Should we allow non-Christians on the worship team? // Worship Leader Wednesday 

It's not about being judgmental or criticizing the facts are facts, someone who doesn't know God, someone who doesn't have the spirit inside, how can they worship God? As a Christian musician, you can't just walk with one without the other. You have to be skilled with your instrument AND be in the spirit. It's better( in my humble opinion) to have one person in the spirit lead worship than to have a stage full of extremely skilled musicians.

I started playing at church because it was a gig. I always believed in God but through worship I really came to know Jesus. Playing the worship music and seeing it affect people is such a strong way really made me dig into who is this Jesus. So for me and others that I know being on the worship team was really Gods way of guiding me to Jesus and is no longer just a gig at all but a very intimate special time for me to share my spiritual gifts with God and the congregation.

It’s sad when a church has a band full of talented members but none of them have a profound relationship with God. It sounds so good, yet there’s nothing meaningful about it. And then you got to churches with 2 or 3 band members, who are also leaders at the church and are committed to living a life with Christ and it sounds ok but with great impact upon lives

The first church, I were in, would do it so "Someone can play the instrument, tolerates the message, is qualified", but the church after this and the church I'm in says "Worship is related to have a relationship with God, so a person who doesn't follow Christ, isn't qualified".

19 years ago, I was a musician for 6-7 years and the church i was saved in had us wait 6 months before we served. They walked with me through discipleship so that when I served on the worship team, cleaning, or anything I was seasoned. I left to work for a ministry/bible school, when I moved back to town I was part of another church that did have non-saved worship team members. Both instances had people genuinely being saved, some thinking as long as 'I was doing ministry I was saved', and both had Christians who ended up leaving the church and following the passions of the world. To be honest I do believe we saw God move in different ways in both situations, but in a purely worship situation, I do believe that salvation and discipleship before service. The spiritual warfare associated with worship teams, I need my team's prayers (I pray for them too 😂), experience dealing with their walk with God, and sensitivity to the spirit of God to affect the music. I believe people get musical cues, but to consistently hear from the Lord, it's a different ballgame. No condemnation though, like I said, this is what I and my church believe.

Here's my take: I serve at a small church of 150-200 on Sunday mornings. In the small church environment, everyone in the church is required to play many roles. If I'm gone for emergent reasons, any member of the worship team could be asked to step up into the worship leader position. Also, at any moment if the pastor needs someone to step in and pray or guide someone spiritually, the whole of our worship team needs to be ready to do that or fill in as necessary leading. I don't think any of us would hire a nonchristian to lead worship for our church, so asking someone to be ready to step up to that position that isnt a Christian probably isn't a good idea either. (Similar to the US vice president position, if they don't qualify for president, they aren't allowed to be in that position where they could become president) Regardless, I really appreciate you guys addressing this and your ministry! Thanks for all you do!

This is a great conversation to have. As a pastor, I've run into just about ever scenario imaginable with musicians. I've had the musician that professed to be a believer that committed adultery numerous times. He went through counselling and restoration and continues to serve. I've also had the Christian musician that created more havoc than I can share. Then I've had the talented sympathizer who drew near for a season as we tried to lead him into a deeper relationship with Christ. Every situation is different and if you come into this conversation from just a spiritual perspective, you would be hard pressed to even contemplate the thought. On the other hand, I know of many churches that didn't have musicians, that ultimately paid an outsider (many times a non-believer) to play in their services. Even though some may be locked into a thought, not everyone or every church has the answer to this deep and important question. Thanks for starting the conversation, Pastor J

Love you guys, but I strongly disagree and here's why: 1. Titus 1:5-9 gives the qualifications for a church elder and the bar is pretty high. Elders are not visible on a stage every Sunday, but the worship team is. Why wouldn't the bare minimum of being a Christian be a requirement for the worship team? Personally, I even require church membership to show a level of commitment to the church itself and to a shared doctrine. 2. The worship team is not a means of evangelism to lost team members. We are leading the congregation. We are are part of the church leadership, just like deacons and elders and Sunday school teachers. Would you also allow non-Christians to be Sunday school teachers or elders or deacons? Hiring an electrician to fix your church is different from the asking him to join your church leadership.

Good topic. If we look at scripture instead of rationalizing our own wants we see a clear answer. You have to ask what are we doing leading worship and who worshipped in the Bible. The purpose of our worship is to praise, glorify and exalt our King. A non believer can not intentionally do any of that. All is vanity outside of Gods grace. And when we see who worshipped God it was always His people. Yeah God can reach a non believer who is serving on a worship team but let’s not limit where God will go just by the power of our testimony.

That quote, "God does not use the person to complete the task, He uses the task to complete the person." Is so absolutely profound. Thank you for sharing that. I have seen that happen in our church. That's more than a worship team thing. That is a life thing.

While on the surface, this question seems pretty simple, it can actually be very complicated. Obviously, the church should be led by people who profess faith in Christ, but many worship leaders and churches have struggled with this topic. While we do not claim to have a definitive answer, we do feel it's a little more complex than simply yes or no. Please watch the video before commenting to see where we're coming from on this one. Also please do not assume that we are saying, "Yes, you should allow non-Christians on your worship team". That is not what we are trying to communicate with this video.

I think another main problem is that once you put a person on a 'platform/team'... you are putting that person in a position of authority... and I say that as in being responsible as an 'example' for others to follow. Even if that person humbley denounces any actual authority... it is still an unsaid 'given' in that the Worship Team is a ministry...and being a ministry, their lives should live up to the standard of your church...and particularly the Bible. So think about what it means for that person NOT to be considered a Christian. And we must consider that a young person who looks up to this person's playing ability might very well want to emulate everything about this person... including whatever it is that has kept this person from 'being a Christian'. So in my humble opinion, the pew ... and in everyday life...is where we need to reach the lost... not on the platform. Encourage them in music at your home or when others get together at someones house to play... that will affect them... that is where the contact of love and kindness...and Grace... begins. And in considering the Apostles ...(look at Paul's past) ...or the Tax collector... Yet, each one had to have their own experience with Christ 'first' ...before anything was changed in their heart ...to then serve as 'the face of the Church' ...which is what you are when you get up in front of the congregation to lead them to worship for that service.

