Every Future Leader

Over the next two services (beginning this week), we are preparing everyone for Freedom Month in August. Our heart is to see everyone in our service cultivate a heart of reaching out to their family and friends who are far from God with Christ’s love. This Friday, I will share about the ‘Good News’ and how we can take a privilege of sharing it to everyone whom God has brought into our lives.

A few months ago, I listened to one of Andy Stanley, the Senior Pastor at Northpoint Community Church regarding evangelism and how we, Christ-followers can take part in it. Check it out!

My prayer is that we will continue to be outward looking in how we approach life and people whom come into our contact.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.        John 3:16 (NIV)

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The above statement has been a great banner over me throughout this week at Hillsong Conference. I have been impacted and refreshed by God’s presence throughout every session so far. There have been lots of divine exchange moments for me which I’m still digesting and seeking God for what He has in store for me in the near future.

Most importantly I believe that God has begun a good work in my life and I’m determined to pursuing that despite any shortcomings or obstacles. If God has brought me into His business of building His Church, I’m sure He will help me see thru it.

Ps Brian mentioned that as Christ’s believers we are not meant to be crowds’ pleasers but church builders! My prayer for all of us is that we will continue to avail ourselves so that God can work in and thru us. Let’s count it as a great privilege to build God’s church. I’m honored God is using me to do this very work. And I’m committed to doing this until the day I go to be with the Lord.

What about you?

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Worship teams and music groups play a pretty important part in our churches these days.  They lead us in the kind of dynamic, expressive worship that has been a major feature of God’s work of renewal in western churches over the last twenty-five years.  For these groups to function effectively, they require gifted leadership.

But consider this as a list of requirements for the job: musical ability, with the breadth to bring together classically-trained and pop/rock-inclined musicians; a pastor’s heart, to encourage and care for insecure artists; leadership skills to envision, instruct and lead your group; the insight of a counselor; organizational skills, to prepare music and run rehearsals… the list is endless!  It sounds like a pretty tall order.

It’s quite surprising, therefore, that there is such a serious lack of training available to those who lead such groups.  Pastors may still go off to college to learn how to preach, teach and lead (if not necessarily to pastor); yet worship leaders and team leaders are usually expected either to possess all they need naturally, or at least to be able to pick up what they need to know on the job.  Admittedly, in recent years worship seminars and conferences have provided a measure of information and training on the subject.  But there’s very little to help you on the job, so to speak; and to be honest, in some church situations there is precious little support and encouragement from church leadership, who are either too busy with their own responsibilities, or keep a safe distance through ignorance or suspicion.

This series of articles will not solve your problems!  However, my initial aim is to lay out some foundations and principles for an effective worship team, which may also protect leaders from the kind of burn-out which results from a lack of support and training, and which is all too common in churches today.

Foundations for an effective team

The following points may seem obvious to us on the theoretical level.  And yet many of the problems we face spring from failing to establish one or more of these principles in our teams.  That’s not to say, of course, that once the principle has been established, team members won’t flout it!  But if the rules of the team are clear, by implication it gives the leader authority to correct people who break them.

1. Respect for authority, and submission to the leader

Authority and submission are dirty words in some quarters!  Of course, nobody likes a dictator; but you don t have to be heavy-handed to be a good leader, and it’s important that all members of the team show respect for the leader’s position.  Essentially, this means that what you say goes.

Debates and disputes can arise on any number of levels, from what style a particular song should be played in, to who should play in the all-important Easter service.  As leader, allow people to air their views where you think it is helpful and appropriate.  But the team must realize that the final responsibility and decision is the leader’s, and they should accept your decision without dissent.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that you re necessarily right!  Subsequent events may in fact show this up.  But that doesn’t change the fact that you acted correctly according to what you felt was right at the time.  Clearly, it’s important for you to listen to others opinions, and not to act out of selfishness or pride.  But you carry the responsibility, and you are accountable both to God and to your church leaders for the
decisions that are made.

Appointed and accountable

Sometimes we may wonder whether a team that is reasonably like-minded and mature needs a leader at all.  Surely we can move ahead by consensus and, if necessary, by democratic voting.

Although this may sound fine in theory, the practice is often very different.  Firstly, it can bring a group to a standstill.  I once led a worship seminar where the delegates divided into their church groups to perform a task.  As I went round the different teams, I asked one group who their leader was.  They proudly told me they didn’t have a leader, as they were democratic.  Needless to say, after 30 minutes the only group who failed to finish the task was that one!

