Worship drumming vs. Performance drumming

Being a drummer is great fun, especially in a worship team in your church. You play one of the loudest acoustic instruments in the team! When you hit those babies and they boom, people take notice! You lay the foundation, the beat, the rhythm. You get to show off those chops you worked so hard to refine. You get to be heard! The most important part of the team is you..whoa! Hang on…we’re getting carried away here. Are we talking about worshipping or performing here? It would seem, dangerously enough, to be the latter.

“Why would performing be such a bad thing?” you may ask. Well, performing isn’t a bad thing, in the right context. In the context of worship, it’s not right and, furthermore, it’s not Biblical.

You see, when you perform, you are entertaining people. They are enjoying being played for and the focus is on the performers. Adulation and edification comes from the people. It’s a thing of “I give and I expect to receive.” It’s showing off your talents and appreciating the applause from the crowd.
Performing is for the glory of man. Worship, however, is for the glory of God.

Worship, is different. You’re not there to perform. You are there to be part of a team whose responsibility it is to lead the people into a place where God is exalted, where His presence is so tangible you can feel it, where a foundation is layed for the Holy Spirit can minister. So, when you see the part a drummer plays in a worship context, it’s a huge responsibility and awesome privilege, a task not to be taken lightly.