Personally, I think if we allow non-Christians to play on a worship team then it loses the significance of worship. God ministers through the musicians during worship, so to have someone that doesn't have or understand a heart of worship then it's pretty much a normal gig. Great topic guys! God bless

I've been in worship bands since 1972, so I've been around the block. While on a worship team in Las Vegas, we hired a brass section from the strip to be in our band. Within a few weeks they became believers and were on our team for many years after and they were an awesome addition! And just a reminder, Jesus's disciples weren't actually born again until after Jesus was resurrected, and He sent them out to declare the kingdom of God, to heal and cast out demons! WOW! Just be led by the Spirit!

Thank you for sharing this video! This was the exact answer I needed. I just started building a worship team and my drummer is an atheist. Please pray for him his name is Aaron. He has been faithfully committed in playing with us for the past two months and some of the leaders wanted to get rid of them based on his beliefs. I felt the Lord wanted him to be a part of the community as a musician. Your video has got everyone on the same page so I thank you for that and Aaron will continue to have a position on the team!

I know this is a very polarizing topic to cover and I think you guys did a really good job. We had a guy on our worship team that would come to church with alcohol on his breath but was a great bassist. After discussion with the worship leader and our pastor they still decided to keep him on the team. He didn't cause any disruption to the service, he was just very closed off from interaction and worship. Fast forward 6 months and he had a breakthrough moment with God and gave up alcohol completely and has never looked back. He now still serves on our worship team and is a great mentor and friend. You can now see the spirit of worship within him. He said that the church accepting him where he was at in the time of his darkest days was pivotal in his transformation. All this to say I think we should use sound judgment when accepting someone into the worship team dynamic, but we need to meet people where they are and not where we think they should be.

When I first saw the "description" for this video and then hovered over the preview, I saw that it was nearly 20 minutes. I was like, "Really? It shouldn't take 20 minutes to say, 'no'." I get the viewpoint of leading that person TO a relationship with God through Christ, but, I don't find it compelling. As others have very eloquently stated, a spot on the worship team is a congregational leadership position (that should help anybody who gets bent out of shape over the term "church" leadership) whether it is the person who selects and sings all of or the vast majority of the songs or the person who plays the triangle. Regardless of the talent of the person or the need of the worship team (as in, we really NEED a piano player, and Joe has been playing bars for the past 20 years, so...) "non-Christian" should be a non-starter. I also get the statement about how a lot of unsaved people "act" better than a lot of Christians. But, at the end of the day, there is gonna be a lot of "good" people in Hell, so, "good" shouldn't be the standard. I also realize that some of this may come off as a little course and even a little self-righteous, and that's not what I'm trying to do here. That sort of thing irritates me to no end. But, I'm trying to be as short-winded as possible. Otherwise, one could, in theory, spend 20 minutes watching the video and another 20 reading my comment ;)

I got saved by being a non-christian using my skills as a guitarist on a Worship Team10 years ago. Now I'm the Worship Leader of Cornerstone Community Church in Milton Vermont and we are growing faster than I can keep up with (That is not a problem, it's Gods will).

I don't think that non christians should be on the worship team. It is called disharmony in the spirit.

About 9 years ago i was heavy into witch craft. One day my my sister and soon to be brother in-law invited me to play guitar for there church . And well music is my life so of course i said yes. And with in 9 month of playing with the church and becoming part of the family God called me home and was baptized . Now im taking on the roll of worship leader . Looking back at my transformation i am so blessed to be apart of a church who follows the teaching of Jesus and not judge anyone but chooses to show love.

Thanks for broaching this subject, Brian! It should be a decision bathed in prayer and not just a hard lined policy one way or the other. That time in prayer should involve the whole Worship Team, allowing the Holy Spirit to impart wisdom and discernment. It depends on the individual being considered and in many aspects, who can know their heart except for the Lord? It must not be driven just because the person is a very good musician and the church is sadly lacking in such talent, which is all too common. That individual must be willing to submit their gifts to the authority of the Worship Leadership and be decisively not a rock star or super star. They must be informed as to these expectations in their interview and willing to be in agreement that the spotlight experience is inverted in leading worship... it is off of the band and directed only towards giving glory to God. They must not be in any way, form or fashion, a hindrance to the work of the Ministry. The slightest degree of rebellion can rip like a wildfire through the church, totally undermining the operation of the Holy Spirit. If that person can find that balance, who knows, but the Holy Spirit may be using the worship experience, the fellowship, the bonding and the beautiful music and lyrics to woo their heart to salvation in Jesus Christ. That is, after-all, our first purpose and highest priority, right? If it turns out that it is not working out, then the difficult task to release that member from the Worship Team must be embraced. Jesus said, "Pray the Lord of the Harvest to send out the laborers. The harvest is great, but the laborers are few."

Don't look for a grey area when there is no such area in the Kingdom of God. Let the one who has not openly professed Jesus the Christ as their savior sing from where they are with the congregation. The praise "team" should consist only of Spirit filled believers, who praise as we are called to"in spirit and in truth ". P&W is so much more than the music, it's the lifestyle of the believer. Black or white, no grey.

Dudes- Ben Forehand! Have you heard his testimony? His testimony episode on the Worship Online Podcast left me in tears. He took a church gig as a non-believer. The rest is how God does what he does....

I have watched several of your videos and there is always something that speaks to me. One of the things I like is the way you both keep it real by putting in so humor; on occasion downright cutting up. God bless you both and God bless the worship we intend to bring Him.

WT, I have always enjoyed your channel for many years now and my question is in past couple of videos you have talked about how auditioning and how a person needs to be qualified “talented” to be part of the worship team at your church. But it would seem to me that the first qualification isn’t how great a person can shred on their guitar, or play drums or sing on perfect pitch. The first qualification should be do they have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Without that they are singing and playing for something that don’t even know and how can they LEAD others into what they have never experienced. In our heart especially with our friends we want to believe that by allowing them to serve that the Holy Spirit will speak to them and that is commendable, we all want people especially those we love to come and know the Lord, but is it the Lord that is drawing them or just music. Music is powerful and for those of us who like to play even more so. I had a very similar issue with my own daughter and I had to make the hard decision to ask her to step down when she stated that she no longer believed. Bottom line is the answer while difficult to hear is clearly is No. Jam with them outside of the church even with worship type music and witness to them.

This is something I am currently wrestling hard with. I, right now, have decided the answer for me and my team is no. Just because there is no Biblical example or precedent for an unbeliever helping lead Israel or the Body in worship. I don't think I can tell my team "You are worship leaders" in the same breath say "You don't have to be a Christian." But I totally get the very missional opportunity that having unbelievers on the team can provide.

