Over the years I've noticed that a lot of folks push back on the idea of excellence in worship. In Hebrews 13:15 we are challenged to "offer a sacrifice of praise to God continually". When David came to worship the Lord and sacrifice to Him, he said he would not offer anything that cost him nothing. (2 Sam. 24:24). There is Biblical basis for excellence in worship. There are three basic parts to excellence in worship.
Giftedness is the first of those ingredients. It is clear in I Cor. 12 that we have all been given gifts for use in ministry. God has gifted some with a gift to communicate through creative expression and many times God uses them to be a part of worship leadership.
Second is enabling or equipping. We see in Ephesians 4:12 that the role of pastors is to equip these people for service. Nurturing relationships, mentoring, training, giving tools and resources, building skills are all a part of enabling worship leaders to use their gifts for the glory of God.
Last ingredient of excellence in worship is application or the "work of it". The work of worship is the hard work of preparation and prayer and more.
When the three parts of worship come together they combine, resulting in excellence in worship. Psalm 33:3 says we will "play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts . . ." The idea of excellence in worship should not be foreign to our thinking according to Scriptural principles. And we only scratched the surface here. mjm