The fact is, most activity-oriented group situations do throw up a leader of sorts – a dominant personality, a confident speaker, a loud voice, an expert, someone who seeks to divert the group’s focus to their own agenda, and so on.  These self-appointed leaders may or may not help to move the group on, but the team is dangerously exposed to manipulation and division.  This kind of natural leadership is not only unhealthy; – it’s unbiblical.

Even a cursory glance at the Scriptures reveals that an effective leader is one who is appointed.  The church’s leadership should choose and then publicly give its blessing to a leader (or leadership team), so that you are clearly given the authority to lead.  Rather than being a heavy thing, you will probably find it gives you the security to deal more sensitively with other people in the group, as you do not constantly have to assert your position through your actions.  Major challenges to your authority can also if necessary be referred up the line, so to speak, giving you a sense of covering in your position.

It also means that the team as a whole will feel more secure, because you are in turn accountable to the church leader.  If you abuse your position, or if the Sunday worship starts falling apart, the pastor is going to come to you first!  And that’s the way it should be.

As leader, it’s also important to bear this principle in mind when you delegate responsibility to others (which all leaders must learn to do).  In giving someone a task or an aspect of the group’s function to work with, ensure that the role is clearly defined and appointed before the whole group, or it could all end in tears.  (In spite of all this, some people will continue to undermine authority; we’ll deal with this kind of problem in more detail in a future issue.)

Pastorally responsible?

One important issue to clear up in this context is that of pastoral responsibility.  In a healthy church, every member should be pastorally accountable to someone in this way, including the musicians (some would say especially the musicians!).  Now whether your worship team should be regarded as a pastoral group is a matter for your church leaders.  But it’s important that the issue is clear, so that you know where your responsibility begins and ends.

If, for example, you are not responsible for pastoring the team, and a serious pastoral crisis emerges with one of your team, you should then not get involved, but refer the situation to whoever is responsible.  You can still offer friendship and support to the individual, of course.  But don’t get sucked into a situation that you are not supposed to be handling, as it can complicate the situation, and sometimes lead to serious damage.

2. Willingness to learn.

It’s important that your team is teachable.  Just because someone has a music degree doesn’t mean they understand how music works in worship.  Although it’s important that the music is of a sufficient standard to work, among the musicians humility must be a higher priority than musical excellence.  So, if you re starting out, choose your musicians accordingly.  And if you re already working in a team, keep bringing people back to this vital cornerstone of public ministry.

3. Mutual respect.

Just as people have to respect you as leader, they need to respect one another.  It’s so easy for worship teams to become a bed of jealousy, competitiveness, superior attitudes, and factions.  It’s important to emphasize that although people will all have different musical tastes, there is no one musical style that has a monopoly on worship.  In the same way, people have different measures of gifting, and yet God loves us all equally, and expects us to develop the gifts He has given us, while preferring one another in love.

Seek to develop a good rapport between people, perhaps through creating contexts where they have fun or socialize together.  In this way, one person may not get to like another’s taste in music, but at least there’s a measure of respect that comes through relationship!

4. Attitude of service.

In the heat of the debate about musical styles and preferences, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that playing in worship is about serving.  We can get carried away with the new thing, whether it’s ethnic instruments or symphonic arrangements; but if in the final analysis it doesn’t help the congregation to worship, then it’s useless.

Now I do believe we must move on in our congregational worship, and that may involve introducing things which, initially anyway, may make our congregation feel insecure or uncomfortable.  We’re not there as entertainers, to play everyone’s favourite songs.  But equally we re not there to impose our favourite songs and/or musical styles on a congregation who can t relate to them.  Our attitude in preparing to lead in worship should be to please God and serve the people.

For us as leaders, our attitude of servant hood should extend to the group we are leading.  We are to treat them with love and respect as we lead them, look for ways to develop their gifts, and seek to impart something of our own gifting and anointing to them.

A classic example of this kind of attitude is in timekeeping.  Naturally, if you set a time to begin a rehearsal, people should honour it, and ensure they arrive in time to set up so they are ready to start on time.  But equally, you should set a time to finish and stick to it.  Constantly allowing rehearsals to overrun shows a lack of respect for people’s time and home commitments.

