The Band of Donkeys.
You’ve probably heard of Trans Siberian Orchestra. I call them the band of donkeys.
I was lucky enough to go to a TSO concert a couple of years ago and was impressed with their light show, their music and the pyrotechnics. What impressed me the most was two things, their presentation of the Gospel and their involvement in the community.
For those who don’t know, TSO is a secular band formed with musicians from various 80’s band’s such as Savatage etc…
This TSO concert was a Christmas gig with few hundred people crammed into a large auditorium. TSO played traditional Christmas songs with narrations in between, explaining the birth of Jesus, really unpacking the meaning of the birth of Jesus. The people listened.
I was beyond thrilled to stand in the middle of this auditorium and hear a secular band, basically, preach the Gospel to these hundreds of receptive rockers, young and old. Nobody knew it, but they were being preached to. Ears that would not have heard the Gospel, were listening, responding and loving it for reasons they probably could not explain.
That is why I call them the Band of Donkeys. If the worship team or the church does not impact the community in that scale, God will find a band of donkeys.
I was also impressed to hear that TSO, the afternoon before the concert, went out on the street giving people $100 bills “Just because it is Christmas”. The band of donkeys.
I don’t know about you but things like this stir me, anger me and inspire me and drive me. Stop for a while and imagine the impact if it were a worship team rather than TSO impacting the community. Some might say that this is TSO, with money to do large scale events. I tell you that it may be true but yet not a reason to brush it off. The band of donkeys are a committed bunch, practiced and did the stuff. All they received was a nudge from God.
Worship teams/the church have the nudge from God but sadly, most times lack everything else. How are we to awaken the nations?
Will we be a part? Or, will the worship teams/church sit back and see even more bands of donkeys doing what we should be doing? Taking worship into the community, impacting the community in creative ways. We believe the worship team leads the church in worship and also agree that worship is more than song, then let us lead the church in more than song.