Russell Evans and Planetshakers No Diva Policy
- Evans says, “Before we are Christians, we chase our dreams. When we become a Christian, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” a reference to Galatians 2:20.
In this Worship Sound Bite, Russell Evans, the founding pastor of Planetshakers*, talks about their No-Diva policy. Being on stage can sometimes abate someone’s humility (to put it kindly) and cause ego issues that manifest as diva-ism. It’s a common challenge that performers face. And although leading worship should not, by its very nature, be a performance; in the modern worship industry, it can be hard for some to keep this monster from rearing its ugly head.
Evans brings some wisdom to the issue. He first makes the point of asking, what is the reason someone succumbs to that? There can be many answers, but they only come to light with candor regarding internal motivation and the true goals of one’s heart. He also points out that dealing with the symptoms – self-importance, being temperamental and difficult to please- is not as effective as getting to the root cause, and finding the specific key to the individual person, which leads to healing.
Many times, the issue is perspective. Evans says, “Before we are Christians, we chase our dreams. When we become a Christian, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” a reference to Galatians 2:20. As Lexi Fromm (and her late father Chuck Fromm) put it, we go from being self-centered to being “Little Christs”, following the will of the Father.
Russell Evans founded Planetshakers Ministries in 2004. Ordained by the Assemblies of God, Evans is also a member of the Empowered21 Global Council along with Bill Johnson, E.A. Adeboye, Marylin Hickey and others in the Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation Movement. His life message is, “To continually ‘hunger’ for personal encounters with God because it is in the place of encounter that a person will find the acceptance, love, breakthrough, healing, empowerment, correction and direction that they need.”
(Quick Note: Evans point that Christians should no longer pursue their own dreams, but pursue God’s will is true. Paul’s point in Galatians 2:20 however, refers to being saved from law-living to grace-living, as opposed to pursuing God’s will instead of our own. His point is more directly supported by Ephesians 2:8-10, James 1:22-25, and with the humility of Jesus shown in John 13:12-17.)
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Transcript
At Planetshakers, we have a no-diva policy. If people start being divas, we have to work on them and work through them and work in that situation and, you know, say, come on, let’s let that go. What is the- what is the reason why you like that? It’s not let’s not deal with the symptom. Let’s deal with the problem.
And so that’s where we need the Holy Spirit to say, give me the key for that person. And when you get that key, it unlocks them. If you try to use another key that you’ve used on someone else, it doesn’t unlock them. So how do I deal with this person? How do I open them up? And how do I get them to-
to have a God dream? You think about this when we become a Christian, before we’re Christians, we chase our dreams. When we become Christians, it’s no longer either. If it’s Christ who lives in me. So I chase His dream for my life, not my dream. His dream. Because He’s the one who created us. The Bible says that He created us for the creation of the world.
He pre theses us. He wrote out our future into existence. And so how do I find the- who I am is how I find God. And I’ll find His purpose for my life. Not someone else’s purpose. His purpose. And as I find His purpose, I’m following His dream, not my dream. Then I’m a true worshiper.
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