Toward a Definition of Worship Leading: What Worship Leading Is Not
Worship leading is not just leading songs, choruses, or a song service. Someone fulfilling these roles is traditionally viewed as a worship leader. However, it would be more accurate to define someone in this role as a song leader or “music director.”
In this model, a song leader or music director is an intermediary between musicians and other people. Usually, his or her duties are to fill in time, to entertain, to prepare the crown for the sermon. Someone who travels with an evangelist or a convention or seminar speaker, whose purpose is to act as an introduction to the main speaker, would be a good example of a person filling this role. This person is song leading. Oftentimes, after every second or third song, he or she will say something like, “Oh everybody, let’s stand up, and let’s do this. Let’s lift our hands to the Lord.” The song leader’s duty is to get the people ready for the speaker. The song choices are somewhat arbitrary: The purpose is to have the people sing a few gospel songs, hymns, or choruses.
I am not saying that song leading is bad. There is a place for this function, but it is not the same thing as worship leading. Worship leading is more than just “song leading.”
Worship Leading Is Not Exhorting Others to Sing Songs, Even If Those Songs Are Worship Songs. This model casts the worship leader as the one who encourages the people toward praises, worship, and inspiration. Often, this is accomplished through mini-sermons, testimonies, or the “right” songs. The person in this role sets the mood for the people to worship. Basically, he or she becomes one who exhorts—a preacher before the preacher.
Worship Leading Is Not Worshiping God While Others Watch. I liken this to eating in front of hungry people. It is something like this: I have invited you over to my house for a banquet. I say, “Come to my house, we’re going to have dinner around 7:00. We’ll have a great time.” Upon your arrival, you find us all sitting around the table, which is set for everyone, but the only plate with food on it is mine, and I start eating that food. I tell you how good it is. You can see by the expression on my face how good it is. I’m savoring every morsel. I might even tell you how good it is. “Boy, these sweet potatoes are good! And this turkey, it’s wonderful! And these tamales, they’re great!”
Whatever your favorite meal is, I’m eating it, and I’m telling you how delicious it is, and you can tell by looking at me that I’m enjoying every minute of it.
Oftentimes, you’ll see worship leaders do this. Usually, they do it without knowing that they’re doing it. They simply don’t understand their role, so they think, “I’m going to worship God because that is what I came here for.” As a worship leader, however, you are also a servant. Your job is to draw people into worship.
Worship Leading Is Not Leading While Others Worship. This is similar to what I have just described but somewhat different. It happens when the worship leader does not enter into worship when the people do. An analogy for this experience would be: We all come over to my house for dinner. The table is set for everyone. There is plenty of food for everyone, and everyone gets food but for me. Someone says, “Hey, aren’t you going to eat?” I say, “No, I’ll eat later.” I want to emphasize that as a worship leader you must have times with God apart from the time you spend leading worship. Just as pastors must spend time studying the Word of God and praying when they are not in the pulpit, worship leaders, too, must dedicate time to focus exclusively on God and their relationship with him.
Toward a Definition of Worship Leading: What Worship Leading Is
Worship leading is both worshiping God and drawing others into worship. Referring once again to the analogy of meals, worship leading is like all of us sitting down at the same banquet table and eating together. No one feels left out. I am encouraging you to eat, and you are encouraging me to eat. There is a sense of communion and fellowship.
Worship leading is like the role played by the usher at a wedding ceremony. He doesn’t sit in his or her pew and yell to the back of the church to encourage the people to come and sit down. Neither does an usher go behind the people and push them to their seats. These are the functions that an exhorter fills. No, an escort or an usher goes to the people, makes an about-face, and escorts each individual to his or her seat. Similarly, the job of a worship leader is to find out where the people are, go to that place, make an about-face, and lead them into the presence of God.