I started playing in a youth band 15 plus years ago at a church. I considered myself a Christian at the time, but did not have a heart for worship and did not have a relationship with Jesus like I feel like I have now. I truly believe that allowing me to serve in the worship team DID help with my struggles and help me get through everything that I have. These guys pointed out that even people who followed Christ screwed up and fell short. You never know the people who you let serve may be going through or struggling with, Christian or not, and how being part of a team of fellow believers and worshipers can put you in a position to draw closer or even find Jesus for the first time. Just my 2 cents.

As I watched this video (the day it came out(I wanted to think some about it before responding ) ), I saw another of your videos on the side bar about auditions. Let's say a guy comes to your audition and loves Jesus, but has no sense of rhythm, and can't carry a tune. Are you going to hesitate in judging his ability? Isn't his relationship with Christ more important than his musical ability? Perhaps a compromise: how about allowing people to sit in on practices and jam sessions but not actually lead in worship? Couldn't you mentor them in either deficiency? Paul talks about not giving new Christians positions of authority so that it doesn't go to their head and cause them to stumble. If that's how he feels about new Christians, I'm thinking non-Christians are right out. So maybe your practice times can serve the double purpose of outreach, but worship is worship, you know?!? Thank you for stepping out on this and inviting this conversation.

Excellent topic guys! I'm leading worship this Sunday. I been a Christian for the past 3 years only by the grace of God. Was led in the church where division was happening when we joined, but that didn't really bother us since our focus was God. Then I became a deacon by the nomination of the congregation after a year. Then was asked to worship lead... what I'm saying is this: for me, my main focus was always God, and I would ask Him to guide me, and use me. If it's his plan, he will and no one can stop him. Recently we merged with other church and we all had to step down, and again I just prayed, Lord use me, and now after just 4 months I'm asked to lead the worship this Sunday for the first time. To me, God is in control and as much as you wanna be up there on the stage serving God you can also serve him in the crowds, and the good thing about this is that I have learned to be humble, so I let those people who are in charge make the decision. I think if a person is really willing to serve God then he must be willing to submit to those in authority.

Here's my story. I visited the church I attend now 22 years ago. I was a non-believer. I was a generally good guy, but didn't know Jesus. On my second visit I bumped into a family friend at that service and she knew I played music. The praise team at the time did not have a drummer. When they found out I had a set of drums, they immediately invited me to play. I acquiesced and brought my drums. I am a guitar player who could keep a beat. So I played. I'm not the kind of person who likes to let others down, so missing church for no reason was not an option. I wasn't going to be with Jesus, I was going to be there for the praise team. I had a responsibility and didn't want to let them down. Eventually as i attended I learned more about Christ and accepted Him into my heart. I also eventually moved to guitar. My point is playing on the praise team is what brought me to Jesus. Had I just been an attender, it would have been much easier to be lazy and stay home on Sunday. It worked in my story, but I think each individual's experience is going to be different. P.S. now I lead worship at a sister church (different time) in addition to playing guitar on the praise team. Giving a non-believer a reason to show up every week is not the worst idea in the world.

Hey Fuller, long time. Thanks for making a video on such a tough topic and tackling it with such care. We've had the same struggles at my current church. The somewhat controversial compromise we've reached is that non christians are allowed to serve, not just in the worship ministry but in any area of the church EXCEPT leadership positions. You don't have to be a Christian to make coffee, park cars, or check families into kids ministry, BUT you do if you are a leader or a ministry coach in those areas. How that applies on worship team is that non christians are welcome on Tech Team (running sound, cameras, video, or pro presenter) and onstage in the band, but because vocalists are declaring God’s word through song (and basically singing the scripture) that is considered a leader position because they are leading people in worship in a way that is fundamentally different from playing an instrument or moving a slider. Not everyone agrees with this policy, and (as you said) an argument can be made for multiple perspectives on the issue, but this is what we’ve come to. Just thought I’d share our policy. Like you said, there is likely no universal answer on this, and each church needs to find the best practice for their congregation. Thanks for the great content on the channel, and hope your family is well. Catch you next time.

I am a pastor and I struggle with this. I have allowed it in the past with this distinction: I allowed a non believing instrumentalist but not a non believing vocalist. But I been embarrassed as often on social media by the actions of my believers as the unbelievers.

Serving in worship ministries is some of the most wonderful as well as the most hurtful experiences around but few Christians dare to speak up on this since many churches would label you “negative and unspiritual”. It is one of the most hypocritical traps for many Christians in the worship ministry to start labeling people as though they were “superior” to others. It can encourage cliques and double-standards/favoritism. Speaking from my own experiences, I was allowed to play guitar at age 15 in Christian retreats when I was still an agnostic but have gave my life to Christ a year or two later. Also, I let this one guy play guitar in a nightly retreat entertainment that was a fantastic guitar player. He was a non-believer and indifferent to the gospel at the time. I come to be his friend and we became closest friends to this day as he shared with me much guitar techniques. After many years of witnessing to him which took more than 10 years, he finally gave his life to Christ and decades later, he lead his elderly mother to the Lord. He is one of the top lead guitarist in a sizable church in a large city for the past decade and has blessed many a younger crowd with his music ministry. Who is to say he can’t be involved because someone in leadership determines he can’t be a worship musician? It is true that churches would let many do hard unglamorous work in a heart beat but not allow same person to be in any spotlight on stage. I am not saying that we must always allow non-Christians be in worship teams but I also seen Christians that have been up there with teams and hurt people in spite of talent. Christians....open your eyes and determine what Jesus would have done in the same circumstances. He was more concerned with getting people into His Kingdom by telling the disciples the most important person is the servant of the other and will do it unto to least of these. What kind of light are we to the world and if they see us, will they see Christ?

I have several people in the church band that are not christian, i'm from a small town where none of the churches have bands, they all have dvd worship, but i lead worship as the worship pastor in a church here and i have non Christians in the band because without them its just me and my acoustic guitar, but here's the thing, the music is legit amazing, because allot of times non Christians are far more professional, Christians turn up late, they don't care, these guys treat church worship with a zeal I've never seen in Christians. and the thing is, we do free worship, like bethel spontaneous stuff, and its sooooo amazing, and the spirit does amazing things, ty for the video guys.