Obstacles to effective leadership

The points laid out here may throw up issues are not easily resolved.  Some we will look at more closely in future issues, but here are a few that immediately spring to mind:

1. Inherited problems.  Although a few of us may be starting a team from scratch, most will have assumed leadership of a team that was already in existence, where unhealthy patterns of behaviour and roles are already established.  More difficult still, many of us will have come up through the ranks of that group before taking on the leadership.

If the latter is true for you, be warned: people will relate to you differently now you re the boss!  Even though you may feel isolated and a little hurt, don’t take it personally.  Their apparent indifference and aloofness is not a reflection of your leadership; you probably came over that way to your previous leader!

Even if the group has been together for a long time, it’s good to give the feeling that this is a new phase.  Inevitably you are going to do things a little differently, so prepare people for that.  After all, it’s an opportunity to hone and reshape things, so that the team is even more effective.

2. Dominant personalities.  There are various ways of dealing with this.  For example, if a person talks too much in discussions, rather than confronting them, create space for quieter ones to contribute.

If the problem needs tackling, obviously it is better to do it privately than in front of the group.  But also remember that often a person’s desire to dominate springs from a very different need in them; a need, for example, to be valued by others.  Instead of ignoring them, try positively affirming them.  You may find this approach makes them contribute less, not more.

3. Lack of backing from church leadership.  This is a common problem for many, for the sort of reasons mentioned earlier.  Nevertheless, you may need to take the initiative and tackle the issue with him, uncomfortable though that might be, if you are to have the necessary authoritative backing to do your job.

One root of fear and suspicion in the church is a lack of communication.  If you can establish a good rapport, he may discover that many of his assumptions about your plan to wreck his church are unfounded; equally, you might find his anti-everything stance is a little more open than you thought!

(Reference: Stuart Townend; http://www.ozcorners.net/docs/how_to_lead.htm)

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God did it again at Ablaze Conference this year! I was greatly blessed by what God did in people’s hearts throughout the conference. This year we explored God’s heart for His church and His eternal plan & purpose for His Bride on this earth.

Justin & team did such a fantastic job with organizing this memorable conference. I’m really proud of our dedicated team and hard work they sacrificially poured out into the work of God in Ablaze. You are truly God’s gifts!

God has challenged so many of us to lay down our lives for Him so that His purpose can be accomplished through us. I pray that each and every one of us would bring that back and translate that into our personal lives.  Let us choose to live everyday as a living sacrifice unto God, not for our own gain, but seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. It’s His promise that He will then take care of every single need we may have.

Now we are back home to our reality and the challenge is ON. I pray that we will remember that we are God’s holy temple in which He dwells. God resides within us and helps us face any tests, temptations and challenges victoriously!

1 Corinthians 6:9 (NIV)

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

My prayer for all of us is that we will be strong and spiritually alert as we stay on guard and lean on God for His strength and direction. Let’s love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength!

Don’t miss out the conclusion of ‘Unstoppable’ Series tomorrow at our Ablaze Service. I will be preaching on ‘The Unstoppable Generation’. We have a few surprises for everyone! See you there.

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Last week I shared about the biblical way of dating and courting. Praise God that He has spoken to so many of us. This week, I have come across a few VDO clips of Rebbecca St James, a popular recording artist who has chosen to wait on God for ‘the right man’ for her life and to keep her covenant of purity before God. I’m sure lots of girls would be greatly blessed by her sharing. However, I’m sure that guys can listen and be blessed too. Now lets hear her heart! Its amazing!

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Worship leader preparation is much like worship itself – endless. There are many good ways to prepare for leading people in worship. Worship can be as individual as people, but careful planning does make a difference in helping lead with clarity.

It’s easy to wonder since the Holy Spirit leads worship in the truest sense, what good is it to plan? Even so, it’s good to think about how I prepare, as a way to train others.

Having said that, use what’s here as a starting point for your own preparation.

1. Pray for direction

Pray before you plan – and pray through the plan. What do I pray? “God, may the end of this plan help people love you more and be able to express it.”

I like to make this a part of my personal devotions and sing the songs God brings me. What God gives me to lead others must first touch my heart.

Someone once told me a message prepared in the head will reach the head, but a message prepared in the heart will reach the heart.

Song packages should be considered in the same category as Bible teaching. Both are messages from God. Both characterize good leader preparation.

2. Craft song selection and flow

What aided the congregation’s worship once will most likely berepeated if used again. People connect more easily when they sense a direction or intention to the flow of the service. This is true for songs and extends too all worship service elements.