At times, the people may be in front of me spiritually. This is like an usher coming in from the back of a church, walking up and meeting the people where they are, and then taking them to their seats. On the other hand, it is sometimes coming from the altar and going back to the people, making the about-face, and escorting them into God’s presence. Below, we will discuss the tabernacle and the mercy seat of God or the Holy of Holies. We will compare worship leading with making a trek from the outer camp outside the gates, entering into His gates with praise and thanksgiving, and then going into the Holy of Holies. As an escort, the worship leader is juxtaposed between God and the people. His leadership is a sustained expression of where he feels God’s Spirit is moving the people at the time.
Furthermore, having a sustained expression of worship to God without interruptions is what is going to do the people the most good. By stopping every three or four songs to encourage, you are no longer escorting the people, and you lose the value of the sustained worship experience.
The worship leader must be aware of the people, but he or she need not address or exhort them. Simply remind them that they are there to worship and draw them into the experience. If the songs are properly chosen, they will invite the people into worship. The worship leader’s expectation is that the experience of worship is not merely a time-filler or a people-pumper but a sustained encounter of loving and responding to God without interruptions. Thus, a worship leader is someone who responds to God.
The Role of the Worship Leader
A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Worships. Before anyone can lead anything, he or she must master it for him- or herself. Thus, to be an effective worship leader the person must first become a worshiper. The psalmist wrote, “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together” (Ps. 34:3, emphasis mine). The emphasized words are three expressions that indicate togetherness and the simultaneous expression of thanksgiving, praise, and worship to God. Therefore, it is important that a worship leader worship during the worship time.
A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Worships on a Continual Basis. On Monday nights, I led worship at a Bible study. On Tuesday nights, I led worship at a home group meeting. On Wednesday nights, I led worship for another class. On Thursday nights, I would fill in at another homegroup. On Friday nights, I would get together with friends who would ask me to bring a guitar and do some worship, etc., etc. After this went on for a while, I began to ask God why my heart was hurting, why I was drying up. When he told me that I wasn’t worshiping, I didn’t understand. I was leading worship Monday through Friday nights. He said that the problem was that I was leading worship, and not spending time being intimate only with him. He was pleased with what I was doing, but I needed to spend time coming back to the well when I was thirsty.
As I began to search the Scriptures, I found that they encouraged me to worship him on a continual basis. Heb. 13:15 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.” I was confused, though, because I was not paid in my job to sit around and worship God. I found, however, that I can worship him while I’m in the shower, driving down the street, washing dishes, mowing the lawn, playing with my kids, and so on. We all have times when we can worship God doing other things. As the psalmist wrote, “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips” (Ps. 34:1).
A worship leader must worship throughout the day because he or she is both a worshiper and a leader. By worshiping throughout the day, a worship leader models worship. By worshiping throughout the day, I nurture my own responsiveness to God. Then, when I’m leading worship in a homegroup and the Lord tells me to kneel, I do it.
Before coming to the Vineyard church, I went to a church where the basic philosophy of worship was different from that which I now hold. We were so into praise, and there was tremendous pressure to “worship” God. The whole idea was that if God inhabits the praises of his people—which he does—everyone should worship and praise him, for then the presence of God will come. The pastor would go around and physically lift up people’s hands. It was a sincere effort. He thought this was the best way to do it. Practices similar to these are common in some sections of the church. However, this form of coercion rarely leads to “the sacrifice of praise” that the Scripture recommends.
A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Leads. How do you lead worship? The Holy Spirit, as a counselor and as a guide, directs the worship through the worship leader. The leader acts as a conduit through which the Holy Spirit can flow. The great part about it is that God uses ordinary people just like you and me. He directs the worship through the worship leader, and in turn, the worship leader leads the people into the presence of God.
When Moses led the children of Israel, where did they go? Were they a people wandering aimlessly in the wilderness? No, God was directing them. God guided with a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Moses was called by God to lead the children of Israel, following the cloud or the pillar of fire, even when it appeared to go in an unexpected direction. In like manner, the worship leader is called to lead the people in the direction God is taking them.
