Creatively Worshiping the Creator

I’ve been dealing with a question recently: How does a band lead people in worship with zero distraction or self-exaltation, pointing to Christ in every way possible, while still doing their music with excellence and creativity? It’s a great question and many bands and worship leaders seem to fall in it’s cracks. We either put all of our focus on the quality of music and try to sound as good as possible, forgetting to whom and for whom we are playing, or we assume the music can’t be loud or creative because that will take away from the worship experience we want people to have with Christ. Both of these have some serious room for improvement.
Our primary focus should always be on Jesus. He is the reason we gather on Sundays.
When music is done with such excellence it can be the case that more is required by the worship leader to encourage and exhort the congregation. It is a higher standard all around to both lead people to worshiping Christ solely and play a creative and excellent set. As a worship leader you constantly must be raising the bar of excellence and musical quality for you band, reminding them that we serve THE Creator. He is the source of any ideas we may have for our music and the giver of our gifts to even be able to be on a stage so we must not get puffed up with pride. Our creativity can be a form of pointing to Christ if we do it to lift up Jesus and point to Him throughout the sets. Here are some different ways to do this:
1. Know Scripture and proclaim it. People must be constantly reminded of grace-driven worship and we must know our Bible better than we know any words or chord progressions to songs.
2. Exhort. One good way to do this is to plan on saying something during song transitions or extended instrumentals. Be strategic about it. Say something relevant to the song and relating to the message. Don’t limit yourself to planned speaking either. Pray for and follow the Spirit’s lead when on stage. He will give you things to say that the people new to hear in their hearts.
3. Intentionally Pick Sets. Don’t just throw something together because the songs are in the same key. Get together with your pastor and talk through the sermon and figure out which song work best and where. Have a reason for each song you play.
4. Be Creative. We worship the Creator so our music should reflect that. It should he excellent and unique. At the same time we must be so careful not to be showy or distracting. The reason for our creativity is worshiping Christ not meritong praise for ourselves. Direct the band to understand this and lead God’s people well.
May God be exalted through our creativity, excellence, and hearts of love for his son Jesus always!
-Cam