The event was also a great reminder of why I do what I do. Originally, myself and the guys decided not to play a new years eve show. I, for one, hadn't had a free new years eve in almost ten years due to my vocation in youth ministry. Needless to say, we had a couple shows that had to be cancelled on our part or on the part of the venue we were heading to, and, as a result, we really needed to go ahead and play new years. I called Christopher, the youth minister at Center Christian Church, and told him that we would, indeed, be able to be there for his lock-in for the third time. Chris was excited, the guys were ready to head north for the night, and I was relieved that we would be able to make a few extra bucks to purchase cds. Either way, we were getting ready to do a lock-in.
A couple days before the lock-in, I called Christopher (notice, I didn't call him "Chris". He prefers "Christopher", and, as his friend, I am honoring that) to discuss the plans for Wednesday night. What happened next was a pivotal moment. As we were talking, he began to let me know that there would only be around 15 to 20 students there, and that, if we wanted to, we could cancel. I say that it's a pivotal moment, because playing in front of 15 to 20 people in a room that can hold over 300 can be a little bit of a downer. Honestly, we still needed a pay day, and I know that it would be cool for the kids to have a band there, so I told him not to worry about it and that we would be there. Mr. Harley was an excited man, and I was happy that he was excited. It was time to get ready for a little road trip.
Tuesday night, we had two rehearsals. One was to get ready for church on Sunday, but it wasn't until 7. Practice for the lock-in was at 5. The guys all got there minus Ted and Dan. Ted was going to a wedding in North Carolina over new years, and Dan's work schedule wouldn't allow him to play at the lock-in. Adam Tipton filled in on drums, and Zach Hamilton filled in on bass. Both guys are great to work with and good friends. After choosing our sets for the lock-in, we rehearsed and got ready. Then I dropped the bomb....... There will only be about 15 to 20 kids at the show. The guys faces showed exactly what I was thinking. "This will be hard to get excited about." We continued with the rehearsal, but I could tell that there was little excitement about the lock-in.
Fast forward to Wednesday morning. Alex, Aaron, Zach and myself met at the church office at 10am to head to Blue Grass Christian Camp to meet up with Adam, left for Indiana, and arrived there at the church around 2:30pm. Christopher came out to the van and told the guys what I had already told them, and was very apologetic about how small of a group this would be. Something inside of me was saying that we were in for something though. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something good was about to happen.
We took the next few hours to get set-up, rehearse, and wait. I was a little nervous when we couldn't seem to get the intro to "All Because of Jesus" down. We literally ran that intro about 7 times before we actually got it. Kids started showing up around 5:30, and it was time to start meeting the kids. Christopher and I both made one fatal mistake when we forgot to get the lyrics ready for the first worship set. At six, we had a bunch of kids standing around trying to figure out what to sing, and kinda staring at us funny while we were attempting to lead them in worship. We were able to get the kids involved, to a degree, but it was rough. I was starting to lose hope in this event, and I was ready to just accept that this wasn't going to be a good night.
I spent the next hour typing all the lyrics for each of the songs in the next two sets into Powerpoint. Sorry Christopher, but I HATE powerpoint!!!! Once those were done, I was just hoping that we could salvage the next worship set. I wasn't ready for what was going to happen.
Our next set was at 10:30pm. Myself and the guys got up on the stage and just decided to let it all hang out, and we gave it everything. We really wanted the kids to enjoy worship, but I, personally, wasn't ready for what followed. We got through the first two songs, and I began to notice something disturbing. Most of the kids were goofing off, talking, and making fun of each other during the worship time. I couldn't take it any more. I stopped the band in the middle of a song and had a little chat with the kids. Since there were only 18 of them, it was easy to get their attention. I spent the next two minutes just sharing my disappointment in their attitude during the worship time. I really worry about the condition of a persons heart when they are flippant toward being in the presence of God. Long story short, the kids were receptive to what I said, and we began to turn a corner.
We started back in on the worship set, and something was drastically different. I could tell that the kids were actually trying to take this more seriously, and they were succeeding! The next three songs were amazing!!! I saw kids raising their hands in worship, closing their eyes, and one kid simply praying as we sang. God was taking over, and it was exciting to watch. Sure, there were still a few kids who just didn't get it. The rest of the group, however, were worshipping hard.
Christopher then took over and talked to the kids about "getting out of the box" and worked with the kids on their new years resolutions. He really loves those kids, and it's obvious to me that they're reciprocal. We came back up to start playing at the crack of midnight, and, at midnight, we started in on "Undignified". (On a side note; I'm not a big fan of playing Undignified, only because we've played it so much, and people always request it.) Suddenly, the entire group energized, and we simply had a blast. I can't tell you how great it was to see these kids learn throughout the night how to just let go, and allow God to work through them in worship. It was a great night.
What did I learn? Even though we are a worship band, sometimes we tend to see ourselves as rock stars and miss the big picture. We may have only led worship for 18 kids on New Years Eve, but we led worship. Whether we're playing in front of several hundred or 1o people, we're still commissioned to lead worship. It's our calling. It's our passion, and it's our privilege. God is good, and God is a good teacher. I definitely went to school this week. God bless and have a great 2009.
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