Here’s another of our 10 short worship team devotionals written by guest blogger Jon Nicol from worshipteamcoach.com
Talent
You’d think this element would go without saying, but we’ve all been to (or attend) that church that has a less than talented musician helping lead music. A few things about talent:
- It’s relative. A church of 5000 will likely require a different level of talent than a church of 50. Each ministry needs to determine what is needed. As a team grows and changes, so does the demand for better talent.
- It’s developable. Whatever hard-wired ability you have, it has to be cultivated through practice, hard-work and experience. And if you’re using this talent for ministry, you’re obligated to develop it.
- It’s not a spiritual gift. Musical talent is a tool used in conjunction with the spiritual gifts. My chief reason for making this point is not to argue a gray area, but to keep people from elevating their talent to a place of entitlement: e.g. “It’s my ‘spiritual’ gift, so I need to be on this team…or sing this solo…etc.”
- It’s not enough. John Maxwell wrote an entire book on this subject. We start here with talent, because it IS necessary. But it can’t be the only element that matters for a worship musician.
Read Scripture: Psalm 33:1-3
Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. (NIV)
Sing Praises to the LORD
You are the LORD’s people. Obey him and celebrate! He deserves your praise.
Praise the LORD with harps! Use harps with ten strings to make music for him.
Sing a new song. Shout! Play beautiful music. (CEV)
Discuss:
- Why does the psalmist admonish us to “play skillfully”?
Does that really matter to God? - When it comes to talent (or skill) what are the minimum requirements for our ministry right now?
- What is the advantage to using an audition (or interview) process for the worship team? What are the drawbacks?
Follow-up: If your ministry has an audition/interview process: How can it be improved?
If you don’t have an audition process, should you consider it? Why or why not? - What kind of things should we be doing as individuals to improve our talent?
How about as a team? - Why is it so easy to get possessive about our musical talent and place on the team?
Follow up: Do you think there is a sense of “entitlement” among us as a team?
Get the Must-Haves Worship Team Devotional
We’ll be running this series over the coming weeks but if you liked it and would like to download the whole 10-week devotional ebook for free you can do so using the link below. It not only includes the ebook, but a printable version so you can take a hard copy to rehearsals. Also the download includes a separate pdf for each week so you can email it to your whole team. This way, you can foster an email discussion with those who aren’t scheduled that week.
Get “The Must Haves” Devotional
Thanks to Jon for his generosity in making this resource available to us.
Other Must-Haves from this series
- Must Haves Devotional – Introduction session
- Must Haves – Teachable (part 1)
- Must Haves – Teachable (part 2)
- Must Haves – Passion
- Must Haves – Available
- Must Haves – Called
