FROM PERFORMANCE TO WORSHIP
When the focus shifts from Him to us
In the sphere of music and worship, this topic has been floating around for quite some time. There just seems to be a buzz in the air. Everyone wants to prove the other isn’t actually worshipping.
We have begun boiling it down to preference and genre when it comes to praise and worship on a Sunday morning.
This isn’t a look at that.
I would like to submit to you that worship becoming performance is a matter of the heart.
And yes, there is already a full article speaking about the posture of the heart, but I need us to understand that the switch happens in the heart.
When my intention for worship becomes about highlighting me and not God, it becomes performance.
When the focus is more about how well I can sing, and making sure the production elements are perfect, but leaving no space for the Lord, then it becomes performance.
And no, I’m not saying planning is wrong, or that excellence is void of the Holy Spirit.
What I am saying is:
In all of this, where is your heart?
Jesus spoke about the importance of our motives. In Matthew 6:1, He warns against doing things simply to be seen by others.
The issue isn't always what we are doing.
The issue is why we are doing it.
Do you desire to please God, to minister to Him, to make Him smile?
Or is that just a byproduct of stroking our egos?
The answer is in the heart.
In worship, the focus is the Lord. First and foremost. Above everything.
Performance takes our eyes off of the Lord and places them more on how we can get the biggest applause. How we can please the congregation. How we can impress the people in the room.
Paul asks a sobering question in Galatians 1:10:
“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”
Who are we trying to please?
Colossians 3:23 reminds us:
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”
That includes our worship.
THE STAGE REVEALS THE HEART
One thing I have learned about the stage is that it reveals who we are.
I can tell you from personal experience.
Before the Lord began dealing with me and my pride, I thrived on being on stage and showing persons how well I could sing.
I would wow crowds with my voice, but I would never show them Jesus.
As I matured in my faith and the Lord began to deal with my heart, He showed me firstly what the pride was rooted in and how it affected my ministry.
You see, as believers, sometimes we believe that when we become saved, we are okay. We unfortunately do not deal with our “soulish issues.”
As my mentor, Prophetess Dr. Sumer Edwards Williams, says, we haven't dealt with our soulish issues.
So all the attention I did not get growing up, I sought from the audience on stage.
And because I was talented, it was easy.
I lavished in the idea of being the centre of attention.
The attention was on me, and I loved it.
But God was looking at something deeper.
When Samuel was looking at David's brothers, God reminded him:
“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
— 1 Samuel 16:7, NKJV
The stage may show people what we can do, but God is looking at something deeper.
He is looking at the heart.
And that means that I can sound incredible and still have a heart that is not completely surrendered to Him.
I can lead thousands of people and still be seeking their attention.
I can receive applause and still be starving for validation.
I can be gifted and still be dealing with pride.
And that is why the heart matters.
DEALING WITH PRIDE
Scripture says:
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
— Proverbs 16:18, NKJV
For me, God had to deal with pride.
Not the kind of pride that is always obvious.
The kind that can hide behind gifting.
The kind that can hide behind excellence.
The kind that can hide behind ministry.
The kind that can convince you that you are simply being confident when, underneath it all, you need to be seen.
And God began to show me what was really happening in my heart.
As I began to mature in the Lord, I began to root my identity in Him.
I began to work through my soulish issues.
And what happened in this time is that I began to change.
The desire of my heart became to love on the Lord.
I just wanted what the Lord wanted from me.
I wanted to please Him.
I wanted to love on Him.
I wanted to simply live in His perfect will for me.
Performance changed to worship.
And it was then there was a shift.
It was then that I saw the worship leader, not the song leader.
It was then I began to see the hand of God move in spaces that I led worship.
It was only when I submitted completely to the Lord that the performance became worship.
SO, WHAT'S IN YOUR HEART?
I say all this to say, beloved:
What’s in your heart?
Have you dealt with those parts of you that are using the stage as a place to fulfill childhood needs?
Have you allowed God to deal with the places in you that crave attention?
Are you more concerned about how people respond to you than how God responds to your worship?
Would you still worship if nobody applauded?
Would you still serve if nobody knew your name?
Would you still give your best if nobody ever told you that you did a good job?
And perhaps the most important question:
Do you love His presence more than you love being used by Him?
David prayed:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
— Psalm 139:23–24, NKJV
That has to be our prayer.
Not simply, “Lord, use me.”
But:
“Lord, search me.”
Not simply:
“Lord, give me a platform.”
But:
“Lord, give me a heart that is completely Yours.”
Because the goal is not simply to stand on a platform and lead people in a song.
The goal is to stand before God with a heart that is surrendered to Him.
The goal isn't to be impressive on a platform.
The goal is to be pleasing in His presence.
And when the heart is truly His, the worship will follow.