All of this requires some planning, but the planning must be in accord with the leading of the Holy Spirit. Planning does not mean sitting down and deciding what song would be good to begin with, which song should be used to get people standing, what song would be good to liven up the mood, etc. Consideration should be given to some of the physical aspects, but this should not be the primary focus.
Planning means praying, and not just five minutes before you start. Once you have committed yourself to the job of leading worship, you have consecrated yourself to God. This may mean that some things in your life need to be changed.
In the Scriptures, we read about the call of the Levite. The tribe of Levi was a tribe separated unto God. Their inheritance was the Lord, not the land. Their job was to serve God in the temple and to serve his people. This is similar to a worship leader’s calling today—a calling to be in communion with God and to serve the people. All of us need a more consecrated life, but as worship leaders, we need to be even more aware of our consecration. You must be led by the Holy Spirit.
Leadership means servanthood. We are not the spiritual head of the church or even of a small group—that is the pastor or other leader’s role. Is this scene familiar to you?
“You know, Eddie, the pastor of my church just does not understand worship. I don’t know what it is with him, but he wants me to do three songs, and that’s it. He doesn’t understand what’s going on. I don’t know what to do. I’m frustrated. Last Sunday, I went ahead and kept going. I did a half-hour of worship. He’s talked to me three times and told me he doesn’t want me to go that long, but I just went for it and did what God told me to do.”
That is not right. You need to do what your pastor tells you with regard to worship. Submit to his authority, and show some respect. Pray for him. Yes, you may be right. Maybe he doesn’t understand what is going on. You might be 100 percent correct. But right now your attitude is sowing seeds of rebellion, and you’re getting into something that is not healthy for you, your pastor, or the church.
Pray for him, talk to him, and be his friend. Share some of the things you have learned. He may feel threatened, but if you show respect, he may come to trust your judgment.
You must lead by keeping the spiritual needs of the people in mind. Sometimes I get comments from people that we need more songs of one type or another or that we haven’t done a certain song in a long time. I listen to those requests, but I base my final decision on whether or not the particular request will enhance worship in this time and place.
A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Knows. The worship leader needs to know the present spiritual condition of the audience. Say, for example, you lead a small group, and there are twelve to fifteen people present. The worship at my church is something that I pray for regularly, if not constantly. I have committed myself to it. It is part of the job description. Nevertheless, it is not only important to hear from God, but also to listen to what people are saying or sharing during a small-group meeting. What are they talking about? What is God doing among the people? Have there been prophesies in the group? What has been the content of any recent teaching? What have the recent sermons been saying? Do these concerns have anything to do with worship? The Lord uses different means of showing us where the people are and where he wants to take them.
Therefore, talk to the people, relate to them, have contact with them. You cannot know where they are spiritually if you ignore them. If you arrive five minutes before a small-group meeting starts, and you leave immediately after it is over and never fellowship with the people or talk with them, how can you know their spiritual state? How can they know you and trust you as a leader and friend?
In summary, you need to know what the people’s present spiritual condition is and where the people are going—what God’s desire for them is.
Finally, a worship leader needs to know when God is present. Think about how you know you are in the presence of God. Have you ever walked into a service or small-group meeting late, when people have already been worshiping? What does it feel like? It’s like, “God’s here”—there is a sense of the presence of God. If God inhabits the praises of his people, then when we worship him, he is enthroned upon our praises.
In the Old Testament, there are several illustrations of the awesomeness of the presence of God. In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, we see the prophet trembling in the presence of God. The cloud had filled the place so heavily that he was weighed down with his unworthiness. But God touched him. This is how it is sometimes during worship. It does not only occur in a large crowd but can happen in a small group where there are only eight to ten people worshiping God.
Do not use the corporate worship time to take care of your own needs. If you need repentance, repent before you start leading worship. If you need refreshment, get it before you start leading worship. If you need encouragement, get it before you start leading worship. This usually means going directly to the source—to God himself.
