In the past few decades of the Chinese church's history, there was a long period of time when worship and praise ministry were almost nonexistent. Since China's reform and opening up, the church has grown and changed much. During a special period before 1980, there was no ministry in China. Now, there are many ministries, and worship & praise is considered one of the most important church ministries.
Recently, Brother Zhao Wei, who has been serving in a place in East China for more than 10 years, shared his understanding of worship and praise with the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper.
Below is the message that Brother Zhao Wei shared.
Worship serves for the proclamation of the Word of God afterward
Sometimes we can be misled by false appearances. For example, in praise and worship, when people are all excited and in good shape, the worship team members feel rejuvenated. But if, in the middle of worship, it seems like people are indifferent or absentminded and unwilling to cooperate when you try to lead them to raise or clap their hands, whether it seems good or bad, these are the kinds of things that end up giving feedback to worshippers. Sometimes we wonder what we did not do well, and our lack of preparation led to people's lack of enthusiasm and unwillingness to cooperate.
But in reality, there are certain reasons why the congregation does not cooperate. For example, in many traditional churches, the members have never attended worship services like this before, have never clapped before during services, and are shy. On the other hand, some people would not clap even if they wanted to.
In fact, a few years ago, we were invited to attend a healing conference, which we declined. The reason for this is that we have always believed that worship is for the service of the Word. They may have invited us because they liked how we worshipped or the way we worshipped, but we couldn't approve of their intention. What we can do is lead worship according to the main theme of the Bible, not the other way around, using the atmosphere of worship to lead the main theme of the Bible.
I have found that there are actually some people who may be using some psychological things in their worship, things that have a hypnotic effect and stir something in our hearts. For example, when we go to worship, the person leading the worship sings emotionally, and the music follows. It goes, "Are you aggrieved?" "Are you sad?" Tears come out of many people's eyes. And then, with all this crying, the emotions get cathartic, and many people feel released. But this is really only psychologically and emotionally cathartic; in fact, it is not actually so, because nothing has changed in their lives at all. Some people start complaining again two days later, having built up much bitterness and toxicity within themselves.
Worship ministry needs to be accompanied by a pastor's sermon
In our ministry, we are usually assigned a church pastor. So after the worship session, there will be a sermon, which takes longer than the worship session. So, for example, if we have an hour or so in total, and the worship session is half an hour, then the sermon will take at least 40 minutes. Personally, I do not like the idea of having half an hour of worship and then a 10-minute sermon at the end. It's very hard to give a clear sermon in five to ten minutes. It's like a dragonfly lightly touching the water—it's not a deep contact at all.
Worship is just a way of opening or kick-starting the service, and there must be something more important to follow. It is like John the Baptist, who was a forerunner. You cannot be a pioneer and get the road started only to lose the way. It must be a good sermon, lasting at least 40 minutes to an hour. We are only worshippers, but there may be some people who are particularly moved or weak during the worship process. In such cases, the church needs to keep a record of such people, comfort them, and follow up with them. The work done after the service is actually more important.
The relationship between praise & worship and the church
The worship ministry serves the church, but we are not the church ourselves. All these years, God has not led us to become pastors or convert our worship ministry into churches. In other words, we need to be faithful to our vocation and never cross the line, never involve ourselves in pastoral ministry.
Let's say a brother or sister comes to us and wants to study worship with us. We will first tell him that he must communicate with his pastor and church and get a recommendation from them before he can study here within our scope of the study, which is worship. If he has any questions about the faith or about the Christian life, they will all have to be answered by his pastor at his own church, except for the ones that will be brought up in class in order to teach. We hope that anyone who comes to us to study will return to their original church afterward. Even if they remain part of the worship team, they must serve mainly in their home church. For example, tonight the worship team is attending a worship service at a crusade, but one's home church also has a meeting and requires worship services. In this case, there is a conflict between the two, and our solution is to give priority to the person's home church and forgo the worship team's service. If there are any vacancies on the worship team side, we can find a way to redeploy them, but the person's home church may not be able to do so because there are not many worship staffs available.
"External and internal evangelism"
There was a time when we worshipped without a songbook, were in tune, and had many songs in our hearts. This is called freestyle worship without a theme. For example, we had a worship service, and I asked the pastor what the theme of the service would be, and he said no. Then I asked for the theme and message of the sermon, and he said it had not been decided yet. We go for freestyle worship to meet the needs of the church in the absence of a theme. In fact, no matter what the pastor ends up saying, it will not be without the verse John 3:16, nor will it be without exhortation, comfort, rebuke, etc. So as we prepare for the worship service, we follow these guidelines.
