In what seems like ages ago, I started volunteering in church as part of the music ministry. I worked as a professional musician for a big chunk of my life, and today I serve as a full-time minister in one of our Victory locations in Metro Manila.

The apostle Paul tells us that by “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,” we give weight to the importance of singing or music as one of the ways we express our love and adoration to God. Music is an important part of how we relate with God, particularly in worship. Many times, we think worship is only that part of the service where songs are administered, where lights are colorful, and everybody’s hands are raised, singing at the top of their lungs.

But should we stop there? How can people, especially those serving in the music ministry, honor God—apart from leading people in worship?

Here are two ways we can honor God in worship, in the context of serving in ministry:

Jesus in the Gospel of John 15:16-17 says,

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

• Humility. We need to realize that God chose and appoint us to serve Him. It was never our initiative to come and worship God. Our gifts and talents did not come from osmosis, nor were they products of a YouTube video or an instructional book. Our gifts are blessings from God. He chose to give us talents and to make them “bear fruit” for His glory. God created music to be beautiful, wonderful, and glorious. It wasn’t invented by man for him to distort and use as he pleases. The purpose of music and the ability for man to create music is to please God. We bear fruit and thereby honor God when we gratefully use the ability to sing or make music as we lead others in worship to God.

• Service. God calls us to love one another. We serve each other when we set our preferences aside and work with people in our teams. What we are saying in essence is, “I’m willing to make personal sacrifices to include other people in the way I express myself in worshipping God”, which is actually expressing love to one another. Listening to each other’s thoughts and ideas no matter where they are in the talent food-chain goes a long way. Want to get a point or message across? Love by serving others in the team, and God will honor your work.

When we humbly serve each other in the music ministry teams God has placed us in, we can never go wrong in honoring God as we lead people in worship.

 

Gilbert Espiridion is the worship pastor of Victory U-Belt. He is married to Carol and is a dad to Keila and Kari.