The husband wakes up and drags himself out of bed to go downstairs and make the morning coffee. The wife follows through the dark house in hushed tones. Smells of coffee and quiet sounds of cereal bowls fills the air in a moment of quiet before the storm. Suddenly, and without warning, the shouts of multiple children pierce the calm like thunder over the horizon. The day has begun. Zero to 120 in four seconds. The whiplash hurts momentarily, but there’s no time for that now. We are moving at the speed of family, and it is Sunday. We have got to get to church, and get there on time. Tension goes from tropical island to raging volcano in seconds. Kids are fighting, pajamas are flying, teeth are not getting brushed. How can so many shoes not have a mate? Are your teeth still not brushed? They pile in the car like clowns at a circus, the smell of coffee and breakfast are long gone, replaced with tween-age boys in need of a shower, but there’s no time for that, it is church day! Traffic rules do not apply this morning. Sweat builds as the clock counts down to the service start time. The pedal gets closer to the floor and the meter rises dangerously high. Like a suburban Nascar, the family makes the final turn into the lot. Made it, and only five minutes late this week…

This may or may not ring true for you, but I guarantee it is pretty close to the story of many families in your church this weekend. As worship leaders we spend all week, or sometimes all our lives preparing for the services. This is not the case for your average attendee. They barely made it with their life. Yes, they want to be there, mostly. However, there is an uphill battle for the average person to transition from the chaos of their life to the transcendent worship of their Creator. As worship leaders, we must constantly keep this in mind. Don’t make the on ramp so steep that there is no chance the average human can get on the path to worship together.

Plan your service with the normal, tired, busy, overworked, exhausted person in mind. Spend time allowing the regular attender to ‘catch up’ with the worship team. You might just find that you all will worship better together!