Several years ago, I attended a worship conference where I experienced one of the most profound times of corporate worship I’ve ever been part of. I don’t remember the keynote speaker, the worship setlist, or even much of what was taught that day. But I remember this particular gathering vividly.
There was no band. No setlist. No carefully planned transitions. No one standing on a stage telling us what to do next.
Someone simply began singing a song of praise to God, and others joined in. When that song ended, someone else began another. Occasionally, someone would read a passage of Scripture aloud. At other times, someone would sit down at a keyboard or pick up a guitar and begin playing. Sometimes we sang without instruments altogether.
There was no pressure to fill every moment. No one seemed particularly concerned about what was coming next.
We were simply worshiping God together.
Now, I should acknowledge something important about that experience. This was a room full of worship leaders. These were people accustomed to leading others in worship, familiar with a wide variety of songs, and comfortable initiating moments of corporate praise. I recognize that gathering a typical Sunday congregation and expecting the same experience might be a different story.
But I’ve found myself returning to that memory over the years, wondering what made it so meaningful and what it might teach us about the way we worship together.
Have We Forgotten How to Participate?
As a worship pastor, I spend a significant amount of time preparing for Sunday mornings. We select songs, rehearse music, prepare transitions, and consider how each element of the gathering can help our congregation respond to God.
I believe that preparation matters. I believe excellence matters. And I believe thoughtful leadership serves the church well.
But I also wonder whether we’ve unintentionally conditioned ourselves to believe that worship is something that happens when someone else leads us into it.
We wait for the music to begin. We wait for the lyrics to appear. We wait for someone to invite us to sing, pray, reflect, or respond.
And when those things don’t happen, we sometimes don’t quite know what to do.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting that spontaneous worship is somehow more spiritual than planned worship. Scripture certainly doesn’t establish that distinction. In fact, Paul instructs the church that everything should be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).
But I do think we would benefit from remembering that the responsibility for corporate worship doesn’t belong exclusively to those standing on the platform.
It belongs to the church.
Worship Is Something We Bring to One Another
Colossians 3:16 says:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (ESV)
Notice the shared responsibility in that passage.
Paul isn’t merely instructing a few gifted musicians to lead everyone else in singing. He’s describing a community of believers who minister to one another through the Word of Christ, expressed in song.
When we gather, our singing is directed toward God, but it also serves the brothers and sisters standing beside us.
Your voice matters. Your participation matters. Your willingness to praise God, even when you don’t particularly feel like singing, matters.
We don’t gather simply to receive a worship experience. We gather as worshipers, bringing our praise, our thanksgiving, our confession, our burdens, and our faith to the God who is worthy of it all.
And we do that together.
An Evening Around the Fire
Tomorrow evening, we’re going to try something a little different at Grace.
We’re gathering outside around a fire for a night of worship. There won’t be a full band, a sound system, or a predetermined setlist. We’ll have a couple of acoustic guitars available, and we’ll invite people to share songs, read Scripture, pray, and respond to God together.
I have no idea exactly how the evening will unfold.
There may be awkward silences. Someone might suggest a song that nobody else remembers. We may start a song in the wrong key, forget a verse, or discover halfway through that we don’t actually know how it ends!
And that’s okay.
My hope isn’t that we perfectly recreate the experience I had years ago. My hope is that we create an opportunity for our church family to practice something we should be growing in every time we gather: taking ownership of our participation in corporate worship.
I hope someone will come with a passage of Scripture that has been encouraging them. I hope someone will suggest a hymn that has carried them through a difficult season. I hope someone who doesn’t consider themselves a musician will have the courage to begin singing, and the rest of us will join in.
Most of all, I hope we remember that our worship isn’t dependent on the quality of our musicians, the creativity of our planning, or the atmosphere of the room.
It is a response to the God who has revealed Himself to us through His Word and through His Son, Jesus Christ.
And He is worthy of our praise whether there’s a band on the stage, a guitar beside the fire, or nothing but the voices of His people.
What might happen if we stopped waiting for someone else to lead us in worship and came ready to worship together?
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