theoldnewchurch:

What happens when something like a squealing microphone or video not playing ruins what would’ve otherwise been a “worship moment?”

The answer lies in your understanding of technology and the role that it plays in the gospel.

I don’t know if you are like me, but I am a perfectionist. 
I know, I know. Believe me, God’s helping me break the habit.

I have been leading worship for almost 10 years, and by now I like certain things just so: the stage neat, the lyrics correct, the sound balanced accordingly. But what happens when the levels during sound check are NOTHING like the levels when the band plugs in? Or when the video that your pastor was so excited to show isn’t playing on Pro Presenter or Media Shout?

Here is the human, trigger response:

1) Look at the guys in the booth with a shrug and glare…immediately absolving yourself from responsibility
2) Try and crack some sort of joke, mask the technical error with humor to defend your frail reputation
3) Try and push through, but do so rolling your eyes or grimacing that the sound is so bad.

I’m sure there are more things that have happened, but I just picked the ones that are fresh in my mind (because I’ve done them all). I say all of those things to say this:

CARE LESS.

That’s right. Don’t give a flying bludger about it. 
A howling holler. A backwoods barbecue even. 
Okay that was carried away.

Whether you are a worship leader, pastor or just someone who is worshipping in the congregation, it is crucial to understand what it is that connects us with God.
Actually, this is ESPECIALLY for someone who is just worshipping in the congregation.

If our motives in coming to church are to be impressed with lights, then we would say that we have drastically mismanaged our priorities. If that is the case, then we should understand that we live in an imperfect world, and imperfect things happen.

Now, does this mean that we should not strive for excellence? Absolutely not. God always deserves our best. But this DOES mean that we need to leave room in our hearts for things to go wrong. Often, when we are standing on the stage upset that things are going wrong with the service, it is because we refuse to look bad in front of an applauding (or not) audience. This is pride at it’s very best, and we need to cut that junk out asap. 

The gospel of Christ is that Jesus died the perfect death to free us from sin, absorbing it in Himself on the Cross, and giving to us His perfection. If we can understand this…I mean really understand it, it will free us up to be patient with sound people, calm in circumstances where we feel like things are out of control, and humbled when we have moments that leave us awkwardly saying,

“Okay…say hi to someone you don’t know while we figure this out.” 

-Adrian