Intimacy with God and being in his presence are the key factors of worship. Healing and deliverance occur during worship. People experience the power of God or a miracle in their life during worship. Others get saved during worship.
Healing, deliverance, and salvation are all things that happened when Jesus walked into a city or entered a house. He walked in and announced the coming of the kingdom. Mary Magdalene repented at his feet. When he walked into a town, lepers were cleansed and demons fled. Why? Because Jesus was there. There is no difference between Jesus’ physical body at that time and his spiritual presence in our worship today. We should expect the same miracles to happen to ourselves.
A Worship Leader Must Be Someone Who Serves. A worship leader must be someone who serves. First of all, serve God with all your heart, soul, and strength. You need to be committed to doing God’s will and obeying him in all parts of your life.
The Scripture says, “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat?’ Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that, you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty” (Luke 17:7–10).
Being a servant in the kingdom of God isn’t all drudgery, but there is an aspect of humbleness and meekness that needs to be visible. But this is where real joy comes—in serving. The apostle Paul exhorts, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:3–5). Selfish ambition and vain conceit are things that cannot be a part of a worship leader’s life.
One of the things that happens when you become a worship leader is that it becomes a part of your whole life—you eat, breathe, and think worship. Sermons suddenly will apply to worship leading. Scriptures that have not applied before to worship leading will now apply.
A Worship Leader Is Committed to Drawing Others into Worship. A worship leader is someone who serves the people by being sensitive to their needs. You serve God and you also serve the people by putting your own musical likes and dislikes aside to better focus the people’s attention on the Lord. If you ever hear yourself saying, “I’m doing what God wants me to do; forget what the people want,” your view is distorted. You are a servant to God, but you are also a servant to the people of God. Remember, the people belong to God and so do you. The call of the Levite was to the temple, to God, and to God’s people.
Spiritual Preparation
Keep Your Heart Right before God. Psalm 27:8 (nasb) is one of my favorite Scriptures: “When Thou didst say, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to Thee, ‘Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek.’ ” I think this Scripture sums up for me what worship is all about. It is God’s invitation to his people: “Come, seek my face.” The other side is our heartfelt response to God: “Yes, yes Lord, I will respond to your call to be closer, to be more intimate, to share with you what it is that I feel about you.”
Psalm 51:10, 17 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.… The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
God wants a broken and contrite heart. That is all he asks of us. Does that mean that you will always be acting as if your heart is broken? No, because God restores, renews, and refreshes. Don’t get the meaning of a broken and contrite heart confused with just being serious all the time. What it does mean is this: There is no place for secret sin in the life of a worship leader. You must regularly confess your sins to God.
Numbers 32:23 says that sooner or later your sin will find you out. Sins always come to the surface, and they do affect your ministry. Some people feel that if they are in sin, God will still use them. It is true that God might use you for the sake of the people. If he used a donkey (see Num. 22, the story of Balaam), he will use anyone for the sake of the people. Does this justify being in sin? No. God uses you for the sake of the people, but that doesn’t mean that you are doing right before God.
Be Sensitive to God’s Leading, and More Importantly, Obey. It is easy to hear God’s voice, but it is hard to obey. Obeying means that you are willing to take responsibility for your actions. “The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.… My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:3–4, 27). That last sentence encapsulates what is important as a worship leader. As you read this verse, replace “sheep” with “worship leader”—“My worship leader listens to my voice. I know him and he follows me.” As a worship leader, you must listen to God’s voice, know him, and allow him to know you—spend time with him, and obey God during worship and outside of worship.
Keep Motives and Ego in God’s Hands. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). Again, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.… Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart” (Col. 3:17, 23). You can go wrong serving yourself. You can get into lots of trouble serving yourself, but you cannot go wrong serving God or serving people. Jesus Christ is the focus of attention, not you.
