Thoughts on the Balance Between Worship and Performance

Every Sunday men and women all over the nation step onto to church stages. They are equipped with guitars, mics, drums and hearts ready to lead those gathered in worship to God. The number one goal obviously is to engage with God in a reciprocating moment of praise,thanksgiving and encouragement. This is the number one goal, but also there should be a sense that those on stage are engaged with the audience. That could fall under the category of performance.

We have all been to concerts before where the band was engaged with the audience. It wasn't just an "us" watching "them" thing. It was an "us", a part of it all thing. Great concerts feel that way. Like you are on the stage with the band, and the band is enjoying the experience as much as if they were in row 3 seat 2. This all culminates in a swirl of emotions and exclamations of life impacting memories. How trivial all I'm talking about is just a performance by your favorite band. Think how amazing the Coldplay concert was just last week here in Atlanta.(I didn't make it to the concert, but everybody said it was off the chain) Shouldn't our worship experiences be just as engaging?

I think a quality worship experience at church should have a similar and engaging vibe.
We're dealing with this right now at Momentum. On one hand you want to be sure that what is done on stage comes across as worship to God not performance to an audience. On the other hand there should be a sense that the band is engaged with each other and the audience as well as with God. This produces an "experiencing this together" vibe that only comes when those on stage are engaged with those in the seats. If that doesn't happen it comes off a little 2-dimensional.

I pray that as we grow our band's passion to connect with God will increase. Also I pray that our bands ability to engage they're environment will become palpable. Why? Not so we can leave having just a cool memory or swirl of emotions, but so that we can leave forever impacted by our connection together with God in a slice of time.