Part 1 - What I am FOR - Trinity Church Cheltenham

I love our church. The greatest privilege I have as a worship leader is to lead the sung worship and write songs for Trinity Church in Cheltenham. I have visited lots of other churches and led at a handful of Christian Conferences but nothing even comes close to when I’m singing with the people I share my life with. The people I call family and friends, my church.

I don’t like all of them. Some of them are weird. Some of them are boring. Some of them are irritating. A bit like me. But I love what God does amongst us and how He does it and where it takes us to.

I always thought leading worship for thousands of people at Christian conferences would be amazing. It isn’t.

It is fun. It is a responsibility. It impresses other worship leaders. But it is not amazing. Not in the same way that leading worship at church or cluster or Alpha is amazing. I mean when you have to do big events you have to do songs that everyone knows in an accessible way and be sensitive etc.etc.etc.blah.blah.blah.

And it really is easy. You have ‘x’ number of thousand people there who have all paid £125+ for the privilege. They are away from their everyday lives of jobs, housework and menial tasks. They are hungry to meet with God and enjoy their time away. You usually have a GREAT band who make you sound amazing. You know that My Jesus or Blessed be the Name will get hands raised etc. You get a bundle of encouragements and a whole dollop of public acknowledgment.

And is the fruit is so much greater? No. It is not even a contest.

Roll into town and bless five thousand people a bit once a year with a slick show OR really journey with and invest in a smaller group of people all year round. One is nice, the other is fruitful.

So much great stuff can happen (and does happen) at events and conferences and even “tours”. But this is not God’s plan. Does He use them? Yes. Does He bless them? Yes. Is this His plan for the Kingdom of God? No. They are a footnote in the plan. A tangent even.

He has one plan. No plan B. No get out clauses. All the eggs in one basket: The Local Church.

It is His bride and His body. And His chief method of bringing in His Kingdom’s rule.

A lot of worship leaders give some good lip service to the importance of the local church but their schedules reveal a truer story. Most worship leaders have blogs these days and they are full of tales of great conferences and thousands blessed. It makes me laugh when I hear about how many worship leaders with itinerant ministries talk about ‘making sure they are around on Sundays’ as some great act of obedience (And listing leading worship at church in the ‘Gig’ section of your website is just madness). I don’t regard ‘being around on Sundays’ as belonging to a group of people, sharing your lives in a good and Godly way. If you see musicians/technicians/managers/agents/record company people more often than you see your neighbours and church family then you need to question if your priorities match His.

The only itinerant ministries in the Bible were Evangelist and Prophet. Even Apostles seemed to stick within a region.

Bible teachers, song writers, worship leaders and pastors should not harbour ambitions of global ministries. International or national recognition should come around through fierce devotion to the local church. Passionate commitment to a community. Not from playing the conference circuit and doing “worship tours”.

Not that you NEVER do anything outside the walls of your own church. I love Wimber’s model of giving away what God has given us. Yet much of what is “given away” by worship leaders these days you have buy for £15 in Wesley Owen or pay £35 to see at some sports arena.

‘Rock Star’ is high on my list alternative careers. Just below ‘Professional Footballer’. But I am determined not to use the calling I have to His church, and the gifts He has given me to forge a semi-rock star career under the dubious monikers of “Resourcing the Wider Church” or “A Heart for the Nations”. Anything that puts me in front of thousands of people or requires a photoshoot or a press release I need to be incredibly cautious of. And putting links on a website or a reference in a sleeve note to some charity that works with people in poverty does not justify nor excuse using His worship to play out our Rock Star Fantasies

I’ve seen what happens in the Bible to those who mess around with God’s worship. And I have no desire to be evaporated in Holy wrath.

So that is why I am here every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Church happens day to day and I need to be here and focussed on what God is really interested in and how He has chosen to do it. There is no plan B.

dg