Seek God’s Face; Pray. Why should we pray? One purpose is to receive direction and guidance. I cannot stress enough the importance of seeking direction. In the same way that a pastor prays for direction for what message to bring, the worship leader, no matter how big or small the group is, needs to be in prayer about what direction to take the people in worship.
Be Aware of What God Is Doing with the Group You Are Leading. This is done through prayer, and then by opening your eyes during worship and looking at what is going on. Here at the Vineyard, we are taught to keep our eyes open and watch what is happening when we pray for someone, in order to recognize the signs that the Holy Spirit is doing something with that person. There are certain things that you look for, not only in the spiritual sense but also in the physical. One of the ways to tell what God is doing or not doing is by looking.
When I first came to the Vineyard, I only did songs of intimacy. I had come out of a celebration/praise type of church, and I was looking for an alternative style. What was missing in my worship life was intimacy. So, when I started leading worship, that was the direction I took. But I was leaving behind a whole group of people who had balance in their lives, and who enjoyed celebration. The celebration was necessary as a prelude to intimacy, as stretching and warm-up time is necessary to help someone run a race.
Prepare the Hearts of the People You Are Leading to Enter into God’s Presence. We have talked about your own spiritual preparation for worship. There is also a spiritual preparation necessary for the people you are leading. Prepare their hearts. If the Lord is showing you that repentance is needed, go into repentance songs. If the Lord is showing you that celebration is needed, start off with celebration songs. Here are some examples (by theme) of songs to use for this purpose:
- God’s greatness. “Majesty,” by Jack Hayford; “All Hail King Jesus,” by Dave Moody.
- Intimacy. “Glorify Thy Name,” by Donna Adkins; “I Will Magnify,” by Scott Palazzo; “I Worship You,” by Carl Tuttle.
- God’s name. “Jesus, Name Above All Names,” by Naida Hearn; “Glorify Thy Name,” by Donna Adkins; “I Will Magnify,” by Scott Palazzo; “You Are the Mighty King,” by Eddie Espinosa.
- Forgiveness. “Tender Mercy,” by Peggy Wagner; “O Lord, Have Mercy on Me,” by Carl Tuttle; “Change My Heart, O God,” by Eddie Espinosa; “It’s Your Blood,” by Michael Christ.
- Unity and family togetherness. “Family Song,” by Steve Hampton.
The most important thing to remember when choosing songs is that we need balance in selection. Also, we need to determine what songs are needed to help prepare people’s hearts for worship. Don’t decide according to your own experience. Ask God where the people are.
Sometimes we lead without any regard for the body. We must be aware of the spiritual level of the people and their circumstances. Then we can alternate between good singing and prayerful intercession.
Lead by Example. Keep in mind that we are never to manipulate people into doing something they don’t want to do. For example, when people lift their hands just because someone is telling them to, they are doing that in outward gesture only, and not from the heart. Rather, the approach we take in worship is that body posture, movements, and expressions are, in general, outward signs of what is going on inside. When you bow down, you are showing reverence to God. When you lift your hands, you are submitting to God. When you kneel down, you give respect, homage, and honor to God. When you clap your hands, you express joy to God.
Here is how I encourage the outward expression of inward worship. I start singing a song that mentions lifting hands in its lyrics, for example, “I Lift My Hands” or “I Just Want to Praise You” by Arthur Tannous. It is difficult to sing something like that and not do it. But people still have a choice: If they want to lift their hands, they can. If they do not want to, that’s all right.
The bottom line is that God doesn’t care whether or not someone lifts his or her hands. God looks at the heart. The key element is choice. When God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham had a choice. He chose to obey willingly. Worship must be a voluntary response. Let God inspire so that it becomes the person’s sacrifice of praise, not yours. It is not a matter of getting the whole group on its face before God so you can say, “Look what I did.” Rather, it is the person’s sacrifice of praise, her response, his free gift to God.