Do you think worship leading as more than what happens in church? I see it as more a way of life than a vocation or leading people in song.
Worship leaders lead with their lives.
The song we sing everyday makes the gathering more meaningful. Private fuel gives rise to corporate fires. And that is everyone’s responsibility. The gathered church can’t rely on the worship leader and the worship leader can’t rely on the church. We have a responsibility to:
“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come into his courts” (Psalm 96:8).
It never says to ascribe glory when you feel like it. Or to ascribe glory when it’s convenient. We’re not called to worship when the band is good. We all have a responsibility.
Develop Trust
But that doesn’t mean we worship leaders shouldn’t work hard on developing trust with our congregations. The more trustworthy we are, the more people will follow.
Worship leading is all about trust. Think about it. Worship is one of the most vulnerable acts in the universe. Essentially, this is what you’re saying:
- “God, I give my life to you.”
- “Jesus, I surrender all.”
- “Spirit, have your way in me.”
- “Father, you are the Lord of my life.”
Those are very vulnerable things to say. Worship cuts right to the heart. If the people you are leading don’t trust you…it doesn’t matter how talented you are. It doesn’t matter how amazing your band is. It doesn’t matter how strong your setlist is.
They’re not going to follow. And worship is: “follow me as I worship Jesus with all I am.”
So how do we build that trust? How do we lead in such a way that people feel comfortable to do something so uncomfortable? How do we help others be vulnerable? How do we as leaders give the room permission to pursue Jesus with abandon?
7 Traits of a Trustworthy Worship Leader
Here’s a few things you can do on a weekly basis:
- Become a People Specialist – Sure, worship leaders love Jesus. But there’s a pastoral side to that love – we want others to experience the greatness of Jesus as well. Trustworthy worship leaders lead with compassion. It’s evident in how they lead. There’s a brokenhearted compassion. There’s a deep desire to connect people to God. The best worship leaders I know are moved by people’s trials. They know what’s going on in their church. They pray for people.
2. Spend Time with Jesus – This is the first thing the enemy wants to distract you from. If he can keep you off your knees and out of your Bible, he’s won. Time with Jesus may feel like a waste some days. But it’s the most productive task. Oswald Chambers said, “Prayer doesn’t fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.” Effective platform leaders lead with integrity where it matters – behind closed doors.
3. Get Outside – I was always challenged by John Piper’s reflections on his college Professor, Clyde Kilby. Here was one of Clyde’s resolutions: “At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.” A trustworthy leader maintains fascination. They cultivate a massive imagination.
4. Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously – There’s a difference between knowing your calling and being impressed with yourself. If you’re overly impressed with yourself, you’ll lead in order to prove to others how good you are. You’ll crave compliments. Worship leading becomes about chasing your identity in your performance rather than the God you worship. Trust me…take God seriously and chill out about yourself. You’ll lead better.
5. Do the Work – Trustworthy worship leaders don’t just show up and wing it. They’ve done their homework. They’ve studied. They prepared their setlist. They’ve rehearsed what they’re going to say. They’ve considered the first-time guest. They’ve thought through transitions. This isn’t a lack of “flowing with the Spirit”. This is I Timothy 2:15 – “showing yourself approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed.”
6. Know the Scriptures – I remember when I first heard Aaron Keyes lead worship. He inspired me to read my Bible. His exhortations in-between songs were drenched in Scripture. Scripture will keep you from being just a feel-good, trendy, song-based leader. Instead, be a Scripture drenched leader who happens to sing some songs.
7. Exude Confidence – There’s a difference between arrogance and confidence. Arrogance says, “Look how amazing I am!” Confidence says, “I trust the Holy Spirit is going to move.” Confidence is competency on your instrument. Confidence is knowing your craft. Confidence helps you spotlight Jesus rather than drawing attention to what you can (or can’t) do.
What does this look like for you?
What are the qualities of worship leaders you admire? Why are they easy to follow?
Let’s break this down in the comments.
Also, we’ve just launched a brand new online course for keys players called Learn Worship Keys. Enter your email below to get access to a few FREE videos:
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There is some wisdom here… Good stuff.. love it!
Thanks Mark!
What a great article….. All of these things are what God has been dealing with me about lately. I have absolutely been making myself more available to people. Learning who they are. Getting involved in their lives. I am still working on transitioning between songs. I think I am doing better… I don’t think I really have a problem with the arrogance issue…. My desire is to be the most humble servant…. When your whole team stops singing in the middle of a verse for no reason at all, including myself, like we did this past Sunday, and the whole church is just wondering…”what are they doing?” it is pretty easy to stay humbled….haha.. Thanks again for the great article.. I love your stuff.
