"Worship Beyond the Music"

Lamar Campbell is a seasoned songwriter and choir director from Indianapolis, Indiana. While he is most noted for founding Lamar Campbell & Spirit of Praise in 1995, Lamar makes it clear that his ministry goes far beyond the music. After serving as a Choir director and Praise and Worship leader at Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas Lamar has returned home to Indianapolis to be a blessing to his family and focus on writing for his new project. When joking with Lamar about leaving Houston, he always says he is just a phone call away. I took him up on the phone call and spent sometime getting his perspective on ministry, worship and hearing from God.

7th Made Online: There is a correlation between one’s praise and their relationship with God. With that said, in a past interview you said your transition from musician to worship leader happened as your personal relationship with God changed. Can you elaborate on this a little bit?

Lamar Campbell: As far back as I can remember I felt there was something special I was supposed to do in life. Even before becoming a musician and developing a relationship with God. I started playing in church as a job at the age of 15. From there everything was a progression. I started playing the piano thinking it was a hobby, but I couldn’t get away from it. From that I knew I was supposed to be in music and the Lord revealed that there is music ministry. I started playing first. Then I was teaching parts because no one wanted to teach the parts. Nobody would volunteer to sing so I ended up singing the solo. Then I started directing the choir because no one wanted to direct [laughs]. This is where I began to get into worship because the focal point of the choir is always worship. Naturally the next progression would be to study worship. The Bible tells us to study to show ourselves approved. And as I felt myself going in the direction of worship I just embraced it. I wanted a foundation. I didn’t want to just stand in front of the congregation and say “come on, come on!” I wanted God to use me in a way that allows people to see the heart of God and be called to a higher place of worship as a result of what I do as a worship leader.

7MO: Worship extends beyond the music. For you personally, how does your worship extend beyond the music?

LC: I think we put so much focus on music as it relates to worship until we forget about all the other aspects of worship. What is worship? Worship is recognizing who God is and giving Him glory for that. In terms of having a lifestyle of worship…everything that we do that points people back to Jesus is worship. Sometimes people just need a smiling face or have someone recognize that they exist. It’s kind of like [the saying] what would Jesus do? Everything that we do that represents Him well is worship.
The scripture [Psalm 34:1] says “His praise shall continually be in my mouth. This does not mean everything that comes out of my mouth is “Hallelujah!” But, if what comes out of my mouth points people to Jesus and gives Him praise, that is continuous praise.

7MO: Now that you are back home in Indianapolis, what are you doing?

LC: I am on a sabbatical. After 30 years of working for churches, I figure that’s a good place to put a pause. I am working on a new project. God has told me to focus on my writing. This is the first time I have been able to focus [solely] on writing. Other than that I visit churches and help my friends in ministry if someone needs me to fill in the gap. I also came back to be a blessing to my parents.

7MO: You said that God told you to focus on your writing. How do you know when God is talking to you? How do you work on your discernment?

LC: I have a formula that I use. It has to line up with the word. The Bible says "every good and perfect thing comes from God." If God is saying it, it won’t be something that is questionable. It will line up with His word and it will be clear. Then you pray for discernment. This is an area that I have had to practice, as Pastor Suzette [Caldwell] would say. [Imitating Pastor Suzette] “You have to practice. You’re not going to be perfect at it. You have to practice!” I have to practice and pray for discernment. But I can’t do that and upon God telling me something I question whether or not He said it. If I prayed for it, I can’t second-guess what He’s telling me. Once I have gone through my formula, I start acting boldly. This is especially important in ministry because we have people that we influence and we don’t want to lead them the wrong way.


7mo: Because you are in ministry you have a lot of people that are watching you.  They expect you to act and carry yourself in a certain manner. Has this ever been an issue for you?

LC: Oh yeah. Being an artist you never know who knows you. You can’t assume that they don’t know you nor should you assume that they do. I embraced this early on: I don’t want to do anything that would be a stumbling block for anyone that is trying to find Jesus. There have been a couple times where I did not feel I was the witness I should have been to people that were really searching. That is one of the worst feelings in the world. As a minister, if I encounter someone and I am not sensitive to his or her struggle, I did not represent The Kingdom well. You never know the impression that person was left with. Right now people are really looking for something. Actually, it’s not “something.” They are looking for God. But they are not looking for Him at the church. They have already experienced hypocrisy at the church or maybe they have been mistreated. Now they are looking Him elsewhere.
I like to uphold the church because I feel it is the best thing we have going here on earth. Instead of trying to tear the church down we should say more positive things. But as the body of Christ, we need to be aware that it’s important how we treat people. Most of the time we are the only Jesus [people outside the church] see. Therefore, when we are out of line it’s not good for the church. I think we should take more responsibility in terms of our lifestyles and how we represent God. This is especially important in these times where a lot of people have given up on the church. We need to get these people back in the church. God is not just in church, but He manifests Himself in a powerful way at the church.

-J. McNair

*You may contact Lamar Campbell at: lamarcampbell@aol.com

Aslo add him on facebook and myspace: www.myspace.com/lamarcampbell
 

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