First and foremost—CULTURE!
It is SO important to set the right culture in any team. As leaders over the Planetshakers Music Team, we have the great honour and responsibility of cultivating and protecting the best possible culture within our team. That culture is built on God’s Word and we try our best to reflect its principles in all that we do.
Why is culture so important?
Culture dictates everything! It determines the songs we write, our style of praise and worship, our attitudes and even the way we serve each other and those we lead from the stage. The reason why we came up with the following Musicianary Statement, was to remind ourselves as a team that it is not enough to simply play our instruments skillfully: Our gifts must go hand-in-hand with a heart to serve in ‘spirit and in truth’.
We are musicianaries: powerful men and women of God who play skilfully unto the Lord, worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. With a heart of unity, we serve the church— locally and all around the world— with our gifts. We exist to usher the body of Christ into corporate and personal encounters with the Living God.
Before we dive in deeper, let’s go to the Bible for a moment:
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Unity is so important for a team to function effectively. The above few verses offer great wisdom in helping us lead our teams, encouraging us to give direction— humbly and gently. It is inevitable that those in our team will make mistakes, but we ought to make allowances for these mistakes, and instead of pointing out failure, build people up— in both confidence and skills. We all have our faults, so let us be patient with each other.
As leaders, we need to believe in our team members, regardless of where they’re at in their walk with God or how strong their skill set may be at any given time. Having someone who believes in you, inspires you and can stir hope in your heart, is so important. People and teams need encouragement, and we have the privilege to be those leaders who can give them this, throughout their journey.
Psalm 133:1-3 tells us that God commands a blessing when there is unity. So let’s cultivate a culture of unity in our teams through consistent encouragement and discipleship!
Unity is so important for a team to function effectively.
At Planetshakers, we have approximately 250 team members in our music team and we are committed to continually caring for and nurturing every one of them, so that they can be all that God has called them to be. Creating a culture of family is another important key to building a team, and that can also be achieved through discipleship.
We run regular discipleship nights where we train the team, preach sermons, minister and just hang out together. We use these nights, and every other discipleship opportunity to continually cast the vision and discuss the outworking of it. And of course, we have FUN!! Hanging out socially together helps you get to know your team members better and build deeper bonds.
Most Importantly- A Servant heart
Missionaries, by definition, go somewhere unfamiliar to them to bring the culture of God’s Kingdom to that place. As such, at Planetshakers, we see ourselves not only as musicians, but also missionaries! We don’t accept any old culture that we encounter, but instead, set about establishing God’s Kingdom and its culture wherever we go.
Being a missionary means that we might not always want to do the things we feel called to do and it is not always enjoyable, but we work hard to ensure that our hearts are willing—and that makes all the difference to the experience and results! A willing, servant heart does whatever it takes to see the Kingdom of God established.
As a music team, we are careful not to allow ourselves to believe that we are rock stars when we walk onto a stage, but instead follow the example of Jesus by being prepared to do whatever is needed. If the carpet needs cleaning, we clean it or if the cables need rolling, we roll them. Our team does whatever is needed, regardless of our position, title or instrument.
Being a missionary means that we might not always want to do the things we feel called to do and it is not always enjoyable, but we work hard to ensure that our hearts are willing—and that makes all the difference to the experience and results!
What does discipleship looks like in a creative environment
When preparing to deliver a discipleship message to your team, it is important to ask God for a ‘now’ (fresh) word. This can be challenging and exposing, but Holy Spirit is always ready to guide us when we seek Him. It often helps if the message is related to a personal story. Make it relatable! Strength can be found in vulnerability. Knowing that God has brought breakthroughs in our own personal situations, can be so encouraging to our team. That is the beauty of the Body of Christ and the power of personal testimony.
Our discipleship meetings are raw and genuine— a place where musicians and creatives come together, united in pursuit of God. These meetings are so precious as it is an opportunity for us to collectively encounter God and deal with the issues of our heart. We always conclude our discipleship sessions with an altar call. Altar calls are opportunities for people to be ‘altered’ and have supernatural encounters with God! There is a spirit-to-Spirit exchange that takes place during these times. God is always looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth, and these moments make way for people to receive a supernatural impartation that brings change.
God is always looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
As a music team, we get to use the gifts that God has given to us to honour Him and bring Him glory! We are empty vessels, filled with the Holy Spirit and tasked to give Him glory! As we lead, we should not be dictated to by the circumstances of life or by our feelings, but understand we are charged with the responsibility to bring a divine shift in the atmosphere, wherever we find ourselves serving God and others. Having the revelation that God can use our gifts to change atmospheres and open Heaven over a congregation as they worship, is so powerful. God wants to use us to usher His Presence in, so let us be those vessels of change.
God wants to use us to usher God’s Presence into every place we go, so let us be God’s vessel.
We hope that this conversation has shed some light on how our music team operates and functions at Planetshakers, and that it imparts wisdom to you to empower your team today!
Key Points
- Set a right culture in the team that is built on God’s Word and His Principles.
- God commands a blessing when there is unity so it’s important to cultivate a culture of unity in our teams through consistent encouragement and discipleship.
- Have a willing and servant heart that does whatever it takes to see the Kingdom of God established.
- Use the gifts that God has given to us to honour Him and bring Him glory! We are empty vessels, filled with the Holy Spirit and tasked to give Him glory! God wants to use us to usher His Presence in, so let us be those vessels of change.
