For those of us who lead Sunday worship through singing and playing, it’s easy to grow complacent. Only the Word of God can keep our minds renewed and give us constant sobriety for the ministry to which the Lord has called us.
“Without me, you can do nothing.”
What exactly does this mean?
It could mean that without Christ, we can do nothing of lasting value, nothing eternal. That’s certainly the context of Jesus’ words here in John 15. He’s the vine, we’re the branches. We can lead and sing and play, but we can’t effect any heart change. We can’t make people worship God, and we certainly can’t produce music that is good enough to please God on its own merit.
Or we can take it another way: without Christ, we can do.. nothing. After all, what’s holding together the subatomic particles in the nuclei of every atom in our body? Only this: Christ is upholding all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). After all, in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17).
Either way, profound dependence. “Except the Lord build the house, they who build it labor in vain.” This is true of life, and true of corporate worship.