Ancient Worship Leaders
One of the best things we can do as artists (or just as people) is learn from those who have come before us. As artists we have plenty of people to learn from. One group of people would be the Levites. I like to say that the Levites were kind of like the roadies of the Old Testament. They were in charge of music, but also of moving the tabernacle, set-up, tear down, maintenance, the whole bit. They worked along side the priests. If the priest was the Senior Minister, the Levites were the Worship Leaders. The things about the Levites was that they were unified. They are the ones who stood together when the rest of the Israelites were still trying to decide who they were going to worship...God or the golden calf that Aaron made. As artists in the church we are the best example of unity a congregation will see on any given Sunday. Think about it, everyone else does their job by themselves (most of the time). The preacher preaches alone, the teachers teach alone, but the worship team has to play together or it won't work!
Another thing about the Levites that we learn from scripture is that they were given to the priests by God as 'gifts.' The relationship between the artists and the preacher is so important. If it isn't the most important relationship in the church, its in the top 5. If the artists and senior minister don't get along, it is easy to see. Then the rest of the people have to pick sides, and worshiping God takes a back seat to the feud between the artists and the preacher! Can you honestly say that you are a 'gift' to your senior minister? That doesn't mean that you will always agree and everything will always be great, but it does mean that you don't bring your junk with you into worship. Issues should be resolved one on one, and no one else should ever know about it. You are on the same team, worshiping the same God, and after all, isn't that what is about to start with?
Enjoy the Journey
