Humility in Worship

According to James (4:6) God “gives grace to the humble.” Humility suggests that we are in a fit state to receive grace.

Philippians 2:1-17 is a passage I have used to consider this issue. (I feel it is important to note that I am unsure of some parts of this passage. I am not entirely in agreement with: "thinking of others as better than ourselves" as I hope to foster an attitude of equality).

"Is there any encouragement from belonging Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as "better than yourselves". Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life."

Humility is about attitude and behaviour. It comprises:
==> Submission to God
==> Recognition of our talents but also the talents of others
==> Recognition of the limits of these talents

I believe that God does great things through the humble; as He increases, we decrease. A humble person seems to hold the balance between recognising their gifting but also the gifting of others and giving them due honour. Humility means that nothing we do is motivated by selfish ambition or conceit i.e. a desire for self-promotion and excessive favourable opinion of our own ability and importance.

In worship there is a temptation to feel threatened by those who are more musically talented, more creative or more famous than us. The temptation is to covet the gifts of others which basically tells God that what He has given us is not enough. It can be easy to lose sight of the fact that we come to worship God and not to impress others. We need to ask God for grace so that we move towards wholeness and confidence in what He has gifted us in, rather than leading from a place of insecurity.

In working with our worship teams, bands etc we want to encourage people, we want to see them grow in their gifting even if that means they may eventually take our place in our church context, become better than us or become more recognised than us. We want to be part of a worship community that places others above ourselves so that we experience unity: a little of heaven on earth. I think if we can lead from a place of humility then we can encourage those who look up to us to develop and grow in humility and hopefully we will see fruit in the lives of the people we lead and maybe a little receive a little more grace for ourselves!