"WHY?" The uncomfortable question we've been afraid to ask

This week, I had a great conversation about how we lead worship… that convo led to this post.

Why should the worship leader be the authority on the direction of the Spirit's guidance in the band? Why not the band as a whole?

Why shouldn’t we follow strict musical arrangements - everything planned and rehearsed to ‘perfection’?

Why do 'high-church' (Catholic, Anglican, etc.) services follow a liturgy that was planned & decided decades ago - and is indifferent to whoever happens to be reading out from their prayer book on any given Sunday? Why does that resonate with so many people around the world?

In more charismatic circles, why does spontaneity mean being spirit-led, while detailed planning of a set and following it is less spiritual? Why do we believe that?

Are we asking ourselves why...

why do we do things the way we do...

and why do we assume there's no better way?

Why don't we make a habit of asking 'why' more often?

Other forms of worship work well in different contexts, so why is it ok to do the same thing as we have always done?

After all, it is a tradition that things do and always will change.

Why am I blind to my own bias? Why do I ignore that fact?

Does it even matter how we lead worship?

If it doesn't matter, why do we fight for it to remain the same?

Does the way we lead worship truly matter to the people we lead, or is it only significant to those of us on stage?

What if the best way was different from our typical way? What if the people didn't know there was a better way? Who would request or initiate change?

Who is responsible for making things better? Only those who are not happy?

Should change only happen when people are not happy?

Why don't we try different things?

Why do we think our traditions or comfort zones are 'the way' it should be done?

Why do I lead the way I do? Why do you?

Is it me, or is it a music and worship leading style I've observed and learned, and I've now assumed that it's just me being authentic?

Where does the real me start and stop, and what influence do church culture, the worship industry, my denomination, and the preachers & artists I listen to have on what I think of as my true self?

What's the balance between all that and the voice of the Holy Spirit? Can I even hear Him through all the noise, or is He already speaking within the noise? Am I even trying to listen - or is my way the way He obviously wants?

Is there an alternative to the way I do things?

Is there a dissatisfaction with how things are that would make me even search for something else?

Why, why, why... and after asking all these whys, will I still lead worship in the same way this Sunday as I always have?

Does asking why even matter? We just do what we do.

Does He care about that, or am I making much ado about nothing?

Is this thought exercise just vanity or the beginning of something new?

Who am I to start something new... who am I not to?

Why don’t you try it?

Maybe we do not need perfect answers, just the right questions and the courage to ask them.

What questions should you and I ask ourselves, our teams, and our people?

Maybe we know the questions—we just don't want the answers because those answers will force us to change or stick our heads (back?) in the sand.

May the questions we don't want to ask - be asked, and may they change us as we honestly face them and their ramifications.

Why not? Is there any other way to live that we would truly be proud of?