Suggested phases are Movement, Adoration and Commitment. Occasionally, a phase of Entering can also be considered. The monthly schedule is also a helpful leader preparation reference for planning. With both of these tools, it should not be necessary to start from scratch when planning congregational singing.

3. Prepare one sentence song introductions

…to explain purpose, or to highlight a scriptural foundation, orspiritual emphasis.

This can be done as the musical introduction is playing. It may be offered as a prayer.

Its importance is crucial at this stage of our worship maturity because it helps the congregation stay focused on the idea that God-honoring worship must have purpose.

With many beautiful songs to choose, being able to communicate why we sing a specific song helps people learn we are more interested in engaging hearts and lives with God, than in merely performing music.

4. Build Order of Service

Welcome people – I like to say “hello” and smile. I’ve found this to be more welcoming than being quiet and mysterious, like I’m somewhere else.

Keep musical elements together, (Songs and Offering) – be sensitive to the flow of the service.

Play an instrumental prelude and postlude.

Post lyrics so Video Team can set them up.

5. Meet with Senior Pastor (and/or planning team)

Do this to communicate details regarding other worship elements.

Keep the flow natural so people will have fewer reasons to be distracted from the main intent of our time together.

(Source: http://www.church-musician-jobs.com/leaderpreparation.html)

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Since the sermon series, The Art of Love, I believe that God desires for us to understand His will for our lives in the area of romantic relationship so we can learn and choose to develop a biblical understanding and conviction on this subject.

Some of you may be in the season of your life that you are looking into this subject. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will be your Counselor who helps you walk in the path of righteousness and teaches you to respond to situations with biblical understanding and God-centred conviction. Remember it’s the Lord who constituted relationships and wants the best for our lives as He provided Adam for Eve and vice versa.

Below is an article that I have come across. In my opinion, it’s a good reading, which you will find some good insights for the biblical relationship, especially POINT 3 – The Difference in Methods.

Here we go… What Does a Biblical Relationship Look Like? by Scott Croft 

Given this biblical theology of sex and marriage [presented in Sex and the Supremacy of Christ], what does a healthy, biblical dating or courting relationship look like in practice?

The attempt to answer that question has brought about a literary flood over the last several years, with different works bearing different levels of usefulness. A few examples include Boundaries in Dating; Boy Meets Girl; I Kissed Dating Goodbye; I Hugged Dating Hello; I Gave Dating a Chance; Her Hand in Marriage; The Rules: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right; and Wandering Toward the Altar. These columns can be divided into two groups. One group generally supports the method of “dating” and attempts to instruct readers to date in a “Christian” way. The other group rejects the current dating method altogether as biblically flawed. It advocates an alternative system, which most describe as “courtship.” In my reading, the book on this topic that seems the most sound theologically and practically is called Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris (he is also the author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye). What is the difference between courtship and dating, and is one more biblical than the other? I will provide a working definition of each, describe how the two methods are broadly different, and then recommend why one method is fundamentally more biblical than the other.
Defining Courtship and Dating

Let’s begin by defining courtship. Courtship ordinarily begins when a single man approaches a single woman by going through the woman’s father, and then conducts his relationship with the woman under the authority of her father, family, or church, whichever is most appropriate. Courtship always has marriage as its direct goal.  What then is dating? Dating, a more modern approach, begins when either the man or the woman initiates a more- than-friends relationship with the other, and then they conduct that relationship outside of any oversight or authority. Dating may or may not have marriage as its goal.

The Differences Between Courtship and Dating

What are the differences in these two systems? For our purposes, there are three broad differences between what has been called biblical courtship and modern dating. 