I have had many discussions with friends about this topic and I think this is where I fall on the topic. We call them worship leaders and so as a leadership group, we have agreed that non-Christians couldn't understand how to lead in worship. I don't mean that to sound judgemental but we throw the word "Worship leaders" rather easily and if we don't really mean that term, we shouldn't use it. We have had people come and "preach" in our pulpit who weren't pastors but would we ever use a non-Christian to do so? So this is where we arrived. I have invited people to special "jam" times who weren't Christians but the purpose was always fun, fellowship and building relationships.

Good topic and good point of view. I serve on a worship team as a bass player. Since I discovered your channel, I have been devouring your videos. You bring a lot of great and useful content. I hope you keep it coming. Incidentally, I first found your channel because I was looking for POD Go presets for acoustic guitar. Thank you!

I appreciate you bringing this up. In our church, we once allowed a non-believer to play as a guitarist on our band. This was to make the non-believer closer to church and maybe he could have a genuine relationship with Christ. At first we were okay with it up as time goes by, it seems that during sundays when we guide the congregation to worship, all of us with the exception of the non-believer, felt that there was really something wrong. The congregation's worship seemed to be dry and then the message of God through our pastor had no impact on the lives of the people. It went for a month until we decided to make him rest from playing and that next Sunday, we had a great moving of the Holy Spirit. Everyone was worshiping and crying. Everyone was on their knees. I mean you could really feel that the songs that we played was having an impact in the their lives. After that, we decided to disallow non-believers to play in our church. We as a team made our own standard that even how talented a person could be, his spiritual life was more important. We believe that ones relationship with Christ is what makes our worship as a team powerful and makes the Word of God, that is preached by the pastor, impact the life of the listener more directly. We do not want to be legalistic but we believe that bringing a non-believer to play any instrument or even sing in front during worship time contaminates the songs that we sing. That is why we have not compromised any position of our team, no matter how desperate the situation is, we do not give in. Rather, if a non-believer is interested, we let him go through our cell groups and we guide, access and walk with him/her to make sure that she is spiritually ready and pure to lead the congregation. Now me speaking personally, I believe that they should not play in the team. For Paul says that what do we believers of Christ have in common with people who are non-believers. We are called to be a peculiar people, unwavering and uncompromising in our decisions. I love non-believers and I pray that their hearts would open to the Word of God and change their lives. I would give my life for them in an instant. But I must draw a line especially regarding the matters of the church.

Started playing in my small church before being baptised and have to say it gave me a reason to come to church at least twice a week and spend time with brothers in the faith that showed me their faith through patience with me and the gifts of the holy spirit while singing songs that took me a while to connect with the lyrics instead but eventually was leading every once in a while. Its a beautiful thing when people are shown Gods love rather than just told about it. Any chance to let people "get a chance to play" (vineyard speak) is great. Thanks for tackling some of the harder issues! Great video

I'm in the "We are all worship leaders" camp, especially if we're on stage, and you have to have been coming to our church regularly for six months before taking up ANY role, so we wouldn't be having non-Christians on the team. But I get that others have different stands, and I hope that works for them.

My take on it is this: No. With one exception I will later touch upon. It’s a simple as this to me: Should a non-Christian join your worship team? Worship team. The goal of the worship team, band, group is to worship. To worship God. A non-Christian would be part of a group that is serving the purpose of glorifying God, praising God, worshipping and adoring God with their talents, gifts, and abilities. But they wouldn’t be fulfilling their own purpose as part of the group. They may be talented, and gifted, and highly skilled, but if you’re not using those gifts to worship God, for his glory, then you’re in the group for the wrong reason. Now, as for the exception. Maybe a non-Christian joining the worship team could bring them closer to God. God may have planned for them to come to him through the band. I don’t know, we don’t know. I doubt even the person trying to join knows. At my church, the requirements to join the band are that one has to have been an active member for the past 6 months in good standing. We haven’t had any “non-Christians”- I guess that either means secular or those who haven’t accepted salvation - ask to join but we did have a new member who we do allow to practice with us and learn the songs until he is baptized and becomes a member of the church. I don’t think it’s legalistic or exclusivity, but rather the church doing its part to ensure every one serving God is actually serving God.

Thanks for sharing. I have lived in small rural communities most of my life, and if it wasn’t for the odd non christian musician who just wanted to play music we would not have had any music. Best of all some of them came to faith, and went on to use their gifts in other churches as worship leaders.

As a senior pastor, the issue is about the place of, and motivation for, service. I believe only the saved can serve God in the church. Otherwise, the issue of "salvation by works" confuses the unsaved into believing they're "okay" with God.

In my eyes my entire worship team are worship leaders as well. They lead the way to the throne-room and he equips the ones who are called and submit to him. We've had talented people want to join our team and we've asked them hey how about you come to our church a few weeks and get acclimated and make sure you're supposed to be here and this is where the Lord has called you to serve and 90% of the time they never make it past week one. Do we want to kick them out to the street? Of course not but even Jesus told the man who wanted to follow him hey sell all your possessions and follow me. Its about making sure that someone from the nursery workers to the lot attendants to the security team is here to serve the Lord and not themselves. We allow struggling people to be on our worship team because they are committed to the Lord, to the Church and to the team but we don't just let anyone come on board. That is my answer I too could be wrong.

In my experience, I joined my church's worship team with thoughts and intentions of self glory. At that point in time I was young in faith and I'm also a musician so that's what I had thought. However my plans of achieving self glory were quickly shut down as I didn't get the so called results that I'd desired. Eventually I saw serving as a burden. However as time passed on I had been convicted by the songs that we were singing and I just found that serving God and worshipping Him had brought me great joy and praising His name had given me much more satisfaction than self glory could ever have gotten me. Fast forward to the present, currently I'm a worship leader still trying to improve on serving God's people and putting God first. But funny enough I'm now trying to show others in the team the importance of serving and how great it is to praise His name. God doesn't use us to complete a task, He uses the task to complete us.

Yes or No.... I've had several musicians who aren't christians who came to a relationship with with Jesus because they served on the worship team.. I've also had some "christians" who walked away from the faith while on the worship team... God is bigger than we are.. His spirit also leads us to make great decisions..

A thought just came to me after the closing comments: We need to be open to the idea that God may choose someone we didn't expect, to be used in ways we didn't expect.

When I was a teenager in our worship team I had several school friends who were keen to play, but it was aggressively opposed by some of the other members. At the time I remember the explanation was "we wouldn't let a non-christian pray over us either." I was really unhappy with the way it was handled and it left me feeling "Who are you to judge who is christian enough?" My friends were put off coming to the church. My friends had more grace than some of the church members! God can work with anyone and anything they bring to the table - we are all imperfect.

