The Worship Leader RPG (Role Playing Guide)

The Worship Leader RPG (Role Playing Guide)

    The purpose of this series is to walk you through 4 things that I believe are crucial to becoming an effective, annointed, Spirit-filled worship leader. Now, remember, I am using the term “Worship Leader” loosely. I am speaking to singers, guitarists, bassists, drummers, percussionists, keyboardists, organists, pianists, and even the triangle-ist (I know someone out there plays this :D ). I also want to include those who lead all of the back of house equipment. I want to personally thank you for everything you do. Many times the ladies and gentlemen jumping up and down on stage are the ones that get some recognition, and even though Jesus should get all the recognition (#JesusJuke), I want you guys to know that we couldn’t do what we do without you. So, mad props to you guys running sound, lights, cameras, slides, etc. You guys are superstars.

The Worshiper

    The first role a worship leader must play is the role of a worshiper. You might say, “Come on Matt, duh!” But I cannot tell you how important this is. I have seen countless worship leaders “wing it”. This is a problem because I believe that God is honored in excellence. Let me define this for you. Excellence does not mean perfection. Perfection is the absence of mistakes. Excellence is a position of the heart. It is doing the best you can with what you have been given. “Winging It” isn’t doing the best you can with what you’ve been given. Excellence is saying, “I don’t want to just get by. I want to be the MOST prepared to bring my absolute best for God.”

    Several years ago, I had the privilege of being the contemporary worship leader at a Methodist church. In this context, worship leader meant I handled all of the worship for the contemporary services. They asked me to come in because they didn’t have someone to lead, and they were ready to amp up their contemporary service. I agreed and had a band there at the church with me. I had made a rule that if you didn’t come to practice, you could not participate in Sunday worship. I learned quickly that the drummer was not going to come to practice, and that he had no problem “winging it” on Sunday. He was a very talented musician, and a great guy to be around, but unfortunately, he didn’t appear to have the heart of a worshiper. Excellence was not one of his priorities.

    So I told him he could not play on Sunday. He apologized to me, and while I didn’t let him play that Sunday, he showed up for practice the next week and began playing on a regular basis. Since deep down, he knew that he wanted to lead worship, this ended up a good scenario.

Excellence isn't perfection. It's a position of the heart.

    I believe that those who are called to lead worship must be worshipers themselves. It doesn’t matter if you are leading on stage one Sunday or in the congregation the next. If you are only able worship to when you are on the stage or standing in front of people, you will always need a stage and a congregation in order to worship. If a person cannot worship without being on the stage, they have no business being on the stage to begin with.

    It definitely goes beyond the outward expression of worship, however. Worship leaders need to live a life of worship. Worship leaders should continually work on their character. Your quiet time, daily devotion and worship when no one is looking is much more crucial than leading others. If you consistently lead others without being filled, you will find yourself consistently leading on empty. I hate feeling like I’m empty, but I also know you won’t make it very far without breaking down on the side of the road. Most of the time it is an emotional break-down… and it usually affects those around you. We must be developing a personal and intimate relationship with the One that we are worshipping.

    I have to say that King David is a great role model for those wanting to be worship leaders. I recommend reading David’s story in 1 and 2 Samuel and the Psalms. David’s initial worship experiences probably took place while he was tending his father’s sheep… when no one was watching. Here he developed that intimate personal relationship with God that he would need later on in life. No matter the circumstances we know that David was always able to make his way to God by worshiping. God referred to David as a man after the Lord’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14). 

    It is impossible to be a worship leader, or even a worshiper without being after God’s heart. We want more than anything to touch God’s heart with our worship for Him, both in private and corporately. If we can’t touch his heart in private, how can we ever lead others to that place? It is much easier to take someone to a place that you’ve already been, especially if you go there regularly. If I don’t know the way somewhere, I can’t effectively take someone else there. This is very true for leading worship as well.

Prayer:

“God, I want to be after Your heart. I choose to begin a life of daily devotion and worship to you right now in this moment. Help me to lead others into your presence as I walk with you in your presence in private. I want others to know You like I know You.”

Posted by Matthew Long @mthwdlong