Our live recording is coming up in just a few days.
As I work tirelessly and pray boldly, I’m reminded about a few things.
This is ALL about Jesus.
Yes, that’s a cliche. But it’s a cliche I’m comfortable living with, declaring, and speaking often.
When you stand on a stage to lead worship, that truth remains. Sure, there’s lights. Sure, there’s great music. Sure, there’s great videos, stage presence, and cool gear.
But there’s one thing you must understand before you use any of it.
All of it was created to make a public display of Jesus Christ. Your job as a worship leader is to lift people’s vision to Christ – to display his glory. To whet their appetites for more and more and more of His presence.
At the end of your worship services are people more in awe of Christ or your performance?
Your vocals, your stage presence, your skill, your stage design, your team – it’s all for the glory of one name – Jesus Christ.
I know what it’s like. Your head is swimming in details. You have deadlines. You want to perform with excellence. But in the midst of that, don’t miss the most important truth.
The glory of God.
The fame of Jesus Christ.
The imminence of His presence.
When you are mindful of this, your ministry will be more relaxed. You’ll lead with more confidence. You’ll pursue God with more boldness.
Live and breathe this with your team.
Question: How do you balance the tension between performance and worship? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Here’s the deal…early on I had to decide that either I was gonna believe and receive (1 pt. for working some Christianese in here) every critique and compliment or I was going to believe none of it and just continue moving forward for the sake of the name of Jesus. I figured if I believed the good then I had to believe the bad too, after all there is a nugget of truth in every critique if we allow ourselves to be really honest with ourselves. I am my own toughest critic so if I screw something up you better believe I’m the first one to know it and grieve it and try to correct it.
Often time when I feel we’ve hit a “homerun” there seems to be crickets in the seats instead of people but when I walk off the stage after feeling like I really tripped up myself, my team, and our congregation I seem to get mad props. I don’t understand it but I call it the humbling miracle between the stage and their ears.
The truth is after all this time I have realized that what I have to offer is less than acceptable and it’s only by the grace of God and mercy of His Spirit that I have the privilege to lead worship. I am a broken clay pot just trying to hold water the best I can. If I can maintain that perspective no matter the venue, audience, or performance then I think it leaves room for the Glory of God!
Blessings worship warriors!
Wow Paul, it’s amazing how many times I’ve had similar experiences in leading worship: the awkward motionless silence after a perfect “performance,” and poor “performances” where you end up having a dozen people come up afterwards to tell you how great worship was.
I guess what it boils down to is how the Holy Spirit moves in the people we are trying to lead in worship. If our hearts are pure, and we desire to be the best representatives of the one true and holy God, then I believe that His Spirit will do the heavy lifting and draw people into worship no matter how well (or sometimes how badly) we play. It’s a gentle reminder to us as worship leaders that God is in control!
Hey David, nice post and may the Lord give you his peace during the whole project.
How to balance the tension? Ask Abba Father how he sees you at that moment, that always encourages moi. God does the heavy lifting, we just do the very best we can. The rest is His grace.
Blessings on you and your team bro!
The best service we as a team feel we ever participated in was this past Easter. Most of the team had stayed up all night without sleep preparing for the Sonrise service that by the time we got to the Contemporary service we were all dead on our feet. We chugged some Starbucks and gave all the gas we had left in the tank. At that moment we didn’t care what we sounded like or how the lead riff was complementing the harmonies; all we were doing in that moment was purely praising God because that’s all we had the energy for. It was by far the best service for both us and the congregation and I feel like we’ve been chasing it ever since. These are not things we ourselves as mortal men can manufacture but rather these moments are honest pure expressions of love to God and his love or us. We need to learn to let go and let God sometimes.
David,
I just wanted to tell you that I was at the live worship recording tonight, and when the Holy Spirit showed up, He didn’t just blur the line between performance and worship… that line was obliterated! What an incredible night of true and amazing worship. From a musician’s standpoint, the energy, the continuity, the dynamics, well, it was unbelievable.
Last year, I went to see Hillsongs United at Consol, and it was one of the best and most dynamic performances I have seen from any band or artist in my entire life. I would honestly say that you guys matched that same Hillsongs energy stride for stride.
Tonight will be one that I will never forget, when the presence of God could be found in every note, every beat, and every voice in the sanctuary. To God alone be the glory, God be praised!
Ah, dude. This means so much that you’d come and leave this comment. I’m glad the night went so well after so much hard work, prayer, and expectation. I believe God has big things in store for this project. Thanks for being a part of it!
To everyone,
Thank you! My church has just recently had auditions for high school worship leaders and I was one of the people chosen. Our first opportunity is coming up soon, and all of these posts have taught me so much about how to worship God. I don’t have to be insecure about if I look ugly on the screens or if my notes aren’t perfection or if my footwork isn’t fancy enough. It’s about humbly, truthfully, and genuinely giving praise to God that will draw people nearer to Him and make worship a success. Thank God for all of you and this awesome website! I can’t wait to begin a career in praising God, now that I know that it’s all by His grace alone.
Praise the Lord!
Deborah, congratulations! I look forward to hearing how God is using you!