1 Corinthians 4:15 : So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.

I hope you won't mind me making another comment. I am not qualified to be a worship leader, none of us are. We could never qualify ourselves (although I personally believe that we can disqualify ourselves for some positions but that is another discussion). I think it's important to always remember that because it humbles me that God would choose to use me in such a way because I don't deserve it and can't earn it. I appreciate your asking the question because we should always be willing to have the discussion. I "settled" this for myself a long time ago but I have had countless discussions with others about this very topic. And I listened even though in the end we still didn't come to agreement. But I believe the discussion is worth having. Perhaps some haven't considered the issue but even more so, there is nothing to be afraid of in having a discussion. Some might say "this is so basic" but this is exactly the method that Jesus used to teach. I had a mentor who told me once, "Never teach someone something that you can help them discover for themselves." When I worked with youth, I shied from trying to tell them what to believe but tried to help grow them to discover God, His Word and the application of His Word to their own lives. I think it's worth having the discussion for our sakes and for others. One of the things I have learned in years of ministry and walking with Christ is I have a lot more to learn and I am don't look as much like Christ as I thought I was years ago. The closer I get to Christ the more I see how I need to grow to be like Him. I say that to say, thanks for asking a difficult question that probably got some terse answers. It's worth the asking!

I feel that praise and worship in the church is a ministry for the Lord first and should be presented holy unto the Lord. However, I do feel, if they have an open heart, you could take them to practice with you and maybe let them play a song or too as to create a friendship but the team should be Holy unto the Lord I feel. But God bless you guys for sure!!

I'm a worship leader and the standard for any platform ministry is 1. Salvation is mandatory 2. Come to church 6 months. Platform ministry should be held to higher standards then a member because people can misrepresent your church and God can damage other new comers and older converts in the church. Talent is second to these standards. Platform ministry is different then serving as a volunteer. So we love to evolve new comers and nonbelievers in volunteer service and the standard for platform ministry is a little higher.

I feel the point of music in a church is to stir up people’s emotions, or to get them feeling a certain way with the Lord. How can the people playing the music get people excited about God when they themselves aren’t saved. So, the answer is no, if you’re not a Christian then you shouldn’t be on a worship team. churches nowadays try more to please people more-so than please God. So many churches have drifted so far from God. Very rarely do you actually find one that does things the right way.

For me I stand on a leadership aspect. As a leader in the church you should lead by example in the morals of your life. However, you guys really made me think about this, thank you

We are to Judge: 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

I think that God's love described in English words, or any words for that matter is really hard to explain. A lot things that God does for the sake of loving us do not make sense to us. I know that it's all intentional for Him. This song as a whole, tells us that God loves us more than we can understand or describe, and quite frankly sometimes his love for us doesn't make sense. At the end of the day when I here this song I think "God loves me more than I will ever know." We I was his foe, still he fought for me. When I was a sinner he died for me. I think anyone who hears this song comes closer to understanding that. I think that's a win for this song. At the end of the day we waste a lot of time debating one word. I wish sometimes we focused more attention and more of our voice on bigger issues in this world, like injustice, poverty and racism, instead of debating about 1 word in a worship song. I just realized I spent 10 min writing this comment. I hope it wasn't a waste either.

I literally stumbled across this channel like half an hour ago, due to a tech question. And as I'm exploring I found this video, which funnily enough explains the situation I'm currently in. I'm attending church with my fiancée for a couple of years now, she is christian, I'm not. At least not really. I'm doubting a lot and I can somewhat relate to God but not to Jesus. However, so many people I met that are believers made me wondering. After 23 years of not being a musician (which is a pity by the way), I started playing guitar last year, learning it by myself. So at first I needed some easy songs for me to play along that I knew well enough and that's where worship songs came into play. Basically I took a couple of books from my fiancée and started playing them all. And naturally after a while you want to play together with other people. So I considered joining the worship team of my fiancée and talked with the team leader. At first she was not really comfortable with the idea, but after a while she reconsidered and came to the conclusion that it might be God's way for me to him. Long story short: After playing with them a couple of times in our church service, I don't want to miss it anymore. It is the most important way for me to get a personal relation to faith, God and Jesus, although I wouldn't consider myself a christian. It's my way to explore I'd say. Hopefully I did not incorporate too many mistakes in my text, since it's already late and English is only my secondary language.

I’m 79, recently retired chiropractor after 55 years, and wanting to have another praise and worship team for our church after previous team 20 years ago. I play alto sax, some vocal and rhythm guitar. Previous group had Wednesday evening programs drawing 100 youth, of which 50 would attend Sunday worship. Our leader became a a pastor and moved on. The program eventually failed to be supported and was discontinued. I felt I could bring back a really quality team, one supported by the current pastor and the aging congregation, many of whom just want traditional. We are in SW OKLAHOMA, an old church with challenges, so church growth and attracting youth are very important from my view. I am not real skilled with internet, and I play mostly by ear since 1960 with multiple rock, R&B, country, contemporary christian, gospel. At any rate, after watching your videos I since my learning curve is quite steep. So, any other suggestions you may have for this middle aged guy would be helpful. Any way, thanks for what you have contributed to the christian community and may God continue to bless you and the lives you touch. Fred Phillips, DC.

Hi Ian From South Africa. I am a beginner guitar player that serves on our worship team at church. I believe that worship is a ministry where we seek God to move among us with our praise and worship. I also believe that worship goes hand in hand with the prophetic gift. So I believe that one should be a Christian to serve on worship team. I do however believe that I should work hard at improving my guitar skills so that I can worship more while playing guitar.

Hey guys! I think this is a great question. I was that kid. Complete non-believer didnt know this God guy and this Jesus dude. Starting off, I'm a vocalist. But, I started gaining interest in drums through middle school. Fast forward to my mom finding me a drum kit. I had NOWHERE to play it. But the church down the street needed a drum kit and I had one so I ended up playing drums at the church cause they desperately needed one. No audition, the worship leader knew I was a trouble maker, pot smoker. There once was conflict with some members that I was not a believer and that I shouldn't be on the team, but I heard that a gentleman cut that tention in half saying, "Sure he may not be a believer. But, God put him here with us. He could be anywhere else, yet he is right here WITH US! Is it not cool to see how God is working in him?" Fast forward to Now. I've been involved with a wonderful young church. With AMAZING people. I'm locked in the music ministry. I've played drums, percussion, lead/backup vocal, lighting, sound guy and somehow now I'm the bass player as of right now. God has been working on/in me since I was 11. And I didnt truly find him and realize him working in me until I was 18. I'm 23. I'm very thankful for that one man who gave me a chance to serve. I attend Harbor Church on Cape cod in Massachusetts. Couldn't be happier. That's my story. Thanks for letting me share it!

