Cut the Worship Leaders a Break
I have been "leading worship" since I was 15, and I don't mean in the youth band. I have been leading congregational music in "big church" since I was 15 years old. I have seen just about everything that can be seen and have done just about everything that can be done under the umbrella of "worship leader". Thankfully I have learned from most of my mistakes, but I am sure if you will give a few weeks I will be able to learn another lesson in what not to do.
I am still not completely comfortable with the term "worship leader", but the title is pretty much here to stay. As I gain more of an understanding of my role in corporate worship I am beginning to become more comfortable with the term. Someone in my position who understands their role and puts in the time and effort to be proficient at it is in fact a worship leader. He should be directing the congregation in the forms and elements of corporate worship that God has prescribed as appropriate. The real skill of leading worship is not in being a great musician. It does require good theology, because to really lead a congregation in worship of God we must understand the needs of the congregation and direct those needs towards God. Taking us from being man centered to God focused. This can only be done if we have a real understanding of how scripture relates to this. We must find ways to use the corporate worship time to feed, edify and encourage the congregation thus allowing them to truly praise God. It is only then that God is truly magnified. This can be done through music, but it can also be done through prayer (scripted or not), scripture reading, communion, baptism, a word of encouragement, a directed testimony, obviously through preaching or a quick reminder of what and who we are singing about, and even giving the offering.
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I love a good joke and take all sorts of ribbing from my peers about being the worship leader. Particularly for not being in touch enough with my feminine side to be a "worship leader" Jason sent me a link today called "Top 10 Pet Peeves About Worship Leaders". When I saw the title I thought I would find the post funny, but for some reason I didn't. I don't know if I was just in a bad mood or what, but what I found in the results was that most people who posted their pet peeves have no real respect for what worship leaders do and no real biblical concept of why they even exist.
Don't get me wrong I have been around worship leaders all my life. I understand the frustration of watching a 45 year old trying to dress twenty while banging away on a guitar singing "Jesus is my girlfriend" songs in a voice so sweet and airy you want to punch them in the stomach and scream "man up". If that where the bulk of the pet peeves I would be shouting "preach on brutha" at the top of my lungs. Yet, the majority of the pet peeves lay in taking direction from or listening to words of encouragement from these men or having the service directed by the worship leader.
One person even complained that the worship leader would interrupt their worship time. That person might want to consider that they were in a corporate not private worship setting and what that means.
While the term "worship leader" is not in the bible the concept is. So let's look at a few things Asaph the Choir Director asked his congregation to do.
Sing aloud to God our strength, shout for joy to the God of Jacob Psalm 81
Any of you pet peevers willing to shout for joy if asked by your worship leader?
You may respond "but I don't feel joyful". So you are telling me you serve a God who gives you new mercies daily and you have nothing to be joyful about? Start with the fact your alive, your at church, and going to heaven. Or if your in really bad shape follow Psalm 39:12 and cry for help. Weep before the Lord.
Let's look and see what David asked of the congregation.
Clap your hands all people and shout to God with loud songs of joy. Psalm 47:1
Would you clap if King David asked you to or would you say. "Here we go again. I can't believe David is asking us to clap this morning."
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! Psalm 95:6
So I will bless you as long as I live;in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:4
So someone tell me. Why is it not ok for a worship leader to ask a congregation to clap or lift their hands? The Psalmist had no issues asking it.
I think the concept of "free to worship" has become a crutch for disobedience. We should change it from "free to worship" to "free to be obedient or disobedient" Most of us wait until we "feel like" clapping or "feel like" lifting our hands before we would even consider it, and would never even consider shouting. Yet God's word teaches us those are appropriate and reverent forms of worship. If you wait until you "feel like it" to do it then that corporate worship service is about worshipping your feelings not obeying the scriptures in biblical forms of worship. So next time a worship leader asked you to clap ask yourself "why am I not willing to do something when God has said it is one of the ways he likes to be worshipped?" This mindset is not limited to corporate worship. We live our entire week the same way. We pray and read our bibles when we "feel like it" or share the Gospel when we "feel like it". My suggestion would be do it until you feel like it. This is western Christianity in a nutshell. It is all about us. When scripture teaches that obedience is better than sacrifice.
As a side note: heaven forbid someone read a prayer. One of the most edifying things we have done in the past few years is read some of the Puritan prayers corporately. In my lifetime I have heard a lot of people pray. It would benefit the congregation if they would put some thought and effort into it before they decide to pray corporately. There is nothing super spiritual about winging it.