1. The Difference in Motive

The first difference lies with the man’s motive in pursuing the relationship. Biblical courtship has one motive — to find a spouse. A man will court a particular woman because he believes it is possible that he could marry her, and the courtship is the process of discerning whether that belief is correct. To the extent that the Bible addresses premarital relationships at all, it uses the language of men marrying and women being given in marriage (see Matt. 24:38; Luke 20:34-35). Numbers 30:3-16 talks about a transfer of authority from the father to the husband when a woman leaves her father’s house and is united to her husband. The Song of Solomon showcases the meeting, courtship, and marriage of a couple — always with marriage in view. I am not advocating arranged marriages; rather, I am pointing toward the biblical purpose for why young men and women associate with one another. These passages do not argue that marriage should be the direct goal of such relationships so much as they assume it.  Modern dating, on the other hand, need not have marriage as a goal at all. Dating can be recreational. Not only is “dating for fun” acceptable, it is assumed that “practice” and learning by “trial and error” are necessary, even advisable, before finding the person that is just right for you. The fact that individuals will be emotionally and probably physically intimate with many people before settling down with the “right person” is just part of the deal. Yet where is the biblical support for such an approach to marriage? There is none. How many examples of “recreational dating” do we see among God’s people in the Bible? Zero. The category of premarital intimacy does not exist, other than in the context of grievous sexual sin. The motive for dating or courting is marriage. The practical advice I give the singles at our church is, if you cannot happily see yourself as a married man (or woman) in less than one year, then you are not ready to date

2. The Difference in Mind-set

The second major difference between biblical courtship and modern dating is the mind-set couples have when interacting with one another. What do I mean by that? Modern dating is essentially a selfish endeavor. I do not mean maliciously selfish, as in “I’m going to try to hurt you for my benefit.” I mean an oblivious self-centeredness that treats the whole process as ultimately about me. After all, what is the main question everyone asks about dating, falling in love, and getting married? “How do I know if I’ve found the one?” What is the unspoken ending to that question? “For me.” Will this person make me happy? Will this relationship meet my needs? How does she look? What is the chemistry like? Have I done as well as I can do? I cannot tell you how many men I have counseled who are terrified to commit, worrying that as soon as they do, “something better will come walking around the corner.” Selfishness is not what drives a biblical marriage, and therefore should not be what drives a biblical courtship. Biblical courtship recognizes the general call to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3, NIV). It also recognizes the specific call that Ephesians 5:25 gives men in marriage, where our main role is sacrificial service. We are to love our wives as Christ loved the church, giving himself up for her. That means loving sacrificially every day. Biblical courtship means that a man does not look for a laundry list of characteristics that comprise his fantasy woman so that his every desire can be fulfilled, but he looks for a godly woman as Scripture defines her — a woman he can love and, yes, be attracted to, but a woman whom he can serve and love as a godly husband.  In other words, modern dating asks, “How can I find the one for me?” while biblical courtship asks, “How can I be the one for her?” 

3. The Difference in Methods

Third, and most practically, modern dating and biblical courtship are different in their methods. And this is where the rubber really meets the road. In modern dating, intimacy precedes commitment. In biblical courtship, commitment precedes intimacy.According to the current school of thought, the best way to figure out whether you want to marry a particular person is to act as if you are married and see if you like it. Spend large amounts of time alone together. Become each other’s primary emotional confidantes. Share your deepest secrets and desires. Get to know that person better than anyone else in your life. Grow your physical intimacy and intensity on the same track as your emotional intimacy. What you do and say together is private and is no one else’s business, and since the relationship is private, you need not submit to anyone else’s authority or be accountable. And if this pseudo-marriage works for both of you, then get married. But if one or both of you do not like how it is going, go ahead and break up even if it means going through something like an emotional and probably physical divorce.  Such is the process of finding “the one,” and this can happen with several different people before one finally marries. In the self-centered world of secular dating, we want as much information as possible to ensure that the right decision is being made. And if we can enjoy a little physical or emotional comfort along the way, great. Clearly, this is not the biblical picture. The process just described is hurtful to the woman that the man purports to care about, not to mention to himself. And it clearly violates the command of 1 Thessalonians 4:6 not to wrong or defraud our sisters in Christ by implying a marriage-level commitment where one does not exist. It will have a damaging effect on the man’s marriage and hers, whether they marry each other or not. In Biblical relationship, commitment precedes intimacy. Within this model, the man should follow the admonition in 1 Timothy 5:1-2 to treat all young women to whom he is not married as sisters, with absolute purity. The man should show leadership and willingness to bear the risk of rejection by defining the nature and the pace of the relationship. He should do this before spending significant time alone with her in order to avoid hurting or confusing her. 

He should also seek to ensure that a significant amount of time is spent with other couples or friends rather than alone. The topics, manner, and frequency of conversations should be characterized by the desire to become acquainted with each other more deeply, but not in a way that defrauds each other. There should be no physical intimacy outside the context of marriage, and the couple should seek accountability for the spiritual health and progress of the relationship, as well as for their physical and emotional intimacy.