Guess the big thing with non believers in a worship team, is the fear of them worshipping the music instead of God. If you are a none believer, yet humble and respectful of a church and its members, and are not in it to just be known for playing so amazingly. Maybe just do a heart check with someone :) Because I know there can be hardcore christians out there who pretend to be in it for Jesus but their heart is full of pride and selfishness.

Thanks for talking about it. As a team leader and media director. I found this very helpful. I will definitely try it. I’m sure God will pour in His spirit and anoint the worship. I always think about this . He used a Donkey to carrying Him through, donkey wasn’t holy or saved and Jesus used him. He’s using me I’ll definitely bring someone in for a “gig” or volunteer work when need it. So far I’ve experience that. No one can’t just gets close to God and not get changed. So. There. Blessings y’all

You guys need to switch places! Lol Thanks for the conversation. We never know the hearts of others or how God is working in their lives. Hey serving by playing gets that individual in church every Sunday and in unity with believers!

Thank you for raising this topic. I have heard testimony, that a young guy was playing in pentecostal church worship team even before he got saved. Today that guy is completely devoted to God and ministry. People say-always there can be an exception... Even if we are not slaves of the law, Jesus did not cancel commandments and the law. And law shows, what God likes: faith, holiness,truth. And about ministries God has been very precise. So none of the levites ministering in temple could be someone outside His nation. That means-no nonbelievers in worship team. And I believe, most will agree, that even with believers, there are own struggles and issues to cope with. On other hand-there should be a difference between ministries- like one, that requires a certain skill like electric or car shop specialist, carpenter etc. As I see, Solomon building the Temple invited the most talented and skilled craftsmen of that time, and they were from other nations. So technical skills could be also some exceptions. Relating to music ministry, as preparing some special music, not necessary worship program, might be involved some skilled professionals, but still, we need to filtrate, whom we invite-extremes would not work here also. We need to keep in mind, that we, the church, should be His sweet perfume. What is good, righteous and holy. I believe God has intended church to be self sufficient. I have experienced "amateur" christians doing a rock operas and hired "professionals". And I can say one for sure-the professionals did well and nice, but the anointing was much thicker on devotion and love of the amateurs. That is how I felt it. Thank you for the broadcasts. God bless!

Meanwhile I lead a worship band and put this topic in our WhatsApp group and one person disagreed and our pastor has to say "of course, Christians should be in the worship band" and the person who disagreed with me could say yes. When I asked the person to this, he says, I would exclude Christians, when I speak about reborn ones.

I'm personally not religious but my all time favorite musical experience was serving as a guitar player on a worship team. Although I don't believe the content, I really loved to bring others who do believe closer to their god. It's an amazing feeling to see someone crying of joy because of the music. Being the vessel of that joy meant a lot to me religious or not. I loved it and I will always look for an open guitar spot on a worship team when I want to join a band.

I agree that it is case by case. If your worship team reflects Jesus, the “not yet believer” will soon encounter Christ. I and many of my co-worship leaders have been filled with the Spirit through being shown grace by a church/worship team member.

Someone took a chance on me when I was 14. And God has been using me ever since. He used music, to draw me closer to Him. You don't know the plan that God has, because we are limited in our thinking. He uses non conventional ways to change people. Let the Holy Spirit change this person and let your testimony be a way for this person to see Jesus in how you worship.

I’d answer this question with another question. Does God want to be worshiped in a particular way? It seems to me even from Cain and Abel all the way to Ananias and Sapphira that the answer is yes. Some worship was found acceptable and some was not. I see the good in what a lot of people in the comments have said about how they came to know the Lord through their worship teams and I’m so glad they came to know the Lord!!! But God can use anything to bring himself glory. That doesn’t mean anything is acceptable. As a worship leader myself I believe my team is modeling worship for everyone in the congregation. I’m talking about everything that we do on the platform on a Sunday. If my team isn’t involved in daily worship of our creator in things like prayer, confession, dying daily to sin etc. then when I put them up on the platform to lead/play/sing, what I, and the church, communicate to the congregation is that following Jesus just isn’t very important to us.

the answer is no. Can't lead someone where you aren't or havent been. anyone on stage is a worship leader, leading worship. pointing to God. Also have to think what theyre doing off stage to reflect the ministry. "Oh you play for so and so church and youre an atheist? must not be a good church if even their leadership doesnt believe in Christ."

at 5:00 you note that some non-christians looks more happy than christians. Be careful with this aspect. God looks the heart when human looks at the outside. Worship is a service. How can a non-beliver can serve for a service of God? There is no judment in that way, because only God guide to the service to God, no one else. Does God need the greatest artist of the world for the best worship? Quality music is something great and beautiful. Worship service by true God servant missioned by God is 100% the good plan to prefer. Also, I am agree that for some particular case, lines can move and some exeption can be allow. That is very specific. But please do not make that as a normal or classic way. Because it is only special and guide by God in the heart of the worship/church team. Continue like this guys. Bless you.

This conversation reminds me of similar ones around the topic of "should I date a non-Christian guy/girl". I hear a lot of "God can/in hindsight did use the situation" there as well. Not sure if I agree. Also, this could also be extrapolated to "Should we allow LGBTQ (Christian or not) musicians on the worship team?"

I really appreciate this video. Decisions like this are not cut and dry. Thank you for sharing!

Hey guys! Thank you for this video! My story is VERY similar to what you shared. I’m a worship leader and I was really struggling about a year ago to welcome a high schooler onto my church’s youth worship team. At that point, I knew him, but I hadn’t seen him at youth group or church consistently in years and it seemed like he would only be coming back to youth because he’d be able to play an instrument. I had no way of knowing if he was a follower at this point in his life and I didn’t even know who he really was at this time. I wrestled with this decision and I was talking to the youth pastor and he encouraged me to welcome him in after I prayed about it because it would help him come consistently and, God willing, it would allow the Holy Spirit to move in him, but I saw him playing cajon as just a reason to make him come to youth group when he should want to come to grow in his relationship with Christ. After praying, I welcomed him onto the team and he has been coming every single week to youth group, joyfully serving, and growing deeply in his faith and even reaching out to his other friends to come to youth. I recorded his testimony months ago and he saw that experience of coming onto the worship team as a monumental point in his faith.

