her the story and I said , “ Hey , you sowed a seed in my life many years ago . Would you allow me to return it to you in the form of this new guitar ?” And she declined . She was like , “ No , you don ’ t need to do that ”. But she made one mistake and that was in her previous emails as we ’ d just been catching up , she told me about her daughter Abby ( who was I think nine or ten years old at the time ). Abby had a ukulele and would love to go and write songs in her room .
So I emailed her back and I said , “ Okay , well , if you won ’ t let me give it to you , would you let me give it to your daughter ? Would you let me give it to Abby ?” So then she sent me a really sweet video of Abby opening up the guitar . So the seed that Leah sowed in my life all of those years ago , didn ’ t just come back as a harvest to her , but also to her children … which I think is just such a beautiful picture of that ’ s what happens with obedience . It actually goes through ; it has a ripple effect on generations .
[ WM ] Oh , that was so special . Well done ! I ’ ve really wanted to ask you this next question . I ’ ve seen you talk about musicians and the worship team and the language that you use . Why not to use words like “ gigs ”, “ shows ” or “ performances ”. You know our magazine is all about training worship leaders , worship musicians , and tech teams . Can you talk about that concept ?
[ Brooke ] Yes . Language is so important because language creates culture . There are a few things that you could say are hallmarks of what it means to preserve culture . And I would say that music is a culture . A culture is food and a culture is language . And so language is how we in the church can either create , sustain or degrade culture . When we use the wrong language … because it ’ s not just about the words , it ’ s about that it matters how you tell the story … because that ’ s how you communicate the “ why ”, and words are loaded with “ whys ”. So if we use words that don ’ t communicate the why , we do the people around us a disservice and we can diminish what it is … that it distracts people . It can distract people from what the main thing is . So , everybody in my team is constantly giggling at me because if we are in a meeting and with one of our partners or something , there ’ s somebody new to the team who refers to coming to one of my shows … oh , my team will look at me . ( laughing )
And I don ’ t like to throw people under the bus or embarrass people . I always try and do it in a really kind way and in the right moment . So often I ’ ll let it slide , but we don ’ t do shows . With my Brooke Fraser music I do shows , those are concerts . But when it ’ s a worship night . It ’ s not a show , and it ’ s not a performance .
And I am always trying to just make those little adjustments in language with the people around me . I think it is really important , and particularly when we ’ re talking about worship , that ’ s really important because it ’ s not only is it not a show for people , but it ’ s also not a show for God . God doesn ’ t want a show . He wants our hearts . And so the language is important to me , it ’ s important that we use words that
12 October 2023 Subscribe for Free ...