has always been an issue : you need to be connected to something bigger than yourself .
All our worship leaders have options . These are people that can do something without us . They can go get their own record deal , they can go travel , they ’ ve made a name for themselves . My challenge to them is this : you need to be connected to something that you are sacrificing for . Something that you are sacrificing , like finances , and it ’ s a hassle to stay connected in community . Part of the problem for worship leaders , when they ’ re not connected , is that they get so isolated that they ’ re not having to make decisions based on relationships or people or community . They ’ re not having to make decisions based on what ’ s best for the big picture , they ’ re only having to make decisions based on what ’ s best for them . I think it ’ s a dangerous place to be . I think the other thing is that there is a thing that happens in community , or in people with pastoral covering . We were in Brazil . Brazil is amazing ! They love God and love worship . So we go there for the first time , it ’ s outdoors and it ’ s rainy and there are twelve thousand people there , and they would get a glimpse of Kim or Chris back stage and just be screaming for them . I ’ m the guy that says , “ Hey , remember , they ’ re not screaming for you , they ’ re screaming for Jesus ”. At the end of the day if they walk away talking about how great the song was , how cool the lights were , how happy they were to see Kim or Chris , we have failed at what we were trying to do . If they do anything but walk away talking about Jesus and more in love with Jesus and with a greater passion for Jesus , then we have failed .
I remember asking Matt Redman about this . Matt is super humble even though he ’ s a beast of a songwriter and a Grammy winner . I asked him how he stays humble , and he said , “ It ’ s not hard when you ’ re in community ”. When you ’ re in community you ’ re not “ the famous Matt Redman ”. People call you on your stuff , and they challenge you , and you stack chairs at your church . On the road you don ’ t . This is what happened to us . We were doing youth group and then for about six years there was a span where I wasn ’ t youth pastoring . I was still on staff but I wasn ’ t the youth pastor . We were on the road , doing tours and conferences , and on the road there is a green room backstage . And I ’ m doing the same sermon every night , so the worship team would lead worship , go back to the green room , eat dinner , and then when I finished up my sermon they would come back out and do a set of worship .
I began to find that our world , where the band would come , lead worship , then go back to the green room … it wasn ’ t bad or anything … I just got rid of the green room . Let me rephrase that . I made a green room for everybody that was serving on Sunday . Ushers , children ’ s
Worship is such a critical part of any movement . It is what awakens hearts , what draws people in , that unifying factor .
workers , anybody that ’ s serving on Sunday . We set aside the green room for them , with food and different things so they can just come in and we serve them . So I told the band , if you want some food you can go in the volunteer green room ! ( laughs ) On the road the goal is not to get to know people and pastor them . You ’ re there to lead worship , but at church it ’ s different . I think that element is so important for a worship leader . Are you setting up chairs ? Are you sitting in the service ? Are you out in the lobby connecting with people ? Are you in the same volunteer green room that everybody else is ? And maybe I ’ m just speaking to us because we have a little element of fame , and maybe not all worship teams deal with this , but my point is that that pastoral influence is the one that says , “ We shouldn ’ t be in the green room , we ’ re pastoring people right now ”. Quite frankly I think that the worship leaders you see sustain long term are the ones that are connected at that level .
We had a meeting with an architect , talking over this huge project that they ’ re doing at Bethel , and the guy said , “ Alright , we ’ re going to put the green room here …” And Bill said , “ Why would we have a green room ?” We ’ re like , “ You know , to rest in between services ”. And he said , “ Why would we be resting in between services ? Why wouldn ’ t we be out talking with the people ?” He didn ’ t even want a green room ! ( laughs )
[ WM ] What does the future hold for Jesus Culture ?
[ Banning ] We ’ re pretty passionate about strengthening the local church around the world for revival , so whatever that takes . We ’ re going to continue to do conferences , put albums out and plant churches . For us it ’ s about partnering with God and what He ’ s doing in the church around the world . Here ’ s what the future looks like … We were originally a youth and young adult movement that was mainly known for its worship . We are now a church movement . We ’ re not just focused on youth and young adults , we want to strengthen the church around the world , strengthen leaders around the world , and we want to see them step into their cities being awakened . Worship will always be a part of that . Worship is such a critical part of any movement . It is what awakens hearts , what draws people in , that unifying factor . It may look different than it has for us in the past , but our mission hasn ’ t changed . We have a little bit of a different target now that ’ s a little broader in the body of Christ . We ’ re doing it now as senior pastors , not as youth pastors , but it ’ s much of the same .
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