[This post is part of a brand new blog series, “Your Guide to Practicing the Essential Skills of a Worship Leader“. Check out the other posts here.]
You would think that worship would come naturally to a worship leader.
Truth be told, sometimes I’m too preoccupied with leading than I am connecting with God.
A few days ago, I was convicted. As I scanned Twitterville, a tweet by none other than Rick Warren hit me between the eyes. He said:
That’s not usually the case with me. I think about leading people. Thinking about Jesus just doesn’t cut it. I mean, I have a congregation to lead!
Conviction.
Rick is right. The moment ministry becomes more about your task list than it does loving Jesus, you’re in trouble. And I’ve been there many times. To be honest, I think I’m there now.
And I see it all the time. Amazing vocalists and amazing musicians…who don’t worship. They either stand there with a glazed look in their eye, fake it with a hyped up passion, or don’t really know what to do.
Something is missing.
Why We Need You To Worship
Why is this so important?
1. Your congregation will respond better – There’s a strange irony here. The more you think about leading, the less your congregation will worship. The more you think about Jesus, the more they will worship.
There’s something inspiring about a leader who is simply in love with Jesus. A leader who is gripped by the power of the Gospel.
2. It sustains a lifetime of worship leading – thinking about and studying leadership will only take you so far. Pouring your life into the discovery of Jesus – falling more in love with the Savior – knowing Him deeper, will outlast your lifetime.
3. You’ll impart the most important thing to the next generation – At the end of the day, what do you want your worship team to learn from you? Your passion for music? Your stage presence?
I don’t know about you, but I want to impart a passion for the presence of God. I want them to love Jesus. The best way to model that is to worship with desperate passion…every time.
More important than the perfect execution of your band…More important than singing all the right notes – We need you to worship.
Put your heart for Jesus on display and watch your worship leading rise to the next level.
Question: How do you prepare yourself to focus on Jesus while leading worship? Share your tips in the comments!
How do i prepare myself to focus on Jesus while leading worship? I spend a few hours on Saturday night praying for our congregation, volunteers & and musicians as well as making sure that I know how every transition goes and making sure that I know my chords/words & rhythms so that, come sunday morning, all I have to do is concentrate on the cross and what Christ has for our congregation that morning.
I just started doing this at the first of the year and worship at our church has really stepped up because I stepped it up. Its amazing what God has done with just a small amount of extra time with Him.
It’s awesome to see how well you prepare. It really does help you concentrate more on the cross. Love that!
We had a leader who was SO inhibiting. It was frustrating that I had to water down my personal worship on stage simply for the sake of meeting the congregation where they were at…and worshipping within the fears of the leader. This was a church I grew up in, so not a new situation! A new leader was hired full time and was such a breath of fresh air. He would say, “Just worship.” And he led by worshipping with a whole heart. The changes that came about because of that were amazing!
How was this leader inhibiting?
That’s a great question! Over time I found this person to be more of a song leader than a worship leader. It was a big deal if they ever spoke between songs, prayed, did the welcome, etc. They were definitely not comfortable speaking! There were many powerful moments of worship as a congregation, and times where the worship team was the anchor in times of turmoil. However, once we were beyond that, there was no continued growth, challenge, etc. I often would fill in if needed, and felt I had to lead like this person and not how I was led by the Spirit. That was extremely frustrating. In hind sight, you clearly see the purpose in everything, and I AM thankful for everything this leader did teach me. I hope that makes sense. 🙂
Definitely make sense. In hindsight, it’s probably easier to see what you’ve learned from this leader. Though he may have not been the best at flowing, he seems to have been a good song leader and arranger of music. Those are good lessons as well!
Hey David way to cut to the heart of the matter. There can be so much pressure on the worship leader to “lead” which is by definition pressure to perform that task, and do it well. Tabby has a good approach, to prepare so that you can not only lead well but worship personally also. Not always easy to do.
