Taking the Ego Out of the Band

It takes a special someone to want to approach the stage and share their art before strangers, friends, and family.  It's sometimes humbling, often exposing, and always inviting critique.  From small church worship teams to international powerhouse bands, one thing is consistent: in order to take the stage, one likely possesses a certain measure of, shall we say, self-confidence.

OK, let's call it what it is.  Ego.  Diva.  Confidence.  Showmanship.  Naturally, this leads to church bands being filled, with some exception, by musicians who know they sound good, look good, and act good.  I love how Paul and James call our minds to grace before pride (Romans 12:3, James 1:17).  They remind us that everything we have is from God, and would shouldn't act as if we earned it on our own.

It would be like me listening to my own album, Life, and forgetting the hours and hours of production and auto-tune.  Come on, Ryan, get real.  And sure, we work hard to refine these talents, but we certainly didn't plant them within ourselves in the first place (more on this in a future post).

Worship leaders have quite the task, then.  On one hand, the entire congregation has been entrusted to them by the church pastors, so that's a confidence-boost in itself.  But, on the other hand, we must lead sacrificially (Romans 12:1).  On one hand, we have these cool skills that not many do, and that can make us feel special.  But, on the other hand, so does everybody.  Just because we have these super-public, often-idolized gifts in music, doesn't necessarily make us a larger contributor to God's purpose in this world  (Romans 12:4-8).

A humbling truth that I often come back to is that God can remove a gift just as easily as He gave it (Job 1:21).  He has gifted us for a purpose, so let's use these gifts for the building up the church, not ourselves.

(check out my songs Before Me, You Are the One, and I Am Nothing for more on this)