I was in a pretty unique situation. I came to church because I wanted to believe in God becuase I felt His presence before, but I struggled with faith and I hadn't given my life to Jesus at that point in time. I was asked to serve the third time i went there because the keys player couldn't make it. I've since believed in Jesus, given my life to Him and while becoming part of the team didn't suddenly make me christian it sure helped in the process. EDIT: It was for our church's youth group. Main church wouldn't allow that.

I lead worship at a small church where our worship team is a rotation of about 5-8 people, we were in need of an electric guitarist and one of our members has a weekly food truck outreach where we fellowship and feed with the homeless here in Miami. We played some worship songs while our friends were in line for the food one week when one of the guys in line, asked if he could jam with us. He started playing with us and immediately caught on and started soloing in instrumental sections and so forth. We were talking with him after food had been distributed and we found out he’s played guitar for about 30 years and was struggling with homelessness, however he hadn’t been able to play recently cause he was paying off a pawn shop to hold his equipment with the governmental aid he was receiving. We offered to hold his equipment for him and gave him the opportunity to play with us on sundays, he declined each time for awhile, but after a few months of connecting with him weekly at the truck stops, he accepted our invitation and has now been part of our worship team every week for 3 years. He’s not a Christian but I do believe we’re sowing seeds every week. We’ve shown grace when he’s shown up to play under the influence and asked him to not play that day, but invited him back the following. It’s a gradual process, but seeing him be excited to play every week and now be at the point where he’s giving us feedback on songs he thinks we should play, or different ways we could play a song is a blessing. That’s the personal testimony from a little church in Miami, but it’s a big and beautiful testimony! Shalom guys!

Then should we let non believers preach to us as well ? Music has so much power it will Minister to our spirit... so should we be careful who ministers to us ? satan is a music professional So I think we need to be wise who we put in our stages. Un equally yoke counts in every relationship even in ministry . Bless you guys

Hi guys. Good topic. I believe in reaching out to the lost. Be creative and draw in those unsaved musicians and artists. Create places and times to interact with them and show them the love of God. Have jam sessions and artists evenings. You don't need to put that person in your worship team to do that.

I say being a Non Christian apart of the worship team can draw you closer to God but I think the people worshiping not on the worship team bring in the Holy Spirit by lifting their hands and praising not just the worship team I thinks it’s a topic you need to pray and ask God for this answer

I personally would have no problem with non-christians being on a praise team. As long as the one(s) who are leading the praise team are believers then I'd have no problem with non-christians in supporting roles in the praise band.

I agree with many of the comments that I have read here. Worship is the root of the worship team. Those who worship the father must worship Him in spirit and in truth. An unbeliever can do none of those things. Furthermore, we know that man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. With this in mind what will the Lord think when he sees an unbeliever on the worship team, whose heart is not about worshipping him, but just about playing music? And more so, what will the Lord think of the leader that chooses to put unbelievers in their worship team just to get a certain musical sound, rather than putting Spirit-filled worshippers on the worship team to truly Worship the Lord?

Great topic.I love that you are talking about REAL stuff.

6:50 I would say, it's a different topic. A electrician doesn't lead people in worship and praise. For example, I wouldn't have any problem, when people learn theyr instruments from a non christian teacher, but I wouldn't think, that this non christian may select the songs for the next worship service.

No ,,,

For all the “no”s out there please remember the great things God can do through anyone. When Jacob was beaten and left for dead remember it was the Ishmaelites that brought him to Egypt from the brink of death. God can work in mysterious ways. We should pray for discernment in our decisions. Every situation is different.

can we equally yoke to the non believers? can the non believers worship the same God if they doesn't believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord? but as you said if they are willing to offer their gift are they also willing to pray the sinners prayer? as I hope every member of worship team prayed forgiveness before entering to the heart of worship. If they do then they are a baby christian and no longer non believers.

The last weeks I found two announcements in my city, where worship teams look for musicians and when I asked "Is this for Christians only" they replied "No, you have not to be Christian"...

My first question is to all who have cast a definitive NO answer to this question is "Who is to be held responsible to verify and make judgement as to the status of someone else's salvation? I do expect and certainly hope that the worship leader is in a committed relationship with Christ, but every individiual is at a different place in their relationship to Christ. And that relationship may vary from time to time. If a person is wanting to serve as a musician in a worship/praise team, that makes me tend to think that maybe they are on a personal quest for something more in their relationship with God. I have personally seen musicians that have turned their lives around by being involved in Christian music. I think we can all agree that music is a powerful medium that can touch the human heart. I would much rather see a musician being used in a church setting where hopefully he is surrounded by other Christians in ministry that can lift that person up in prayer and fellowship. Consider the alternative: Musicians are going to perform somewhere because it is just in their nature. If not surrounded a body of believers where he can be spiritually nourished by the body, then they are going to find other avenues to use that talent. Would it not be better to play in church than in that club down the road? Secondly, in addition to being a Worship Leader, I am also the choir director at my church. Would you make the same requirement for members of the choir? I can tell you with great probability, that in the many years of directing church music that there have been quite a few choir members that probably do not have a personal relationship with God. I personally do not want (nor am I qualified) to make a judgement call on whether or not someone is a "good enough" Christian to serve in any capacity within the church. Also, who says that God cannot or will not use persons who are "unbelievers" to exact his will. Christ Himself illustrates the value of such people in his response to the expert in the law found in Luke 10:30-37, the story of the good samaritan who was not a believer in the One True God. Yet Jesus Himself agreed with the expert that this man was more of a neighbor than the priest or levite, because of his actions of mercy. Lastly, I pose the question "Is the church only for those who are saved? That would kind of defeat one of the main purposes of the church. Christ told us "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:19) NIV.

I highly disagree with this.. why on earth would any pastor want a agnostic atheist playing any instrument on their worship team?! It’s not about being judgmental.. it’s more about the spirit leading the congregation and if there’s one person that isn’t in it for the same purpose of leading what other reason are they up there for? Especially if you are against God completely

There’s no vicinity in our church that will let a nonbeliever serve in a ministry. But we’re not snobs about it. But regardless of how nice you are, our ministry is a service. It’s one thing if it’s hired people to repair something, but another thing if you are serving in the church. The Holy Spirit can use anyone, and God can call anyone, but saved or not saved, we measure where the heart is. And we’re relaxed but there are statutes we follow. Biblical.