It’s like throwing a party, but you’re working so hard being a host that you don’t enjoy the party.
Besides preparation, the other tip is to simply “trust” God with the results and just go there (in worship) yourself. If you have a safe context and pastor, then it’s wonderful.
Ooh, I like the party illustration. Reminds me of the Mary/Martha analogy too.
Great thoughts, David…thanks for sharing.
Amen!
Hi David, I read your blog everyday and sometimes I think you have written it just for me 🙂 I really am glad that you are desiring to serve by writing this blog, and that the Lord is speaking to so many people through it. You tackle some really important issues that are generally “looked over” or that too many worship leaders are afraid to admit they struggle with. Thanks for your heart and vulnerability.
This particular post and the other one about improving your public speaking as a worship leader have been perfect for the season I am in. I have been leading worship for a while now, but just recently I started to attend the church where I am stretched and given a lot of freedom and encouragement in worship. My pastor, the staff and the other leadership are always so good at encouraging me where my personal struggles are in my own area of ministry, and i think that is an important key in growing as a worship leader. My main area of struggle would be the transitions and feeling led to speak out during worship, and you have given some great tips to help overcome that fear. Preparing is good and necessary, but most importantly we have to come to worship from a true place, an authentic place. The congregation will see our hearts, trust our hearts, and the Lord will give us the words to speak boldly….then it’s just up to us to do it. The main question I ask myself, which is silly when I really think about it, is “why would anyone want to hear what I have to say? Is it REALLY from the Lord?” The confidence comes from the time we spend with God, and the more we can understand His heart for His people, we won’t want to hold back.
Again, thank you so much for this blog. Please keep up the good work. We are blessed because of it.
Michelle, thanks so much for your kind words. These are definitely issues we all need to work on! The best thing you can do is show up ready to focus on Jesus, worship with all your heart, and have fun! That really connects with people. Would you agree?
I really agree with the heart of Rick’s tweet, and especially with your last line, “Put your heart for Jesus on display and watch your worship leading rise to the next level.”
But I also think there is a balance to this idea and the 140 characters allowed for a tweet oversimplifies it. I do believe that my personal worship time is different than my leading time. No one of us should be so focused on leading alone that we are not worshiping (great analogy by Rob about not enjoying your own party), but at the same time we can’t just go into our own personal worship closet and forget that there is a congregation looking to us for direction in some way. I think that to do that can be selfish. I’m guessing there might be worship band members who have thought I was stifling their own personal worship when what I was trying to do was teach that when we step up in front of a congregation to lead (whether “the” leader or a band member or singer or whatever, we are put in a different role and it’s no longer just about us and Jesus. I do think there’s a difference there.
Still, the tweet and your post are a great reminder to remember to actually worship when we are leading! Amazing that we’d even ever have to say that to ourselves or each other, but man, with all the stuff that we are generally responsible for on any given Sunday morning, it can be hard.
I love this dialogue however I find it difficult finding balance. Like Tabby, I take thE time the evening before and the morning of to prepare however I don’t spend much time with transitioning as I leave that to the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to interfer if the Holy Spirit says go a different way. But my struggle is that as I focus on Jesus I get caught up and am left feeling like I left everyone behind. All they have come a ways since i’ve been there, the congregation is very traditional. I’m lucky if I get hand claps or a hallelujah without telling them to do or say so.
So I’ve pulled back a bit so that I don’t get caught up, but like someone else said I don’t enjoy the party. I am focused more on getting them engaged, and it feels like a pull on my spirit. Note: I am not worship leader by choice. I’m in the role because we don’t have one. I am a true worshipper and would prefer to just be a part of the team.
Carla, you may feel inadequate, but God is using you! Thanks for sharing your heart.
i would love to learn more on true worship leading and i would not mind to hear from you in this.i love the public speaking improving part,soaking in God,and above all i love the part when you say forcus on your worship and not the exellent worship,