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You are so much more than a musician.
You’re not just a replaceable, dispensable instrumentalist.
You play a significant role in leading people to encounter God by your skill, your sensitivity, your humility, your stage presence, your worship.
That’s why we as worship leaders love when you’re prepared. You make it easier for people to meet with Jesus.
But I’m going to have to ask you to step down for a season. Trust me, it’s not an easy decision to make. We’re actually in need to your particular instrument. I like you. I believe God has a massive purpose for your life on this earth.
But there are some things that need to change.
Wouldn't it be great to just use "The Force" for difficult conversations?
I feel if I allowed you to continue playing, I would do a disservice to your future. So I’m taking you off the schedule for a season so you can work on a couple things.
Here are the issues:
1. You show up late – trust me, I’m not a mean dictator. If you were legitimately late once or twice for different reasons, I would understand. But you are consistently late to practice. It’s not fair to the other musicians who show up on time. We take what we do as a worship team seriously. We place importance upon our roles as musicians and singers. When you show up late, you communicate that you don’t value the team or what we’re about to do.
2. You show up unprepared – I know you know this. We expect our musicians to come to rehearsal having listened and practiced each song. Listen to your part. Chart out the arrangements. Come ready to contribute. We respect you and believe in you enough to do this. But you show up unprepared. You haven’t listened to the music. You don’t know your part. It wastes a tremendous amount of time and isn’t fair to the rest of the team.
3. Your musicality is insensitive – sometimes I wonder if you realize there are other people in the room…and they aren’t there to listen to you. They are there to meet with God. You don’t listen to the other musicians or play tastefully. We need you to understand that we’re “serving” people with our music. We want to make one sound as a band that is undistracting, keeping the focus upon Christ.
4. You have a “know it all” attitude – one of the things that’s really tough is when I try and teach you something and you nod your head as if you know it already. Or you make excuses as to why you make mistakes. Part of what it means to be on a worship team is to submit to the leader and serve the needs of the congregation. Be humble and willing to learn.
5. You smoke weed backstage – KIDDING!
6. You’re making too many mistakes – you need to learn how to focus a little bit more. Your playing is distracting because of all the mistakes you make. You doodle too much. I’d like to see you take notes on your music during rehearsal and work hard on being precise. It can be difficult for the vocalists to stay on pitch when you can’t find your place. Also, when we’re flowing on a chord progression, stop playing until you know what it actually is. Don’t keep hitting wrong notes in hopes that no one will notice. We notice.
I suggest you work on these items and we’ll revisit the idea of scheduling you in a few months. I believe in you. If you humble yourself and commit to learning, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish.
Question: Have you ever had to have a hard conversation with your worship leader or worship team member? What was it about? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Ah, the conversations that so many of us just love having. Especially with all the pot-smoking guitar players we have
I’ve had my fair share of these types of conversations, but one thing that needs to be added to this list is the importance of presentation. Our intentions can be great, but 90% of what we communicate isn’t with our mouths. It doesn’t matter how kind or encouraging our words are – if they’re not communicated in a soft, genuine and loving manner, they won’t be received well.
Those are my two cents. Great post. Thanks, David!
I recommend punching them in the face first. Works like a charm
Thanks Ryan. Wise words!
yeah that pretty much sums up why I was “sat down”…especially number 5…JOKE!!!!! LOL…
GREAT POST DAVID…
We have young teenagers who play at the worhip band at our church…and they all get a little talking to when they…yes…get a girlfriend….
haha. oh yes.
David, I love that you are willing to tackle these conversations. I think too often we as busy Americans forget why we’re doing the things we’re used to doing, even in church and serving and we just go through the motions. I applaud your intentionality and conviction. Thank you for sharing.
Can I really punch them in the face first? I always thought I was supposed to go for the arm or kidneys so the bruising wouldn’t be so obvious
Carlene! Nice to “see” you on here. You’re right, arm or kidneys is a way better idea. I don’t know what I was thinking
#5…haha!
On the serious, these were great points. As a worship leader, these are things that we will have to do unfortunately…
indeed!
I remember you having one or two of these conversations with me over the years. Haha They definitely got me focused. Thanks for having those tough conversations.
Haha. Proud of you bro. You’re doing great! Excited for the new position?
Love this. I’ve actually had the weed conversation with players (not backstage though!)
Are you serious? That is hilarious!
Me too! The weed was causing extreme tardiness and generally wasn’t prepared. He was OBVIOUSLY a guitar player. Which leads to another reason he was asked to step down. He had the chops but his tone was not very…quality.