I played guitar on worship teams for probably 20 years as a believer. When I later cracked an atheist I kept doing to avoid the awkwardness of explaining my position (nobody knew) but I eventually just stepped down. Here are my thoughts: If you as a musician see your music as a form of ministry (as I did as a believer) than you should obviously believe it yourself. If you however see yourself as a musician who just enables an emotional experience than it’s probably ok to not believe the words. For me, it felt dishonest.

Non Christians should not be allowed on the worship team. It IS a yes or no answer. Can non Christian worship? No. Should they assist in leading worship? No. Here is a great article: www.desiringgod.org/articles/should-non-christians-lead-worship

Hi Gents! You make some good points as we consider the difference in using different folks in other areas of service in the church, but I think we tread in dangerous waters if we use non-believers on the worship team. Like our pastors who share God's Word, we would never ask a non-believer, even a well-versed (non-believing) theologian to step into the pastor's role and minister front and center to the church body. In addition, many times after service, we have an opportunity as members of the worship team to interact with the body, often ministering to and praying with individuals. The examples we see in the earthly life of Jesus using non-believers primarily involve who He ministered to rather than who He ministered with, so I don't see how that applies to the use of non-believing talent on the worship team. I suppose there are exceptions to such rules, but I think that would be the point in itself, it would have to an exception rather than the rule, and not using non-believers should be the rule even when considering the exception. Thank you for the tutorials over the years, they have helped me immensely in my own ministry opportunities. Blessings to you both brothers.

Tough question, i totally understand why so many people are against it. But I’ve also heard so many stories of how non Christians were saved through playing with the worship team, and at the end of the day isn’t that what it’s all about? And if that’s how God chooses to reach someone to save their soul who are we to get in his way? I can’t say I agree or disagree with either side of the argument. I would think in each case you have to take it to God himself and be really in tune with what he’s leading you to do with that non Christian person.

Interesting questions. Let me pose a few. 1. Would you allow a non-Christain to speak in front of your congregation each week? What if they are a talented speaker? What if they had great skills and the ability to inspire. What if they could offer a positive experience? What if they connected with people and motivate others? 2. What would then be the incentive to want to be a Christain and live a sacrificial life for Christ, if you are given a position of prominence without the sacrifice and or the calling that is often associated with such a visible position of leadership? 3. Does the purpose of putting a "very talented" non-beliving musician in a position of leadership benefit the non-believer? Or the worship team? 4. Would there even be a consideration for a non-Christian musician to be on a worship team if their talents were far less than that of a believer who wanted the same position? 5. What other leadership positions would you be comfortable allowing a non-Christian to hold? Plumbers, traffic help, electricians, etc. Not exactly leadership positions. 6. How would one see this approach any different than those criticized for missionary dating? 7. Where else in the bible are we told to put the cart before the horse? Even if it's a very talented cart? Again, just my own observations. But it seems this discussion often centers around the "amount of talent" the non-Christian holds. For some church's this often seems to be the only determining factor as to whether someone should be allowed to participate in one of the church's most visible ministries, regardless whether the person is a believer or not. It also seems like a missed opportunity for the non-Christain musician. God's timing is perfect. If someone who is a non-Christain musician truly wants to be part of a worship ministry, perhaps patients should be the priority. Share with them. Study with them. Mentor them. I mean this is a position of leadership. It's been my experience that rarely does the non-Christain seek out a Christain worship band. It seems that it's usually the other way around and that it's worship band that seeks out the 'talented" non-Christain musician. So perhaps motives should be clarified when pursuing such a venture. That being said. I had a very talented friend who was a non-Christain musician and he had been invited to play with several worship bands. Which he did. Almost a decade later I found out that he had recently given his life to Christ. Glory to God!! AMEN!! Can it happen? Yes, it can. But having someone who you choose to lead your congregation for years who does not know Christ. Should that be the exception or the rule? And why then should it be the exception?

My worship team is very small. I play in a military band in DC and am surrounded by amazing musicians of all different talents. I myself am a brass player but lead worship on guitar and vocals. I brought in a colleague (a bass player from my cover band, a sax player from our "day job") to cover a bass part. He's come in many times to fill the bass spot. He ended up taking communion at one point. Who knew.... The seed may or may not have been planted.

Well I thubk a good question for this is how mature are the Christians in the worship group? If you are going to allow non-Christians into the group and discussions about inappropriate behavior comes up what's the kind of response you'll have both to ground the other Christians in the right way and so the non-Christian knows where Christ stands? Jesus said to allow the children to come to him while everyone else thought they'd bother Jesus and wanted them to go away. We also see in scripture during I think Joshua's time that it was custom for scripture to be read out not only to the people of God but to every foreigner in the area. If someone is showing interest in worshipping God because they're curious about God then by turning them away outright you've already rejected them. This area does remind me of a bible study subject on relationships where it was suggested you shouldn't avoid other non-Christian people but to choose to get close to those who are Christian, can control their anger, challenge you intellectually and can point out the areas you need to clean up. In the same way I think it'd be alright to allow them to worship with you and answer any questions they bring up, but be cautious as to whether they're a close friend or someone you're helping to guide towards Christ while they're still exploring

NO. Why? Because we are ministering to the people. If we have Non-Christian friends who is able to play some instruments, don't compromise. I experienced it and I prayed that God will lead committed worship leaders in our team. Well, if your are speaking of grace, if you have non-Christian friend who wants to be part of the worship team, then share the gospel and accept Jesus. That would not be a problem. :)

Of course, I hold that the LEADER has to be a Christian. But, I also think that a non-christian musician can still support the leader as he leads. If the person is not actively working against the spirit of God, God can still work through him. And maybe allowing the non-believer to play on a team is the catalyst that brings him to know God

This is a very nuanced discussion. But, at the end of the day, my opinion is that it would cause a hindrance to the move of the Holy Spirit.

There's this idea that a non-believing heart on the stage somehow disrupts some magical worship force-field. Like worship is some sort of finite energy in the room and allowing a non-believer on the team will reduce the amount of worship that the room can hold. Or it will taint the 'worship energy' in the room somehow. Or that it somehow drags down the 'worship connection' of the rest of the team. Why are we telling the Spirit how he works?