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16 Spoke Up:
Scott,
Yesterday I was reading the NLT and came across Nehemiah 12:46:
The custom of having choir directors to lead the choirs in hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God began long ago in the days of David and Asaph.
It put things in perspective for me.
Looking at the top ten list of pet peeves, though, some of them are just plain important and true:
#3 - Not focusing on God is pretty crucial when leading worship
#4 - Worship leaders should try harder to be professional if they want those they are leading, as well as those in the world, to take them seriously. Christians are supposed to be ahead of the game in academia, so is it really that hard to hit the spell check button before the songs are projected on the big screen?
#5 - When worship leaders can't sing very well those of us in the congregation are greatly distracted.
#6 - Some of those in praise teams (particularly women) dress more like worldly celebrities than God fearing servants.
#9 - No matter how you dice it, how worship leaders live their lives is important.
I just think you read this list expecting one thing (like you thought you "would find the post funny") but instead it highlighted some of the dirty laundry found inside today's modern worship service. As a worship leader yourself, I would think you would be more offended by other worship leaders making you look bad, than at a random blogger who has a few personal pet peeves.
BTW, my name is Stephen Cochrane and I am a Presbyterian (PCA).
All of those things listed are legit issues, but none of them are necessarily exclusive to worship leaders. Inappropriate dress and living lives that imitate Christ are qualities every Christian should deal with. And yes I do believe there is a difference for those who are on stage. Not necessarily a real difference but definitely a percieved difference.
If a worship leader can't sing then why is he up there? Is he the only one willing to do it? And if you can sing better why are you up there would be my question? (not you in particular Stephen, the generic complainer you)
I don't even know what not focusing on God means.
Are there some guys leading worship who should not be? Yes, obviously. Are there guys who are bad at it? Yes, obviously, but replace them or encourage and train them to do better.
I am so very sorry for anyone so anal they can't worship because of a misspelled word. It happens. When it happens someone usually says, hey you had a misspelled word. I say "thank you" and tell my tech people to fix it.
Well I suppose you and I are pretty close to being on the same page then.
Personally, the things mentioned above are the main reasons why I prefer a traditional worship service rather than a contemporary. Traditional worship is just more practical (and probably more Biblical).
I'm going to throw my body on the hand grenade that Stephen just threw out there about traditional worship being more biblical. Just to keep the shrapnel down.
David,
I actually called Scott and told him not to step on that "land mine" (using your bomb metaphor). You are a true hero to "throw your body" upon it!
Stephen say "thank you".
Well, actually Scott, since you bring it up, I would like to say "thank you" to everyone. As you well know I've been on this blog on and off for a day or two. Interesting blog, btw. Anyway, You must have known that I was the only one who came to this debate with any ammunition. David made that clear when he made his hand-grenade analogy and Jason made the same point by saying I had landmines. It's sad to think you can only try to cover my great and awesome arguments with your bodies, but haven't got any real ammunition to shoot back. But you were honest and up-front about it, so I mean it when I say, "Thank You."
haha jk But seriously, though. It says that this blog "aims to stimulate a helpful conversation among Christians about life and doctrine." What am I supposed to think? I try to start a conversation about doctrine and everybody runs from me like the plague. And then I'm told I should be thankful. Honestly, you should thank yourselves. You avoiding my conversation is probably the best way to live your life happily and at peace with yourselves under erroneous presuppositions you are also at peace with God. Ignorance is bliss, eh fellas?
As far as not knowing what "not focusing on God" means, my personal experience says it means to focus on the music itself, to focus on the performance, and to focus on how warm and fuzzy this makes us feel. Music is good, and there is a lot of worship music that is well-written both musically and lyrically. There is nothing wrong with that. But when we focus on how much we like this song, or did we get that harmony tight enough, instead of asking, "How can I use this song to glorify God?" then we become the focus. I stepped down from a worship team, because I was tired of performing instead of worshipping. When we were in rehearsal, everyone could sing the songs beautifully, but without a hint of emotion, or the urge to thrust their arms heavenward. But as soon as there was an audience, those same songs suddenly became so moving. I can't say what was in those people's hearts. But it all seemed like such a performance to me--not for God, but for the congregation. They also did a lot of solos. Again, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that, but it begs the question, "Are we leading people in worship, or are we displaying so-and-so's beautiful voice?" Lastly, while I don't know how I feel about the traditional/contemporary worship music debate, I do believe that the danger in contemporary worship music is in getting caught up in emotionalism. Take the example of Chris Tomlin's new version of Amazing Grace. A lot of people would sing the old hymn in it's strict 3/4 time, and may or may not be particularly moved. But set it to Tomlin's new flowy, ethereal tune, and suddenly it's a worship song and we all want to close our eyes and get lost in the moment. Why do those same words not inspire us in hymn form?
