What game are YOU playing?

Last weekend, I had a ball at Lamar Boschman's T2 mentoring retreat in Dallas, hanging out with worship leaders and reflecting on the weekend’s theme "What if." I had the privilege of speaking to the group of worship leaders from around the USA, and I explored the question, "What game are you playing?"

Now, I don't mean that in a shady way, but rather in the most wholesome sense. Think of games as “goals, outcomes, mission, vision, objectives”. Just because we are playing a game with a ball, doesn’t mean we are all playing the same game.

The game you play determines your definition of success, how you go about winning, and the rules you follow. For instance, basketball and soccer have very different rulebooks – try kicking a ball in basketball or bouncing one with your hand in soccer! So it's crucial to know which game you're playing.

There are countless “games “in the realm of worship: ministering to the Lord, uniting congregations, creating fantastic productions for online viewership, recording albums, or becoming a worship artist. Each game has unique objectives and paths to success.

Recognizing your game is important because we often emulate others without realizing they might be playing something entirely different. For example, someone focusing on a well-produced worship album plays a very different game from someone aiming to unite the worship of their congregation.

The songs you pick, the arrangements, the room dynamics, the environment, etc. it, all depends on what ‘game’ YOU are playing.

So, before diving into your Sunday mornings, projects, or social media posts, understand your game. Study it, learn how to win at it, and practice hard. Be unapologetic about it – perhaps you'll discover something new or realize you've been playing the wrong game all along.

Let’s not judge others who do things differently than us - they may simply be called to play a different game. “They are too flashy”, “They don’t do enough spontaneous worship”, “They don’t sing enough hymns - its all emotion over there….”

Let’s instead pray that we will each understand the high calling that we have been called to, the role we have been called to play, and the season we are in… and let the Lord lead us into what He wants us to do today.

Ultimately, we are all in the game of life where the goal is to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant…” Just remember - what some are called to do may look very different from what we know and understand.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul talks about running a race and training accordingly – not aimlessly – and disciplining ourselves so we won't be disqualified from the prize we're trying to achieve. So ask yourself: What game am I playing? What game am I called to play? What game am I good at playing? And how do I get better at playing this game?