Realizing that many articles out there on worship ministries focus on addressing problems, I’d like to take a few moments instead to celebrate a success story. And encourage each of us that this success story is entirely within our own capacities to achieve ourselves.
There’s a guy with whom I had the delight of serving alongside for a number of years.
This guy gets it.
He understands the heart of ministry, which is serving others and doing everything he can to make everyone around him successful.
He serves with a passion that is born purely of serving the Lord and His people. There isn’t any way to explain it other than God works powerfully in and through this man who wholeheartedly pours his effort into the work that Jesus has prepared for him to do because he knows Jesus well and follows Him closely.
This guy. Let me tell you about this guy.
This guy. Showed up consistently even when he wasn’t scheduled, because even when he had no direct responsibilities for the church service we were preparing for as a team, he counted himself as part of the team and wanted to offer support to other team members while building companionship and camaraderie within the fellowship of believers hard at work for the Lord. He showed up because he wanted to be part of the devotional study and prayer time before rehearsals.
This guy. Took initiative to find the equipment manuals & learn them, so he knew exactly how each piece of gear worked and could show and teach others all the capabilities to deliver the maximum of excellence possibility.
This guy. Actively sought out training opportunities to grow in his craft and gifting. I often found out about conferences and training events first through him passing along the info to me.
This guy. Actively sought to pass it all on to others, actively inviting others to join him in serving and in humility making himself available to train others with what he knew.
This guy. Actively sought to assist others at rehearsals and services, making sure all the musicians had what they needed, helping them get their gear set up and dialed into the system, putting their instrument cases away for them, running cables, setting up stations, and troubleshooting technical issues.
This guy. Actively sought out to encourage others, coming alongside them personally with warmth and love and compassion and prayer. Big bear hugs. Sharing his life. Giving testimony to the Lord working.
This guy. Available to help others outside of rehearsal (real-life stuff), helping folks move their family across town, get food if they were hungry, fix stuff that was broken. Johnny on the spot for whatever was needed.
This guy. Active in other ministries of the church—both the local gathered body and the extended family of Christ followers. Leading a Bible study for men on Saturday mornings. Connecting with other believers and engaged in evangelism through Bikers for Christ. Unashamedly telling others how much he loves and appreciates his wife and his brothers and his church family and most of all his Jesus.
I’m not going to rob this guy of his blessing by telling you his name. We can just refer to him as “Mr. Above and Beyond.”
But though I’m not going to tell you who he is, I do want to proclaim how encouraging it is to see the Lord working through him to build up the saints, and I definitely want to challenge each one of us to be this person!
I believe this is the sort of example Paul spoke of when he said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
I’m so blessed to have seen this guy in action in real life and to have him as a friend and brother in the Lord. He inspires me to want to be better because I see Jesus in him.
Be this person.
God wants it.
Our brothers and sisters deserve it.
Be.
This.
Person.
Brendan Prout is a husband, dad, pastor and worship leader. He loves training and equipping others to do the work of ministry they are called to, all things geeky, good food, cars, and not driving off cliffs anymore. You can find him on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and places good coffee is served.