Thanks so much, Debby! Haha – those mishaps happen to everyone. Keeps us humble, right?
Absolutely agree with every point!! In training about leading, these are points that I’m driving home. Knowing the Scriptures that a song is based on gives me such a fire and excitement because the Word is alive!! Thanks for verbalizing everything we need as worship leaders. Be blessed!!!!
You seem to start with the premise that everything you say is correct and you are suffering for the Lord’s sake when people have disagreement with you. I would think about #4. I’ve seen you worship (perform) and it truly does seem to be about fulfilling your dream of being a Christian rock star. You can be sincere in your posts, but sincerely misguided. Everyone is susceptible to the sin of pride. You and me included. APC and the worship team as well as it’s leadership have lost their First Love. ( see church of Laodicea). Megachurch, compromise, smoke, guitar cams, Starbucks coffee, circus fairs in the lobby (Christ may have turned over a few tables) , Steeler tickets from the stage, …”you can trade the new grill for what Debbie has behind the curtain !”. Leadership who wet their fingers, put it in the air and check which way the new Christian wind fad is blowing, meetings with the other megachurch leaders to see who can dress the sloppiest to draw in “The One”. Newsflash. I was “the one” and was totally marginalized in my deepest time of need. The danger in expressing your opinion to this church leadership, even if you may be correct in your views, is that you all have the company answer and you will pray for us that Jesus will help us get back on track. I’ve brought guests and family to APC and have been totally embarrassed by the the Vaudeville show. (not to mention people bringing in plates of donuts and coffee) If only we had leadership with the fortitude to say to people in the congregation, “Have respect for our Almighty God, and give Him one uninterrupted hour of your time.” But this would mean trusting God, and not fearing that you would endanger your dream to increase volume (oh sorry, bring in souls) This damages Christ’s message. I am quite certain this will be written off as another malcontent rant, but I guess God will be the judge…I wanted to express this in , how do we say ? in love. But I also have a deep passion for following Christ in Spirit and truth. Check your motivation. mikelivingstone.com/2014/12/17/the-heresy-of-worshiptainment/
Hey Czarny, thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience at church. I pray that you’ve found a church that meets your particular needs and values. I’m a little hurt by this comment in that you’re making accusations against my character and the leaders of the church. But maybe that was your intention here. Truth is, you don’t even know me. And this is completely unhelpful and unedifying. Feels more like an attack than a challenge. But I sincerely pray the best for you as you seek to love Jesus and serve His people. Let’s not forget that we’re on the same team, even though our preferences and methods may look a little different. Blessings!
David, you said this so well! How can we make sure every worship leader reads this? 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to put these thoughts down.
Haha – thanks Aubrey. A nice social media share is a good way to spread the word 🙂
Hi David,
This was really good–clear and concise! Loved it!
I do want to point out something however, just for the sake of reference. In point number 5 where you spoke about showing ourselves approved, you wrote “1 Timothy 2:15” but it ‘s actually 2 Timothy 2:15. This is not because of my thorough knowledge of the scriptures (lol), this was because I went to read the entire passage and later recognized that it was 2 Timothy instead… so that was just for you to edit for others.
Now back to the meat and potatoes, this was a really good article. I’m so happy that I “ran” into your site.
To answer the above asked questions,
-the qualities I admire about the worship leaders I have grown to love are the evidence of their gift (so I’m not distracted by wrong notes and being off key, and so forth..this allows for cleaner worship), the annointing on their lives and gift (so it’s not just a flesh thing or just singing words, but an evidence of the Holy Spirit moving through them), how pure their hearts are (not about self once more…a deep connection with our King), and the interaction with the congregation (whether that’s through encouragement, sharing wisdom, quoting scriptures, or just asking the congregation to say or do a certain thing), and definitely preparation (it’s good when one comes prepared to do what they’ve been called or gifted to do. It allows the holy spirit to flow as it ought to)…..
Good catch, Nissey! I’ll make the change 🙂 I like what you said about purity of heart. So important.
David,
Loved this! The thing that moves me and shows a good worship pastor/leader is when you can see their heart. See their expression when those they are leading follow them into the presence of God and begin ministering to Him with their worship. Kari Jobe is a prime example in this. I strive during services to (in your words) “shine a light on the cross and get out of the way!”
On Point and its very timely. Have been in this stage where i feel like i am the only person doing all. But this was helpful.
Man I love this do much.A lot of revelations to us as worship leaders.God bless you