Stop & imagine this ridiculous worship scenario
You have just come to the Lord! You are super excited to be involved in your new local church. On Sunday morning, you get up your courage to talk to the head pastor about your desire to help the growing church in any way.
The next words you hear almost blow your mind!
“We’d love you to lead worship this coming Sunday,” the pastor says with an excited smile. He grabs the guitar that is propped up next to his desk. He holds it enthusiastically out to you and says, “You will be the only one up front and the only instrument we expect you to use is the guitar.”
A few thoughts quickly flash through your mind…
“I know what a guitar is but I have never learned how to play it”
“I’ve seen other people lead worship well, but I have never done it myself”
“I’ve never had any lessons or training in worship or the guitar”
“I have to do it all by myself?”
“I am doomed to fail!”
That sounds absurd! This is a sure recipe for failure.
Then why do we expect it to be any different in Business as Missions?
If we are truly honest with ourselves, we have set up many young Christian workers to fail in Business as Mission. We basically shove a “business” in their hands and tell them to “do something” that they have never been trained or equipped to do.
We ask these passionate and willing “Bammers” to stand on the front stage and expect them to perform like professionals. Does that seem ridiculous to you?
What can we learn from our worship leaders?
So if we take a step back and have a look at our talented worship leaders, I am sure we can learn a few nuggets about doing BAM well.
1. Practice is vital
I have had the opportunity to worship under some amazing worship leaders. One of the thing that sticks out to me is the amount of time they have spent practicing their instrument and becoming “comfortable” with it. Some of them have had formal lessons, while others have just been self taught.
Either way, they have spent hours on their instrument.
We need to encourage our young Kingdom Entrepreneurs to practice before they move overseas. Whether they get some formal business training, spend time gaining business experience or even having a year long internship, we should make sure our people are prepared.
2. They rarely lead alone
There are those gifted musicians who can lead worship by themselves, but most would prefer to some others accompanying them. Perhaps they will add another vocalist, bass, drummer or even a classical instrument. When the lead guitarists string breaks, the pianist can carry the melody. The full sound of the worship team can add to the worship experience.
Why do we ask our young business people to start businesses on their own?
Designing a business team around our strengths and weakness seems to make a lot of sense. When someone needs to step aside because of a “broken string”, the team can be there to carry their part.
3. Grow in the art of worship leading
One of my family members is a worship pastor in North America. One thing that he has always done well is to bring new and budding musicians into the experienced worship teams. He doesn’t give them a lead role, but allows them to play alongside of an experienced musician.
As they gain more and more confidence and capability, he then allows them to take a lead role.
In Business as Mission, are we intentionally grooming young Kingdom entrepreneurs or are we just throwing them to the wolves? How can we offer a training process for the next generation of Christian business owners?
4. The music plays a purpose of pointing us to Jesus
Worship is not a performance or a show! Worship has one purpose and that is to help point us to Jesus. Jesus is the focus of our worship.
Business as Mission should have one purpose. It is not about us or about the amount of money we can make. The purpose is ultimately to point others to Jesus! If you lose that focus, you might as well head home.