Is your team on a pursuit? Is that how you would describe the culture of your team?

The Apostle Paul was all about it:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

Press on.

Forgetting what lies behind.

Straining forward.

The upward call of God.

Let’s explore two aspects of what makes for a healthy worship culture.

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On a scale of 1-10, how engaged is your church?

Do you look forward to worshiping on Sunday or are you worried that everyone in the room hates you?

It’s frustrating, isn’t it? To put so much time and effort into preparing for Sunday…to be met only by staring (sometimes glaring) faces. Why don’t people engage?

While you’d like to blame it on their lack of spiritual depth, it’s most likely something you can work on. Of course, that’s a general statement. There are other factors at work. But this is something I’ve observed in my own leadership for 18 years as well as coaching many other worship leaders and teams.

How should we approach engagement? Should be obsess over it, counting the number of hands that are raised? Is that worship leader success?

Or should we forget about it and just pursue Jesus? I’ve seen both. The right answer is somewhere in the middle. We can’t ignore engagement, because we’re called to lead the church. It’s our responsibility to help them discover their voice in this midst of their victory and trial.

But we also can’t obsess over it because that’s just an adventure in missing the point.

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