering the words of the songs. I think that’s the least we can do to prepare for worship. We cannot be tied down by the words. That may actually hinder us from being sensitive to the direction of the Holy Spirit. If we know the words by heart, we are not affected by any technical issues. Paper flown away? No problem. Projectionist shows the wrong song? No problem. Projector not working? No problem.

Another pet peeve I have is spelling / typo. It could be an “occupational disease” for a former worship leader. If we can check and recheck something we do in school / marketplace, can’t we not do the same when we prepare the presentation for worship? What does that tell us about our priorities? Do we really love God? Or are we just paying lip service?

Some may say they had too little time. Well, worship is not about the 30 to 45 minutes on stage. It’s about a commitment made to God and his people. It’s about how much you are willing to give to God. It’s about putting your life on display. It’s either a life of one who loves God or a life of someone who said so.
The answer could lie in something as simple as whether you know the words of the songs by heart or whether you allow typo to slip through.

Just my RM0.02.