However, if a gospel meeting is involved, such as a themed evangelical gathering, then we have to do a master score and a subscore in preparation. I remember we used to do a gospel gathering of musicians, and everyone who attended was a music professional. So they can tell how well we prepared just by listening.
If the meeting is themed, for example, there is a meeting called a "stimulation meeting," which John Sung, "Wesley of China", used to do historically, the "revival conference." Our worship team calls it "internal evangelism" because Christians need the gospel too. Even young people, many of whom do not know what the gospel is, just know that it is good.
So, we think that even though evangelism to the outside world is very important, evangelism to the inside world is also very important. For Christians who are in faith, there is also a need for a return of the heart, so that we can return to the kind of relationship we had with God at the beginning of our Christian journey.
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
在中国教会走过来的这几十年当中，曾经有一段相当长的时间，可以说是基本没有敬拜服事可言的。而自改革开放以来，中国教会取得了极大的成长和发展，许多服事从无到有，又从有到优，敬拜服事正是其中相当重要的一项。
近日，在华东某地从事敬拜服事十余年的赵卫弟兄与基督时报分享了他对敬拜服事的认识。
以下为赵卫弟兄分享的信息。
敬拜要为了之后上帝话语的宣讲而服务
我们做敬拜服事已经做了很多年了，我们认为敬拜是为了道来服务的。所以，如果一场敬拜服事下来，不能够帮助到道进入到人心里的话，这样服事的价值不大。敬拜不是说听听歌，好像听了一场演唱会一样，而是通过敬拜来让大家的心很好的打开，把心预备好，让上帝的道迎接到心里，以后能够有生命的改变。这才是我们敬拜服事的初衷。
有时候我们可能会被一些假象所误导。比如在敬拜的时候，看到人们都很兴奋、状态都很好的时候，敬拜团队成员们会有一种非常复兴的感受。但是如果在敬拜当中，看到好像人们都无所谓、心不在蔫的样子，想要引导大家举手或者拍手，大家不愿意配合。无论是看起来好的还是不好的现象，这些最终都会给敬拜成员一种反馈。有时候我们会想哪里没有做好，准备的不够充分导致大家都没有热情，不愿意配合等。
但是实际上，台下大家不配合有不配合的原因。比如说对于很多的传统教会来说，他们从来没有参加过这样的敬拜，以前从来没有拍过手，而且害羞，另外一方面有的人就算想拍也不会拍。
其实前些年的时候也有人邀请我们参加医治大会，我们都拒绝了。原因是我们一直认为敬拜是为了道来服务。他们之所以邀请我们，可能是看重我们的敬拜技巧或者敬拜氛围，但是我们不能够认同他们的目的。我们能够做的是按照圣经的主体来引导敬拜，而不是反过来，用敬拜的氛围来引导圣经的主体。
我发现，其实有一些人他们在敬拜的时候可能使用了一些心理学的东西，这些东西有一种催眠的作用，催动我们心里的一些东西。比如说我们去参加敬拜的时候，带领敬拜的人嘴里带有一些哭腔，然后音乐在旁边一起来。喊道：“你委屈吗？你难过吗？”很多人的眼泪就出来了。然后这么一哭，情绪得到了宣泄，很多人就觉得自己得到释放了。但是这个其实只是从心理和感觉上得到了宣泄，实际上却并非如此，因为生命根本没有得到任何改变。有些人两天后又开始埋怨，积压了很多苦毒的东西在自己里面。
敬拜服事需要与牧者布道互相配搭
我们在服事的时候，基本上都是和教会牧者做配搭。因此在前面的敬拜环节之后，后面都会有布道，而且布道环节所用的时间不会比敬拜环节少。所以比如一共一个小时多的时间，前面的敬拜是半个小时，那后面的布道环节至少要讲40分钟。我个人是很不喜欢那种比如前面敬拜半个小时，然后最后边讲道10分钟。因为5-10分钟的时间其实是非常难把道讲清楚的，好像蜻蜓点水一样，根本讲不透彻。
敬拜就只是一个开场罢了，后面一定要有更加重要的跟上来。就好像施洗约翰一样是一个开路先锋，不能先锋在前面好不容易开好了路，结果后面没了。一定要好好讲道，至少40分钟到一个小时。而且我们只是做敬拜的，可能在敬拜过程当中有些人特别有感动，或者特别软弱，这样的情况需要教会这边把这样的人都记录下来，之后去安慰和跟进他们，后面的工作其实是更加重要的。
