A mission statement
October 19th, 2005 by Travis Swan | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Theology
Here in Fort Collins we have two bands that rotate three weeks on, three weeks off, leading worship on Sunday mornings. One of the band leaders moved to a different focus in ministry last winter, leaving the band without a leader, so the pastors asked me to step in and lead the band. I already lead the Rock band each week, and I couldn’t take up another night with practice – doing that would mean I’d be away from my wife for five straight nights, so instead, we worked it out so the Summitview band practice starts at 5:30 on Thursday nights. Then in theory, I would be done by 8:00 and immediately start Rock band practice.
Now I spend most of Thursday getting stuff ready for both practices, setting up both practice areas, coordinating with people, arranging and memorizing songs. Both practices usually go well, although I have to make sure I get a LOT of sleep the night before, because it is quite demanding physically. I have to work at making band practice go well. But there’s a LOT more work to be done than just the physical demands . . .
One of the things I’ve done (in cooperation with pastor/other worship leaders) recently is come up with a mission statement for the worship teams at my church.
Here’s the statement:
Our mission is to lead others to 1) invite God’s reign, 2) follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and 3) express supreme delight and awe in our Creator. We will do this through properly motivated excellence in: Our private worship and obedience to God. Our leading the congregation through: worship on stage, sensitivity to the creative movements of God supporting an environment where people can express their hearts to God, and fresh, ever-changing worship forms.
Sometimes I think I run on autopilot – totally comfortable in my routine, from brushing my teeth to leading worship at the Rock on Friday and Summitview on Sunday. I pick six songs from my list of eighty songs, throw them in some sort of order, lead the band through them at practice, and play them at the service. What people don’t know at that point is that I can fly by the seat of my pants and still play and sing just fine at a church service.
A pastor pulled me aside one night back in 1998 and told me to get out off my butt and to stop with the “B” average in my life. “It looks fine, and actually quite good to most people, but you know better. You know you’re not pushing that last little bit to get the A.”
Properly motivated excellence. At times in my life I have played music with the wrong motivation. Impressing people has been a large motivation, especially back in high school. If I revert to that, it shows. If God isn’t the driving motivation, it’s just a bunch of noise, and people can tell. But again, I digress. What is this work that I am talking about that’s not physical work?
How can I accomplish what I sense God wanting me to do with these bands, with leading worship at our church, and do it all with a sense of peace and joy, and ultimately, supreme delight in my Creator? I have to watch myself, and make sure I don’t just take off running without some preparation. I have to follow the example of Christ and take times of rest. I’ve learned to take one day off a week, and don’t do ministry, don’t answer the phone, or anything church related. All week I must study, I must exercise, I must take time for private worship, time to be sensitive to God’s reign, to obey him and follow his leading. But again. All physical work. What then, am I trying to say?
My “work” is the work spoken of in Hebrews 6:10-12:
For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
God is not so unjust . . .
If God is just, he should give me what I deserve, right? My works, the things I do – what do they merit? Well, I’m told in Galatians 3:11 that . . . it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith. So my work is obviously not law related – things like “thou shalt not lie.” If law related works are the work I get rewarded for, I’d be screwed. This just God that I serve would justly send me to hell.
The second half of that Galatians verse says that instead of living by the law, I’m to live by faith. Hebrews directs me to the works of faith that I am to pursue. The first “work” I find is in chapter two. I’m supposed to pay much closer attention to what I have heard, lest I drift from it. I have to remember my salvation. Chapter three tells me not to harden my heart to his voice, and to exhort my fellow believers every single day not to neglect their salvation. Chapter four tells me to enter God’s rest. I think there are two elements to this rest – resting in my salvation and security in Christ, and the promise of heaven. Chapter five reminds me again that Christ is the the high priest, and source of my eternal salvation, and to rest in that. Chapter six tells me how certain God’s promise is, and that Christ is a “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.”
. . . as to overlook your work . . .
My work is to remember my salvation. To remember that I am without merit, and that through Christ alone, I can enter the presence of God. This work is to develop a faith that trusts in Christ so completely that I can’t help but express supreme delight and awe in my Creator.
. . . and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints . . .
This is another element of my work, found in Hebrews 3:13: But exhort one another every day . . . and in 6:11: And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness . . . I am to remind the people around me of the salvation of God. Of the rest found in him. To lead them into finding their delight in our Creator.
This is my work. This is why I lead worship. This is why I strive for excellence. This is my motivation. I am free to soar, to run, to go all out for God, and to have no fear, because I have the full assurance of hope until the end . . .
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2005 at 9:30 am and is filed under Ministry Philosophy, Theology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
