architectural concept , “ form follows function .” You talk about being a priest , and you really break this down . Can you expound upon that a little bit ?
[ Zach ] So this is , I call them “ mega-themes .” People call them narratives throughout the Bible , but there are some lines of understanding that if you don ’ t get them , if you don ’ t understand it , you don ’ t really understand the whole story of the Bible . And one of the stories of the Bible is God raising up people to minister between heaven and earth . We ’ re called into this priesthood of ministering to God and helping other people minister to God . Taking a hold of the hand of heaven , and then reaching out taking a hold of the hand of earth so that heaven and earth have collision meetings everywhere we go . This is what the priesthood is and this is what we were created for . You know , we don ’ t have enough ordained pastors and preachers to reach every lost person on earth , but we have enough priests . So when our people begin to understand “ Man this is my role . My role is to be the hand of heaven , and everywhere that I go to be reaching out to the earth around me . To be reaching out to humanity around me so that I ’ m a conduit and a carrier of the presence of God . So that when people meet me , they meet Jesus .” When that happens , the world gets saved .
[ Chris ] When people encounter us , they should encounter Jesus . Their life should be changed because we represent Him . I love it .
[ Zach ] Let me tell you a story real quick , I think you ’ re going to appreciate this . If I ’ m going to massage a concept like that into the culture of a church then everybody ought to get it , right ? I mean people who are sitting in the seats ought to think , “ I ’ m here to minster to God . I ’ m here to minister to the people around me .” So I had a friend who was visiting who used to be one of my students back in the day when I was teaching at CFNI ( Christ for the Nations International ). He was visiting our campus , and I didn ’ t tell anybody that he was a worship pastor and he used to be one of my students .
I just told them , “ He is gonna walk around and check out what you guys are doing .” So he went back to the sound board .
And there is this classic conflict between worship bands , worship leaders , and sound guys , right ? [ laughs ] Some people just have this expectation that they ’ re gonna have a hard time with their sound guy . But my friend was standing back there and is like , “ What are you doing back here ?” And the sound guy begins to explain how he ’ s a priest , and he ’ s not just pushing levers and buttons , that he is carrying the presence of God ! He starts to explain his responsibility as a sound man in how he ’ s ministering to heaven and earth . And my friends mind was blown . He comes back and he goes , “ Everything you taught us is true .” [ laughing ] If the sound man can get it …
[ Chris ] If the sound man can get it , it can be gotten by anyone ! [ laughing ]
[ Zach ] That ’ s right , man . That ’ s right .
[ Chris ] I think that is so powerful . If you want to talk about changing culture , a lot of times we think it ’ s just “ up here on this level .” But you need to be sure that everybody in the organization , everybody in your music team , everybody understands exactly what it is . It ’ s not something that is implied , it ’ s something that ’ s explicit . Clearly , this is your role , this is your responsibility . And if you are a worship pastor , you have to make sure that you model
it , then you have to make sure that everybody understands what it is . If not , we ’ re going to be coming into church , and we ’ re going to put two or three great songs together , and people are going to clap , and they ’ re going to leave , and their lives will not be changed .
[ Zach ] I ain ’ t got time for church like that .
[ Chris ] I don ’ t think anybody does , especially post-COVID . People are now hungry and saying , “ I want more . God , I need something else . This ordinary just won ’ t do .” And I think it ’ s our responsibility , especially as worship leaders to really understand that and to embody that .
For the full conversation , check out The Worship & Technology podcast from MultiTracks . com wherever you listen to podcasts . Zach and Chris continue to break down our roles as worship leaders and discuss Zach ’ s book “ How to Worship a King .”
28 December 2021
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