The year is 2014. Imagine Jesus and His disciples are ministering in Portland.  One Sunday, they decided to attend an up and coming church to pray. They had heard about the church’s apparent success and growth.  During the service, Jesus remained relatively quiet. The disciples, however, were quite taken by the worship band. Their transitions were flawless and the quality was equal to what was on the radio. The music was lively and they could see people singing and raising their hands. It was like the team knew just what to do to get the congregation to respond.

When it was over, the disciples were walking out singing the songs the band had been playing. When they turned around, they noticed Jesus had drifted into the local farmer’s market that had been meeting just down the street. He stopped in front of a street musician that was gathering quite a crowd. The musician seemed to be looking past the crowd and straight at Jesus. With tears in his eyes he tells the story behind his latest song.  It was a song about losing his wife to cancer and the questions and doubt that followed. He sang with all his might. The crowd seemed to love it. His disciples rolled their eyes and said, “that crowd should have been in church this morning and heard the worship.”

Jesus looked at them and said, “this man offered me a better gift than that whole church. This man sang to me offering his honesty and pain. The worship team sang about Me, but they were primarliy concerned with being seen and approved by the rest of the church.”

As worship leaders and artists we walk a fine line between ministering to the Lord and encouraging others.  What is the difference between worshipping and performing?