WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
By: Micaiah Wesler
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Revelation 8:1 KJV
Worship is what I do. It’s what I live for. It’s in my blood. I think about it the vast majority of my day. I ponder it. What is it? What is it not? It’s pretty well constantly rolling around in my mind.
One thing I ponder frequently is whether or not I have constructed boxes or set ways to do things in worship. Seeing as I am a musician, I think in term of music a lot. One thing that always interests me is what happens when a band stops playing loudly. What happens when things get really quiet? Almost every time it gets so awkward that people can’t hardly stand it! Those moments can be so unsettling to everyone that it’s actually quite humorous to me. It always ends up with me asking the same question: why is it so awkward?
Even heaven had 30 minutes of dead silence. Imagine coming into church and our entire worship set was nothing but silence! Woo boy... that would be a doozie of a service. We’d either be falling out from boredom or running to get out of there, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be falling out or running with the Holy Ghost!
Diving into the thoughts about this, I think there are multiple reasons as to why it gets awkward. We can save many of those for another time and I’ll focus on one right now: I think people rely on the band heavily to play and if the band stops, it’s a cue for us to stop as well. Simply put, we have been taught to follow what is being done from the stage. On the flip side of that thought, I’ve been in moments in worship where the band gets quiet and the crowd begins to lead and take over. What beautiful and holy moments those have been! I love those moments!
Sometimes I dread the moments where a band will get quiet and things get very awkward because I know that quiet moments can be filled with worship in a way that loud moments can’t. They each serve their own purpose. Truth be told, I like to settle into quiet moments that linger because I can feel the awkward tension rise up in a room and the question on everyone’s face begins to be obvious. “What do we do now?” Usually my inward response is, “I don't know. You tell me when you figure it out!” Haha!
Growing pains are always awkward. Breaking boxes is always awkward, but it’s healthy and necessary.
If you let things get awkward for long enough, you break through and people stop asking “what do we do now?” and find themselves with the choice of staying in an awkward spot (which nobody likes) or finding something to do outside of what you’re used to. That’s usually when people stop looking at the stage for their cues and the voice of the crowd begins to rise as people make the decision to press through and worship God even if the band is quiet. I think that’s why those are such holy moments. It removes the crutch of loud music and a band that drives things forward and puts the power of worship on our mouths of a congregation. It’s a beautiful thing and I love when it happens.
It reminds me of the part of the song “A Little Longer” by Jenn Johnson that says:
YOU, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO A THING
SIMPLY BE WITH ME AND LET THOSE THINGS GO
THEY CAN WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE
WAIT, WAIT JUST THIS MOMENT IS TOO SWEET
PLEASE STAY HERE WITH ME AND LOVE ON ME A LITTLE LONGER*
So if you find yourself in those awkward situations in worship where you are unsure of what to do, embrace the awkward and let it drive you to the decision that you’re going to press passed this moment of discomfort whether anyone else goes with you or not. You’ll be surprised what God will do in those beautiful moments!
*Jenn Johnson, “A Little Longer”. You Make Me Brave, Capitol CMG Publishing, 2003.
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Revelation 8:1 KJV
Worship is what I do. It’s what I live for. It’s in my blood. I think about it the vast majority of my day. I ponder it. What is it? What is it not? It’s pretty well constantly rolling around in my mind.
One thing I ponder frequently is whether or not I have constructed boxes or set ways to do things in worship. Seeing as I am a musician, I think in term of music a lot. One thing that always interests me is what happens when a band stops playing loudly. What happens when things get really quiet? Almost every time it gets so awkward that people can’t hardly stand it! Those moments can be so unsettling to everyone that it’s actually quite humorous to me. It always ends up with me asking the same question: why is it so awkward?
Even heaven had 30 minutes of dead silence. Imagine coming into church and our entire worship set was nothing but silence! Woo boy... that would be a doozie of a service. We’d either be falling out from boredom or running to get out of there, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be falling out or running with the Holy Ghost!
Diving into the thoughts about this, I think there are multiple reasons as to why it gets awkward. We can save many of those for another time and I’ll focus on one right now: I think people rely on the band heavily to play and if the band stops, it’s a cue for us to stop as well. Simply put, we have been taught to follow what is being done from the stage. On the flip side of that thought, I’ve been in moments in worship where the band gets quiet and the crowd begins to lead and take over. What beautiful and holy moments those have been! I love those moments!
Sometimes I dread the moments where a band will get quiet and things get very awkward because I know that quiet moments can be filled with worship in a way that loud moments can’t. They each serve their own purpose. Truth be told, I like to settle into quiet moments that linger because I can feel the awkward tension rise up in a room and the question on everyone’s face begins to be obvious. “What do we do now?” Usually my inward response is, “I don't know. You tell me when you figure it out!” Haha!
Growing pains are always awkward. Breaking boxes is always awkward, but it’s healthy and necessary.
If you let things get awkward for long enough, you break through and people stop asking “what do we do now?” and find themselves with the choice of staying in an awkward spot (which nobody likes) or finding something to do outside of what you’re used to. That’s usually when people stop looking at the stage for their cues and the voice of the crowd begins to rise as people make the decision to press through and worship God even if the band is quiet. I think that’s why those are such holy moments. It removes the crutch of loud music and a band that drives things forward and puts the power of worship on our mouths of a congregation. It’s a beautiful thing and I love when it happens.
It reminds me of the part of the song “A Little Longer” by Jenn Johnson that says:
YOU, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO A THING
SIMPLY BE WITH ME AND LET THOSE THINGS GO
THEY CAN WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE
WAIT, WAIT JUST THIS MOMENT IS TOO SWEET
PLEASE STAY HERE WITH ME AND LOVE ON ME A LITTLE LONGER*
So if you find yourself in those awkward situations in worship where you are unsure of what to do, embrace the awkward and let it drive you to the decision that you’re going to press passed this moment of discomfort whether anyone else goes with you or not. You’ll be surprised what God will do in those beautiful moments!
*Jenn Johnson, “A Little Longer”. You Make Me Brave, Capitol CMG Publishing, 2003.