I realized that I never finished this series of blogs and I don’t want to not finish something I started, so here’s the next part -
#4 – Knowing how to recover from mistakes is a must…Knowing you’re doing too much recovering is vital.
If there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that you’re going to make mistakes. Some of my most horrific, most humiliating and most humorous ones have come right in the middle of a worship set. From throwing up on stage while pregnant to mixing up words like “It’s all about me” instead of “It’s all about You”, I’ve learned that a worship leader must be just as strong in recovering as he/she is leading!
I’ve heard people tell me that they appreciate the fact that I sometimes have a musical mishap because it reminds them that I’m human and really do make mistakes. I guess there’s something to be said for that, but I also have enough experience to know that if recovery is commonplace in my worship leading, it reeks of unpreparedness. Recently, I shared with our entire PNCC Worship Team that one of the biggest mistakes we can make is taking what we do too casually. God was very specific in the Old Testament when it came to preparation for worship and handling His presence (the Ark of the Covenant). Today, because of Jesus, WE are modern-day “Arks of the Covenant” and we either “cart” or “carry” His presence. (See 2 Samuel 6 )
If recovery is more frequent than you’d like it to be, you may need to ask yourself some tough questions:
- Am I preparing well enough for the services? (studying and memorizing lyrics, practicing my instrument, etc.)
- Do I pray over the worship set and let God lead my song choices or am I choosing songs based on what I or my team enjoys?
- Am I practicing at home so we can rehearse together as a team?
- Do I check my “junk” at the door so I can walk on stage clean and focused?
Remember – Even when we do all of these things, there’s no guarantee that we won’t make mistakes. We’re human and our mouths are sometimes going to get ahead of or behind our minds! But when we realize that recovery has become more of a rule than an exception and make the necessary steps to change that, our leading will go to an entirely different level. We’ll find that we’ll recover quicker and easier and the people we’re leading will still press-in to encounter the Lord in worship….despite our blunders!
