Arriving Late And Unprepared 

I couldn't sing out

Sure, I could hum-sing it. I could get most of the words out. But I certainly didn't have the bandwidth to belt. Why is this important? Well, we're not commanded to "declare the lovingkindness of the Lord... in our hearts." It's "...with our mouths" and with "all my heart, soul, mind, and strength!"

I couldn't be creative

It's like there's a "hierarchy of needs" in playing music. Let me explain. I don't complain about a slow internet connection when I haven't had food to eat for a week. I don't think about sunscreen when I'm trying desperately to swim back to the surface of the water so I can breathe again. Likewise, I can't express creatively if I am just playing through the chords on the page, if I'm just trying to find a good strumming pattern that fits the feel of the song. Why is this important? Well, otherwise why not just play the original recording right from YouTube?

I couldn't worship

There was a moment or two in the actual service that I was able to respond to the revelation of God. But most of the time I was focused on the notes, rhythms, and arrangements. Why is this important? Two reasons: it misses the whole point for me and it provides a terrible model for the congregation to follow.

I couldn't do the real job of the worship leading team

Singing and playing while worshiping through the songs gives you basic "permission to play" - it's like having the recipe, all the ingredients, the knowledge to cook, all the tools to cook...and then cooking, but never figuring out how to get your family to eat the food and get the nutrition they need. Follow me here. We get on autopilot a whole lot as congregations. We miss "God moments." We don't connect as deeply as we could to the Truth found in the songs we sing. Why is this important? Well, it's a big part of our job as teams (and leaders especially) to activate each other, to enable the revelation (so we can respond), to help the congregation "get" what we're doing and see the beauty in the moment.

So here's my plea. You may be able to "pull off" a Sunday-only rehearsal, or a new song that the team hears for the first time at rehearsal, but will your whole team? Do you wish your whole team would be more expressive, more creative, more worshipful, and led more effectively? We need time with the material. Give us time to get comfortable with it. We need to live with it for a bit. Advance notice and a midweek rehearsal can really help!