Sorry for the super long comment, and please know I don't intend to make generalizations. I know there are some wonderful, honest, sincere worship leaders out there. But there are a lot of insincere ones too, and I believe it is downright dangerous to remove our focus from God, and still call it worship.
April, I couldn't agree with you more. A lot of worship sets seem more like performances than communication with a holy God. To me, this also ties in with the emotionalism you spoke about. In his Confessions, St. Augustine wrote:
"When I call to mind the tears I shed at the songs of thy Church at the outset of my recovered faith, and how even now I am moved, not by the singing but by what is sung (when they are sung with a clear and skillfully modulated voice), I then come to acknowledge the great utility of this custom. Thus I vacillate between dangerous pleasure and healthful exercise. I am inclined – though I pronounce no irrevocable opinion on the subject – to approve of the use of singing in the church, so that by the delights of the ear the weaker minds may be stimulated to a devotional mood. Yet when it happens that I am more moved by the singing than by what is sung, I confess myself to have sinned wickedly, and then I would rather not have heard the singing. See now what a condition I am in! Weep with me, and weep for me."
I find it comforting to know I'm on the same side of the great theologians of our past, instead of the so-called artists of today.
If we are to only be moved by what is sung rather than the music/singing itself then what is the purpose of music? Some would say it helps us learn theology and I say WRONG. That is a benefit, not a purpose.
If we are only to be moved by what is sung rather than the way it is sung then why not just have someone read the hymns aloud or read them as a congregation.
We should be moved by what is sung, but even Augustine qualified his statement by saying (when they are sung with a clear and skillfully modulated voice).
Emotionalism as you have defined it is dangerous, but a bigger danger that I see particularly from the reformed crowd is removing the emotion from everything or trying to make emotion cerebral. This is usually frame in terms of being "reverent", but was it irreverent when David danced before the Lord or when the Israelites clapped and lifted their hands or shouted with joy? God gave us emotions and those emotions, while fallen, are made in the image of God. Our job is to make sure people emotions are directed. That direction should be towards a redemption accomplished and practically lived out.
Emotions are part of everyone, so instead of trying to avoid them, or make them into something they are not, learn to direct them thus allowing people to glorify God with their emotions. Emotions are good.
What is the point of rehearsal? It is to decide is this tempo correct, is my harmony correct, are we all on the same page about the order of service, is the sound ok. These are the reasons we rehearse. So that we don't have to focus on those things Sunday morning. If my bass player is standing in the back with his eyes closed in his own world during rehearsal I say to him" hey bass player wake up and pay attention to what's going on".
Stephen said You avoiding my conversation is probably the best way to live your life happily and at peace with yourselves under erroneous presuppositions you are also at peace with God. Ignorance is bliss, eh fellas?
Some of the people who know me best called once they read your comment about traditional worship being more biblical and advised me not to respond. Then Dave who also knows me pretty good threw himself on the grenade to save your life not mine. That is why I said say thank you.
Stephen, why don't you stick with UFO's and Bigfoot and I will stick with corporate worship.
"Stephen, why don't you stick with UFO's and Bigfoot and I will stick with corporate worship."
I didn't realize you were the only authority on the issue.
I don't know of a more difficult responsibility on Sunday mornings than the responsibility of a worship leader... especially if he takes his job seriously.
Why? Because he has a responsibility of standing in the gap between two worlds as it were. And we have all seen our share of leaders who aren't gifted, qualified, or skilled at what they do.
But even those who are gifted, qualified and skilled are still trying to help me sing to the glory of God. And that, my friend, is a terribly difficult responsibility.
May God bless all of His worship leaders!
Amen, Jason! And don't mess with bass players, Steve-O!
Phira, out.
Let me 'fess up here and let you guys pray for us.
Recently, we started a church plant/split here in Alabama. (Basically, we were run off over the doctrines of grace.) Anyway, I've had to lead the 'worship through song' for the past few weeks, and it has been wonderful for my sanctification.
We have around 90 folks coming on Sunday mornings, and of that 90, we have exactly one person who can play an instrument. Our instrument is a keyboard with slightly smaller than regulation keys. That means we hit a few high notes and low notes, if you catch my meaning. It is, quite frankly, rough at times.
So pray for us and for me. And if you have an instrumentalist who is willing to commute from California to Alabama, we could use him/her.
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