Following the Action

— Psalm 40:5 —

Many, Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.

 

The first thing I think of is the Audio Visual booth at church. Why? we were working on it yesterday. In some church's its very undermined and misunderstood, in others it's very valued and respected. Yet what the booth produces brings glory to God. The men and women behind the scenes are probably the most under spiritual attack I have ever scene. I slept ok, I'm a lite sleeper, I was looking for a facebook group about lite sleepers, couldn't find one. Sip some coffee, I read and think. We call it the mix booth, sound booth, tech table, the booth, sound area. Back in the day it didn't exist, until congregations grew and volunteers from broadcast implimented there standards inside church. Now many are paid due to the demands of the leaderships vision. Little do they know at times, the spiritual attacks faced by all of us technicians behind the wood in the booth. It's either work or worship, what'll it be? You can't do both. When I'm operating the booth, I can't let myself worship or the lyrics, video, mics, lights, will be missed and out of sync. The worship leader will give me a look, the audience will look back, its just not good. How many times have I been so depressed, burned out, just lost, and operating a Sunday service. We call it, "following the action", having a list of events for the service, yet keeping attentive to the stage due to last minute changes that you didn't see coming. For us back in the booth, this always means S.O.P. (standard operating procedure) on each area, FOH (front of house or sound board), video, graphics, and lights. Then communication between all technicians in the room so we can keep up with the demands that can happen last minute. If we are ready, then everyone else can worship, if not? things could be disasterous. Then there's the repair and replacement that we have to track during rehearsal and service, to attend to on a later date (budget permitting that is). I read and think, The whole point of all this tech stuff is the audience doesn't notice we're there. So they can let God speak to them, and live this verse out. God will work regardless of technology, but when things work right, people don't notice us at all. There lies a different issue, the condition of our spiritual lives, sure we appear as guys in a booth looking at the stage but inside, are so many lost and broken hearts, men seeking acceptance, fighting depression, loneliness, burn out, bad marriages, temptations with who knows what. Just because we're in church and in the booth doesn't mean we can worship. It really means that we can't but make sure everyone else can. Seeing us in the booth is very decieving, we appear to behind gear and doing great because were in church. Our worshipping moments end up being outside of church or when we can get a break and actually attend a service as a spectator. Hits me, This life is about God, this service is about God, God uses us to communicate Him, no wonder we struggle, we have an important part to play. Just as God is using us in our weakest moments at times, He's using everybody else in the room to show His presence in their lives, and that is something to rejoice about.