Within this model, both parties should seek to find out, before God, whether they should be married, and whether they can service and honor God better together than apart. The man should take care not to treat any woman like his wife who is not his wife. Of course he must get to know his courting partner well enough to make a decision on marriage. However, prior to the decision to marry, he should always engage with her emotionally in a way he would be happy for other men to engage with her.  

In all these ways, a biblical relationship looks different from a worldly relationship. If this is done well, Christian women will be honored, even as they are pursued. Christian wives will be honored. And God will be glorified.

http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001196.cfm#share From Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, John Piper and Justin Taylor editors, copyright 2005, pages 145-149. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, www.crossway.com. Download for personal use only. This article was published on Boundless.org on January 12, 2006.

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BY Bob Kauflin…

Today I want to begin unpacking this proposed definition of a corporate worship leader’s role:

“An effective corporate worship leader, aided and led by the Holy Spirit, skillfully combines biblical truth with music to magnify the worth of God and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, thereby motivating the gathered church to join him/ her in proclaiming and cherishing the truth about God and seeking to live all of life for the glory of God.”

An effective corporate worship leader… If I’m in front of a group, I’m leading!

Whether it’s through verbal contributions, facial expressions, or bodily posture, people are following me. That raises some questions.

What am I leading people to? Am I aware that I’m being followed? Am I doing anything to make my leadership fruitful?

Romans 12:8 says leaders must lead with zeal (ESV), or govern diligently (NIV).

We should never think that we can lead people to praise God without any thought or preparation. To be effective, a leader must know where he’s going, how to get there, and how to take others along with him. That kind of leadership requires intentional effort and consistent faithfulness.

At times we can make it sound as though worshipping God together is entirely a mystical, unpredictable experience. More than once I’ve heard something like, “I just don’t understand why last week we really experienced God’s presence and this week our praise didn’t seem to make it past the ceiling.”

While God may relate to us in different ways at different times, He is not hiding from us, waiting to see if we’ll find the right combination to unlock His blessing, power, and presence. Worship in spirit and truth isn’t something we’re waiting to have “happen” to us, but something we give to God. God can at any moment choose to reveal His presence in our midst, but He has identified specific actions and attitudes that glorify Him, and to which He generally responds. Critical words, for example, quench the Spirit, while praise invites His activity and involvement.

We reap what we sow. When we moved into our house eight years ago our lawn was non-existent. We were surrounded by dirt. For five years I aerated, planted seed, fertilized, and waited. During that time, an amazing thing happened. Grass grew. Despite my poor horticultural talents, I reaped what I sowed. We will reap what we sow when we lead people to worship God as well. If we sow to musical experiences, we’ll reap a desire for better sounds, cooler progressions, and more creative arrangements. If we sow to feelings, we’ll reap meetings driven by the pursuit of emotional highs. On the other hand, if we want people to glorify God, we must sow to His glory. We must paint a compelling, attractive, grand, biblical picture of our great God and Savior. In order to do that, we need the power of God’s Spirit.

Here’s the next part of my proposed definition of a worship leader. An effective corporate worship leader is aided and led by the Holy Spirit.

Every leader of congregational worship will acknowledge that biblical worship is impossible apart from the activity of the Holy Spirit.

This is at least part of what Jesus meant when he told the Samaritan woman in John 4 that the Father seeks worshipers who worship Him in spirit and truth. Paul also tells us in Philippians 3:3, “For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” (See also Eph. 2:18, Eph. 5:18-21, and 1 Cor. 12:3, and 2 Cor. 3:18)

But what does it mean for a worship leader to be aided and led by the Holy Spirit?

Charismatics and non-charismatics (or continuationists and cessationists) might disagree on the specifics. At the very least it means that we worship the Holy Spirit as God, the third Person of the Trinity. But it also means that as we gather to worship God, the Holy Spirit fulfills His normal roles of illuminating, helping, strengthening, comforting, leading, making us aware of God’s presence, and revealing Christ and Him crucified.

Practically, I think that means at least three things.

First we need to ask God to help us by His Spirit as we lead others to worship Him. It’s easy for me to trust that my experience, background, musical skill, preparation, or planning will enable people to worship God rightly. If I feel prepared, I’m confident; if I don’t feel prepared, I’m anxious. But no amount of preparation can replace humble dependence on God’s Spirit to do what only He can do – bring light to darkened hearts and minds.

