Worship Podcast & Blog
Do you know the most important question to ask a worship leader?
No, it’s not how well you can sing.
It’s not how many songs you know.
It’s not what instruments you can play.
It’s what is your God story? Why do you love Jesus? Is your faith current?
Too many of us have a public ministry but no private devotion. We’ve been thrust into a prominent role without proper depth. Not depth in the sense of how many Bible verses you know or some outward standard of measurement.
It’s the week after Easter.
For any worship leader, it’s probably been an exhausting couple of days. So much planning, coordination, time, and collaboration goes into these big events.
So whether it’s Easter, Christmas, a live recordingd, or any other big event that you oversee, it’s easy to feel the sting of depression when it’s all over. Why?
I like to call it PBES – Post Big Event Syndrome.
It’s kind of a tired discussion – setlists, songs, and how many new songs to lead. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just that my world revolves around picking setlists and finding songs. If I’m honest, I look forward to days I don’t have to pick out a setlist. It feels like vacation.
But this one activity we do day in and day out is something we can’t lose interest in or give up on.
Here’s why:
Songs are important. Church aside, consider the prominence that songs have in our culture. Movies wouldn’t make sense without them. Sporting events would lack energy without them. Moments rarely pass without hearing some type of music. From department store background music, to wedding ceremonies and concert halls. From iPhones to elevators, dance clubs to churches, songs are the single most important vehicle of communication and connection in the world.
All of a sudden, “What songs are we singing on Sunday” carries more weight, doesn’t it?
Ever met someone that you couldn’t trust?
They’ve stretched the truth enough times that it’s difficult to believe what they’re saying?
I hate to say this, but a major hindrance to corporate worship is the believability of the worship leader. Do they mean what they sing? Are they sincere? Do they love Jesus? Or are they self centered, going through the motions, and in love with themselves?
Of course, worship isn’t simply about the performance of a worship leader. As the worshiping church, it’s our responsibility to press into the fullness of God whether we like the worship leader or not.
But still, worship leader, you’re not off the hook. You can hinder how well people engage. You have the power to distract people from feasting upon the glory of God. Your poor song choice can leave people feeling empty. Your stage presence can cause people to observe you rather than participate. You carry a lot of influence.
My question to you today is, are you stewarding that influence well?
When you worship Jesus, how emotional do you get?
Do you cry? Do you raise your hands? Do you dance? Do you kneel? Do you sing?
This is an important conversation to be having because let’s face it – some of us are more naturally emotional than others. For some of you, it doesn’t take much for you to cry. But some of you struggle – bigtime – in corporate worship because you’ve hardly every cried in your life. You’re more dignified, reserved. It’s not that you don’t love Jesus. You’re just not expressive.
But is this an issue where we say, “To each his own?” Or is there a biblical, God-directed way for all the people of God to worship?
Is our worship too emotional?