敬拜赞美事工与教会的关系
敬拜团队是服务于教会，但是我们自己并不是教会。这么多年以来，上帝并没有给我们做牧会、自己成为教会的感动。换句话来说就是我们需要忠于自己的职分，绝对不跨越范围，绝对不涉及到牧者的职分。
比方说有弟兄姊妹找到我们，想要在我们这里学习敬拜。我们首先会跟他讲好，一定要跟你他的牧者和教会沟通，得到牧者和教会的推荐，才能在这里学习。然后学习的范围是敬拜。如果他有任何信仰、生命上的问题，除了上课过程中因为教学的原因不可避免的会提及一些之外，全部都要到他自己的教会和牧者那里解决。然后我们希望是一个人过来我们这边学习，然后学习完以后，能够回到自己之前所在的教会。即便是留在敬拜团队里面也是，一定要以自己的母教会为主。比如今天晚上敬拜团队要参加一场布道会的敬拜服事，但是一个人的母教会那边也有一场聚会，需要敬拜服事。这样的话两者之间就出现了冲突的情况，我们的处理方案是以这个人的母教会为优先，弃敬拜团队这边的服事。在敬拜团队这边，有什么空缺的话我们完全可以想办法重新调配，但是这个人的母教会那边很可能就没有办法调配，因为没有那么多的敬拜人手。
“外福音”与“内福音”
有一段时间我们在敬拜的时候是没有歌谱的，而是打调式，但是在我们心里是有很多歌的。这个叫做自由式敬拜，没有主题的。比如我们要服事一场敬拜会，然后我就去问牧师敬拜会的主题，牧师说没有，然后我接着问敬拜会当中讲道的主题和信息，牧师说还没有定下来。我们去做自由式敬拜就是为了满足教会在没有主题的情况下的需要。其实，无论牧师最后究竟讲什么，但是一定离不开约翰福音3:16节这一处经文，也离不开劝勉、安慰、责备等等这些。所以我们在准备敬拜会的时候，就会按着这些导向往前走。
但是，如果一旦涉及到福音聚会，比如一场主题式的福音聚会，那我们在准备过程中就要做总谱和分谱。以前记得以前我们做过一次音乐人的福音聚会，参加的每一个人都很会音乐。所以他们只要一听，就能够知道我们预备的怎么样。
如果聚会是主题式的，比如有一种聚会叫做“激发会”，就是以前历史上宋尚节所做的“奋兴会”。我们敬拜团队把它叫做“内福音”，因为，基督徒也需要福音。就算是年轻人，很多也是讲不出到底福音是什么，只是知道福音很好。
所以我们就觉得，外部福音或者说对外的福音固然非常重要，但是内部福音也是不可或缺的。对于已经信仰的基督徒来说，也需要一种心的回归，让我们能够回归到起初信仰的时候的那种我们与上帝之间的那种关系里面去。
专访|华东一敬拜服事者:怎么看待敬拜服事的价值和意义？
In the past few decades of the Chinese church's history, there was a long period of time when worship and praise ministry were almost nonexistent. Since China's reform and opening up, the church has grown and changed much. During a special period before 1980, there was no ministry in China. Now, there are many ministries, and worship & praise is considered one of the most important church ministries.
Recently, Brother Zhao Wei, who has been serving in a place in East China for more than 10 years, shared his understanding of worship and praise with the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper.
Below is the message that Brother Zhao Wei shared.
Worship serves for the proclamation of the Word of God afterward
Sometimes we can be misled by false appearances. For example, in praise and worship, when people are all excited and in good shape, the worship team members feel rejuvenated. But if, in the middle of worship, it seems like people are indifferent or absentminded and unwilling to cooperate when you try to lead them to raise or clap their hands, whether it seems good or bad, these are the kinds of things that end up giving feedback to worshippers. Sometimes we wonder what we did not do well, and our lack of preparation led to people's lack of enthusiasm and unwillingness to cooperate.
