The Altar and the Stage

Yes, I know the correct term is between the altar and the door, but, for me, it is a bit different. I am a member of two different worship teams. I seem to be on stage more than I am at the altar. I have the responsibility of leading others into the presence of a Holy God.

Frankly, that scares me some times.

In the Old Testament, the presence of God was represented by the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark resided in the temple, in a place call the Holy of Holys. On the Ark, there was an altar of sorts called the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat is said to be where the presence of God would come and sit. This is the place where each year a priest would come to make a sacrifice.

This was not a simple task for the priest. Rather, the priest would have to go through quite a few purification rituals before he could enter this holy place. If he failed to do these rituals properly and approached the mercy seat with any impurity, the presence of God would kill him.

Scary stuff.

The modern equivalent of those priests who went into the presence of God and brought it to the people would be, yea, you guessed it, the worship leaders.

Now you see why this sometimes scares me?

We who lead and serve on worship teams sometimes forget what we are really doing. We are not playing songs to feel good or perform for others. We are literally asking a Holy God to come meet us and let his presence overcome us, the same way those priests would. This is not a task we can take lightly.

God help me, but at times, I find arrogance can step in and I start to feel puffed up. I feel like I am something special because I play music. I feel like I could be a rock star. I thank God though that he is changing this in me.

I am learning everything must flow from a place of reverence and worship to God. My music is not my music. It is God's. It is my sacrifice to him.

So, each time I get on that stage, I need to realize that I am not the one who needs to be seen. Rather, I am coming before an altar. An altar where I lay down my very life.