I have a question for you.
Do you love Jesus more today than you did yesterday? Is your passion for God a growing flame or a dim flicker?
Worship leader – more important than your leadership is the state of your own heart before God.
I had a conversation with a new believer last week.
As we spent time together, I was simultaneously invigorated and ashamed at the same time. This kid couldn’t stop talking about Jesus. His face was like fireworks on the fourth of July.
Aside from reading the Bible all the time, he’s always in church, leading others to Christ, and on fire for the dream God has placed in his heart. Not to mention, his Facebook posts are filled with what He’s learning about God.
Many of us make fun of this childlike passion. I like to think of it as a breath of fresh air.
Me? I’ve been a Christian at least twice as long as this kid. Does he know I’ve been a Royal Ranger, been to Bible College, and led worship for over 12 years?
My insight runs deep. At least that’s what I thought.
Our conversation continued. My story went like this: “15 years ago…”
Silence.
I had nothing fresh in my heart to say. No new revelation. No new God stories. No new souls that had been snatched from darkness.
It was just me – bathing like a King in my selfish pride, with no room for others.
The Pursuit Never Stops
I was faced with a question. And I want you to face that question as well.
Are you growing in your passion? Are you falling more in love with Jesus every day?
The pursuit of God never stops, it doesn’t slow down. The more you see, the more you want to see. The more you experience, the more you want to experience.
Before we are musicians, singers, artists, and worship leaders, we are lovers of Jesus. We can’t forget who we are.
We can’t allow the here and now to distract our hearts from the eternal.
While we chase the latest and greatest, Jesus is waiting for us to return to the heart. Breathe in his goodness. Breathe out our worship.
What Holds Us Back?
But what holds us back? We know that in order to lead worship effectively we need to be just as passionate for God behind closed doors.
What hinders us from pursuing His Presence?
What keeps us from desiring God?
I’ve always wanted to be known by my love for Jesus. At the end of the day, I want my friends and family to say, “He loved Jesus with all His heart and spent His life on that Name.”
What about you?
Let’s discuss in the comments. Matter of fact, I’ll be the first to go.
What keeps you from a steady growth in your passion for Jesus? Join the discussion!
The pursuit of my dreams and goals holds me back. Oftentimes I’ll sacrifice “time with Jesus” on the altar of productivity because there’s so much that needs to get done. The answer isn’t in doing less work but pursuing Jesus as the foundation of my work.
What about you?
I appreciate your transparency here, David.
Lately, God’s been speaking to me about the same thing, and sadly, it’s a recurring issue in my life as a pastor. I’m so busy doing kingdom work that I neglect to spend time with the King.
I love what you said here: “breathe in his goodness, breathe out our worship.” Our worship leading needs to stem from time spent with God, not time spent working.
I need to make spending time with God my first priority of the day and stop giving him the leftovers.
Well said, Ryan. You challenge me.
For what its worth… As I was reading your artical I was thinking about a younger pre-resurrection Peter vs. an order post-resurrection Peter. I think he was just as passionate later in his life and ministry but that passion was a bit more tempered.
Cool insight, Daniel. Can you expound on what you mean by “tempered” passion?
My struggle is almost always related to the idea that I’ve been a Jesus follower for so long that I pretty much know everything. I’ve arrived. I have an experiential PhD in Christianity. Raised in the church, grandson and nephew of pastors, been in leadership roles within the church since I was 15, I speak Christianese, Biblese, Churchese, and all of the other -eses related to Christianity. Sometimes I get into a rut of forgetting how important my quiet time with the LORD is and how vital His word is for my health and growth.
I’m studying Colossians right now and I think of Paul’s words that we are to be always growing in the knowledge of God that we may be presented fully mature in Christ. I can tell you that I’m still fully immature…ok maybe that’s harsh but I am certainly not fully mature yet. So I guess now’s a good time to say, God, I’m sorry for ever thinking that I’ve arrived. Forgive me, reignite Jesus passion within me as I join the pursuit of knowing you once again. Amen
Paul, I echo your prayer here. This is beautiful.
David,
I always appreciate your candor. Many blessings to you, bro! If I may share, the Lord spoke to me about this very thing; I may have mentioned this to you before. There was a season in my life when all I wanted to do was spend time with the Lord, but I was so busy doing motherly things like get my kids ready for school, take them to school, clean the house, etc. I had NO personal time. At one moment, I remember aggravatingly crying out to God in my spirit, “How can I spend time with you when I’m too busy doing mom stuff.” That’s when I heard the Lord speak back, “But, I’m here raising your children with you.” My heart felt a deep peace that even in my busy schedule, the Lord is WITH me.
With that said, I’m not implying we should not make personal time with the Lord — he instructs us to spend Sabbath with him, right? What I am saying is that we should never allow guilt to be used as a tool to spend time with the Lord. After all, God does not lead us by guilt but by love; he woos us to him. I found that inviting him in everything I do, I tend to follow him step by step, question by question, insight by insight, revelation by revelation. That’s how we learned from our parents, so I tend to think it’s very similar with our heavenly Father.
Speaking of Sabbath, my pastor made a good point about it in Sunday’s message. We really should use that day to “take inventory” of what God has done in the past week, and praise him for his provision and care. Can you imagine spending an entire day praising God for the works he did in the ONE week prior?
Blessings to you, David! I love your heart that’s after God’s own heart. May the Lord richly bless you and your ministry.
Melanie, this is a great encouragement. It’s so easy to guilt yourself when, really, God is right there with you in the midst of your journey.
David,
I really appreciate your authenticity. I find myself checking your blog frequently to see if anything new has been posted. This site has bee such an entouragement to me in my ministry.
I’ve been reading a book called “Not A Fan” by Kyle Idleman. This book has changed my outlook on so many things. Jesus was never looking for enthusiastic admirers or fans, he was looking for people who were willing to deny themselves and follow Him. I try to remind myself every day not to be a fan, but a follower.
The more you fall in love with Jesus, the more all of your other issues work themselves out.
Michael, thanks so much for the encouragement. You’re why I do this!
Wow, sounds like a great book. On my way to check it out 🙂
David,
This is a place I find myself in, over and over again. Every day I pray that GOD will guide my actions and tongue. I pray that at the end of each day, my co-workers, friends, and family (the really hard one) see GOD in my actions, not me, and that I am not a stumbling block to them.
My prayers always open with thanks and not a Christmas list. I tell GOD every day that I love him and trust HIM more than I trust myself in every aspect. I only hope that my faith in HIM draws others to his side. I am not looking for someone to point and say “Wow… look at him”. I just want to please GOD. Everything else falls into place after HIM.
Much like Melanie said earlier, GOD is always with us in what we do. I don’t believe in guilt as a reason to worship. My thought is guilt is a firey dart that the devil uses to make us cower in fear of what we have or have not done.
All of that to say… I only hope that I make him smile or chuckle each day.