God reminds us in 2 Cor. 3:18: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

In other words, music doesn’t transform us; God’s Spirit working through His Word does. God is honored when we humbly ask His Spirit to work in our hearts as we meet to exalt Him. That’s not to say that God isn’t already present by His Spirit when we gather. We’re just asking Him to make us more deeply aware of both His presence and His activity in our lives.

Second, having asked the Holy Spirit to work in our midst, we need to expect His involvement. That involves listening for His direction, even if our plan is “air-tight.” Certainly, we should be listening for the Spirit as we plan for a meeting. I think this is an area we often overlook – prayer during planning. But does the Holy Spirit stop speaking to us when we meet? That’s not the impression we get from the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Despite their excessive esteem of the “spectacular” gifts of the Spirit, Paul never tells the Corinthians to stop expecting the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s presence in various ways during a meeting. Neither should we.

What might the Holy Spirit “say” to us? We might feel led to emphasize a certain line from a song or repeat a verse that draws attention to a relevant theme. The Spirit might bring to mind a particular need or a reason to celebrate. He might direct us to a Scripture we hadn’t previously thought of including. There doesn’t have to be anything mystical or “spooky” about the Holy Spirit leading us in times of corporate praise.

Finally, biblical worship means that we respond to what we sense the Spirit is saying or doing. If we have asked for God’s active presence, and are listening for the Spirit’s leading, it should be evident through our faith-filled obedience that He really is working in our midst. That means that we might spontaneously pray for those parents who have a rebellious older child. That’s exactly what we did in one of our meetings this past Sunday at Covenant Life.

Whatever we believe about the availability of the gift of prophecy today, 1 Corinthians 14 implies that we should expect the Spirit to speak to us through spontaneous expressions of encouragement, admonition, and instruction when we gather. How that looks will depend on your theological position, the size of your church, the maturity of your people, and a number of other factors. But certainly, a leader who is committed to honoring God will seek to follow the Spirit’s leading in times of corporate worship.

Of course, the end of being led and aided by the Spirit is to bring honor to the Lamb who was slain.

(Bob Kauflin, What Does a Worship Leader Do?)

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Worship is a spiritual activity before it is an artistic one. If the focus of a worship leader is to bring people to an awareness of God, then the Bible is the ruler by which we should measure our effectiveness as worship leaders. Here are the five most important qualities of a worship leader who is effective in the biblical paradigm of worship. Listed in order of importance, they will help any worship minister excel in leading spiritual worship.

A. W. Tozer said in The Knowledge of the Holy, “The low view of God…with our loss of the sense of majesty has become the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine presence. We have lost our spirit of worship.”

It is imperative that a worship leader have a large view of God. When we lead worship we are leading people to the Lord – to who and what He is. It is a journey upward. A worship leader should know the theology of God and be able to convey in song, prayer and exhortation the attributes of the Divine.

Worship begins in the heart of the believer, not on the platform or a guitar. Only then can it be expressed outwardly. A worship leader should have a lifestyle of worship before God, since worship is private before it is public. It is impossible for us to lead others in worship if we are not ourselves worshipers. If we don’t know God’s presence in our daily lives, we are less effective in finding His presence, much less leading others to it.

The ability to discern where the Holy Spirit is leading, both prior to and during a worship service, is critical. Without the ability to discern what the Holy Spirit wants at any moment, a worship leader is handicapped. Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and to those we lead is essential.

4. A Pastoral Heart

The worship leader is a priest before God and the people. He must have the concern of those he leads at heart. He does not primarily lead songs but people, people who may be dysfunctional, hurt, discouraged, faithless and lethargic. A performer cannot lead them to the presence of God as well as someone who has a pastoral heart.

It is important to be relational, friendly, caring and concerned about the spiritual welfare and growth of others. One worship leader told me that he makes it a point to invite a family from his congregation to his home for a meal every Sunday. He said it has greatly increased his ability to lead worship. They trust him and will follow him because they know him.

Notice that we have not come to music until now? Though we come into His presence with singing (Psalms 100:2), we worship in spirit, not music (John 4:23).

Yet music is a powerful tool in expressing our worship. It colors, flavors and gives language to the worship that takes place in the heart. Musical skill helps facilitate the worship expressions of others and minimize distractions.

These qualities will make a worship leader a catalyst for touching the Lord – a valuable resource to any local church family.

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Listen to the big idea of UNSTOPPABLE (Ablaze Conference 2010)

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