But in reality, there are certain reasons why the congregation does not cooperate. For example, in many traditional churches, the members have never attended worship services like this before, have never clapped before during services, and are shy. On the other hand, some people would not clap even if they wanted to.
In fact, a few years ago, we were invited to attend a healing conference, which we declined. The reason for this is that we have always believed that worship is for the service of the Word. They may have invited us because they liked how we worshipped or the way we worshipped, but we couldn't approve of their intention. What we can do is lead worship according to the main theme of the Bible, not the other way around, using the atmosphere of worship to lead the main theme of the Bible.
I have found that there are actually some people who may be using some psychological things in their worship, things that have a hypnotic effect and stir something in our hearts. For example, when we go to worship, the person leading the worship sings emotionally, and the music follows. It goes, "Are you aggrieved?" "Are you sad?" Tears come out of many people's eyes. And then, with all this crying, the emotions get cathartic, and many people feel released. But this is really only psychologically and emotionally cathartic; in fact, it is not actually so, because nothing has changed in their lives at all. Some people start complaining again two days later, having built up much bitterness and toxicity within themselves.
Worship ministry needs to be accompanied by a pastor's sermon
In our ministry, we are usually assigned a church pastor. So after the worship session, there will be a sermon, which takes longer than the worship session. So, for example, if we have an hour or so in total, and the worship session is half an hour, then the sermon will take at least 40 minutes. Personally, I do not like the idea of having half an hour of worship and then a 10-minute sermon at the end. It's very hard to give a clear sermon in five to ten minutes. It's like a dragonfly lightly touching the water—it's not a deep contact at all.
Worship is just a way of opening or kick-starting the service, and there must be something more important to follow. It is like John the Baptist, who was a forerunner. You cannot be a pioneer and get the road started only to lose the way. It must be a good sermon, lasting at least 40 minutes to an hour. We are only worshippers, but there may be some people who are particularly moved or weak during the worship process. In such cases, the church needs to keep a record of such people, comfort them, and follow up with them. The work done after the service is actually more important.
The relationship between praise & worship and the church
The worship ministry serves the church, but we are not the church ourselves. All these years, God has not led us to become pastors or convert our worship ministry into churches. In other words, we need to be faithful to our vocation and never cross the line, never involve ourselves in pastoral ministry.
Let's say a brother or sister comes to us and wants to study worship with us. We will first tell him that he must communicate with his pastor and church and get a recommendation from them before he can study here within our scope of the study, which is worship. If he has any questions about the faith or about the Christian life, they will all have to be answered by his pastor at his own church, except for the ones that will be brought up in class in order to teach. We hope that anyone who comes to us to study will return to their original church afterward. Even if they remain part of the worship team, they must serve mainly in their home church. For example, tonight the worship team is attending a worship service at a crusade, but one's home church also has a meeting and requires worship services. In this case, there is a conflict between the two, and our solution is to give priority to the person's home church and forgo the worship team's service. If there are any vacancies on the worship team side, we can find a way to redeploy them, but the person's home church may not be able to do so because there are not many worship staffs available.
"External and internal evangelism"
There was a time when we worshipped without a songbook, were in tune, and had many songs in our hearts. This is called freestyle worship without a theme. For example, we had a worship service, and I asked the pastor what the theme of the service would be, and he said no. Then I asked for the theme and message of the sermon, and he said it had not been decided yet. We go for freestyle worship to meet the needs of the church in the absence of a theme. In fact, no matter what the pastor ends up saying, it will not be without the verse John 3:16, nor will it be without exhortation, comfort, rebuke, etc. So as we prepare for the worship service, we follow these guidelines.
However, if a gospel meeting is involved, such as a themed evangelical gathering, then we have to do a master score and a subscore in preparation. I remember we used to do a gospel gathering of musicians, and everyone who attended was a music professional. So they can tell how well we prepared just by listening.
If the meeting is themed, for example, there is a meeting called a "stimulation meeting," which John Sung, "Wesley of China", used to do historically, the "revival conference." Our worship team calls it "internal evangelism" because Christians need the gospel too. Even young people, many of whom do not know what the gospel is, just know that it is good.
So, we think that even though evangelism to the outside world is very important, evangelism to the inside world is also very important. For Christians who are in faith, there is also a need for a return of the heart, so that we can return to the kind of relationship we had with God at the beginning of our Christian journey.
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
Interview: Worship & Praise Serves for Proclaiming the Word of God
