What is worship and who's on the team?

 I'll go to any and every worship/tech conference or training that I can and have attended the local "school" of worship because I want to know true, authentic, spirit and truth-filled worship for myself.  I am a junkie for worship leading, church tech, guitar playing blogs and I follow a quite few of them.  Most of them being Christian bloggers and most of them at some point cover the subject of what worship truly is.  I also listen to podcasts from worship leaders from around the world and something bothers me about the prevailing perception of what is worship and who is considered a part of the worship team.



  What is worship?  I know most people start out by saying "It's not music, it's a lifestyle.  It's how we live our lives, represent and love God on a daily basis that is true worship..."  All very true.  We should be worshiping God with our every daily actions.  But why do we, in the context of a church service on a Sunday morning, then put worship in a box.  What I mean is if our daily sacrificial lifestyle is worship then why do we compartmentalize the various ministries?  We call one the worship team and the other the tech team and so on.  I am not proposing we rename all the ministries.  What I am saying is that when we all come out to serve, to attend, to preach and to teach we are all coming specifically to use our gifts to glorify God, to worship Him.  The lady in the back taking care of our screaming, pooping babies while the rest of us are being fed is leading worship in her own way.  The same goes for the person in the sound booth, tech booth, greeters, etc.  I believe the most humble servants to be the best examples of true worshipers even though you may never see them raise their hands or shout out during "worship" time.  I am not proposing that service equals worship.  You can serve for 30 years in a church and not love the Lord.  It always boils down to the heart of the person and only God truly knows what is going on in there.

  So in God's hierarchy - where the least shall be first - it seems how we treat one another means more than how well we perform.  (more on that in another post)  The main point I want to convey in this post is that it is not just the guys and gals on stage that are on the worship team.  Everyone who serves is an integral part of the team.  I particularly want to focus on the tech people.  More to the point, I believe the sound guy is on the worship team the same way a drummer is on the team.  Even if he can't sing or play a note save his life.  In fact, I submit that the sound board is an instrument of praise, an immensely powerful one, so is the rocking chair in the back where the lady sings Jesus Loves Me to the babies as they fall asleep.  I think the perception of the sound guy is a part of the tech team and the drummer is a part of the worship team needs to change in the church.  That's fine for the secular venue but the us against them mentality that is prevalent in the church today would be nullified if worship leaders cultivate an us against the world mentality.  The truth is, people can probably go see and hear a better show out in the secular world on any given night if they so choose.  But the chances of their lives and the lives of their children's children being changed forever are pretty slim out there in the world.  Only God can change people but we can mess it up with pride and division.  What does it say about our responsibility as people serving in ministries that are not seen?