about the podcast above . It feels to me we ' re at a key moment as worship leaders , worship teams , worship musicians . It ’ s a key season to think about taking that Kingdom of God filter and running every single thing through it – our practices , our approaches , our music , our lyrics , our production – everything .
I think the problem is , sometimes we start leading in ways or behaving in ways or interacting with social media in ways that are simply not godly . They ' re not how you would behave if you were to truly adopt the principles and the values of the kingdom of God . And the problem is the more we do that , it becomes the new normal , and the alarm bells stop going off . It becomes completely normal to self-celebrate and self-congratulate and self-obsess on social media when , of course , that ' s not normal behavior for a leader aiming to carry the values of the Kingdom of God .
Back in the 1950s , A . W . Tozer said , “ The promoting of self under the guise of promoting Christ is nowadays so common as to excite little notice ”. He ' s basically saying everyone ' s at it these days , and so it ' s become so common practice that it barely even registers on the radar . We don ’ t think it ’ s unsual . That ' s not good news . And he was talking 60-plus years ago ! Imagine what he might think if he was to take a look at some of our Instagram accounts these days , ha ! It ' s definitely time for some heartsearching and a ruthless review . And of course , I start with myself . I don ’ t want to be pointing the finger – I ’ ve got enough of these issues in myself to deal with . I just want to try and make sure we ’ re all having the conversation .
[ WM ] Next month , it ' ll be nine years since you and Jonas Myrin wrote “ 10,000 Reasons ( Bless the Lord )”. The two Grammy awards from that song were nice , for sure . But more than that , it ' s really a lasting modern worship classic . Looking back , you see the reach and impact it has had for churches to use it worldwide . What does that special song mean to you ?
[ Matt ] That song has brought in so many stories from the far reaches of the globe , from people in so many different walks of life . People in different stages of their spiritual journey . People in the most joyful moments , people in the most painful moments . Even people who had the song sung over them in their very last moments on earth before they went to be with Jesus in heaven . And these stories have honestly been astounding .
I love the stuff that is immeasurable in life , some things in life you can measure . You can know how many people showed up to an event . You can know how many songs you ' ve written . You can know so many statistics and facts and figures , and you can put them on charts or wherever you want to do with them . But I love the things that are immeasurable , the things that God does , and only God can do . Those moments where a song becomes more than just a collection of words and music . Somehow it transcends that , and it becomes a soundtrack to accompany the deepest worship – someone somehow making the choice to find their way to the place of praise . You can ' t measure that kind of stuff . It ' s completely off the scales . You can ' t put it on a chart . It ' s literally beyond measure . I love that stuff - when a song finds its way into those kinds of situations , it ' s always extremely humbling - and something I ’ m still hugely grateful for , all these years after the song was written .
[ WM ] Well stated Matt . Switching gears some , I see you have been playing a Collings acoustic guitar for a while now . Tell us about that ?
[ Matt ] I ' ve been playing Collings guitars for well over a decade , and I ' ve never played one I didn ' t like . I remember my friend Graham Kendrick in the U . K . had one years ago . I just resonated so much with how the guitar sounded . Then a little while later I found out a few other friends in the USA had them , and loved their models too . So I decided to get one myself . I love those guitars – and they also travel very well . They seem very robust .
[ WM ] What ' s next for you , now that things seem to be opening up more ?
[ Matt ] My passion really is songwriting . I ' ve been blessed to be able to do a lot of that through lockdown , and now we are opening up again ; it ' s been lovely to be in a room with people and co-write together again . I love everything about that experience . I love contending for a song . I love seeing what happens when you put different people in a room together . I get to co-write with lots of different people , and that ' s a wonderful , fun way of changing something in the equation every time … which hopefully makes sure you ' re not going to end up with the same song each time at the end of it ! So , I ' m going to enjoy songwriting . I ' m going to lead worship . And I ' m very excited about this podcast and hoping that it really will bring some new momentum to a conversation that I think needs to be had in the worshiping church .
[ WM ] On a lighter note , last question , when you ' ve spoken at the Christian Musicians Summit conferences before , sometimes you start off with a few musicians jokes , can you share one with us here ?
[ Matt ] Well , it ' s always much better to tell jokes in person rather than in an interview that are read by people ! But I think my favorite one to this day is still , “ What ' s the difference between a drummer and a kaleidoscope ? One produces a series of random patterns that will only impress a five-year-old … and the other one ' s a kid ' s toy ”! ( laughing )
[ WM ] Ah , drummer jokes ! It is good thing they have some for us guitar players too . ( laughing ) Thank you for your time Matt , this has been an honor .
[ Matt ] I love how faithful you have been to your journey , Bruce , and just for the vision you have . You blessed a lot of people and you ' re continuing to do that .
[ WM ] Thank you for saying that . We appreciate how you pour yourself out to others . Our readers included !