I know what you’re thinking…
“4 things every worship leader should get –
A good drummer… a new set of Worship Pads… A FOG MACHINE..”
A lot of us have probably bought into the myth that there are tangible things that we can get that will take our song services to the next level. While there are tangible and practical ways that we can improve our song services, they cannot ever be and will not ever be the driving force behind our worship.
Jesus said worship is anchored in SPIRIT and TRUTH. This means the main things that we need to improve our worship are not things at all…
Here are 4 things every worship leader should get this year:
1. GET CLARITY.
You will only be as effective as you are clear on your goals.
A lot of us have this idea that we want our Congregational worship to improve, but we’re really not sure what that looks like. We say that we want our team to be better at leading worship, but we don’t have a way to articulate to them what that means.
If you don’t know WHAT success looks like, how will you know when you get there?
Let me burst your bubble now: you never “get there” as a worship leader….
The ultimate source for clarity in the area of worship is SCRIPTURE.
We can talk all we want about what we think God wants worship to look like, but the best thing for us to do is to study together as a team what GOD says worship is. Through this lens, you can practically create a plan for what that looks like in your culture and in your congregation.
2. GET RID OF DISTRACTIONS.
You will never reach your full potential as a leader if you are distracted.
You’ll never even reach your full potential as a person if you are distracted.
This is the busiest, most distracted generation to have ever existed, and the church is not excluded from that. There are a million things grabbing for our attention.
It is not only important but NECESSARY for us to be distraction free when we are planning a set, leading our team, studying Scripture, or taking time in prayer.
Put your phone in a different room. Set it to do not disturb. Turn your notifications off. Hand-write your set list if you have to avoid electronics for this to work.
Create margin and space for yourself to have clarity of thought and spirit.
Once you’ve begun to rid yourself of the obvious distractions, you can pray for God to reveal the more subtle and dangerous distractions. I’d CHALLENGE us all to pray this prayer each morning:
“God, what is it… that isn’t YOU or YOUR SPIRIT or YOUR SON or YOUR TRUTH.. that is fighting for my attention and my affection today?”
In the midst of set lists and solos and specials…
don’t be a leader who sacrifices the best thing at the altar of a good thing.
GOD’S GLORY SEEN THROUGH THE PERSON OF JESUS IS THE BEST THING.
3. GET INTO RHYTHMS.
You will only be as effective as the patterns and rhythms of your daily life.
Let’s be honest: creativity is not something that you just schedule or put on the calendar.
This makes leading worship very difficult, since part of organizing teams and set lists requires us to be at our creative best.
Carey Nieuwhoff says,
“Get into a rhythm that allows you to be at your best when your best is needed.”
Create a habit of saturating your mind with things that spark creativity.
Consume an abundance of Scripture, especially in the morning.
Step away from your desk when necessary.
TAKE TIME OFF AND TRULY BE OFF when you’re not at the office.
God set the example of rhythms in work and rest; how arrogant of us to believe that we do not also need to adhere to similar patterns.
4. GET ACCOUNTABILITY
Whether you are exclusively responsible for organizing your song service and worship teams, or whether you’re just a part of the congregation, we will not be able to truly worship (or lead in worship) without real accountability.
Having someone to bounce ideas off of sharpens our mind.
Having someone to lovingly offer correction sharpens our heart.
Having someone to joyfully encourage us sharpens our spirit.
We love all of our own ideas… But someone once said,
“I’ll never learn anything from something I have to say…”
Get a panel to help you choose songs.
Get a couple friends and study Scripture together.
Schedule monthly check ins with the other people on your worship team.
Whatever you do, just don’t do it alone.
If our greatest calling is to love God and love others, we will never effectively do this on our own. You literally cannot fulfill God’s commands by yourself.
We need each other. If you’re not sure where to start, you can join our community of worship leaders at our Facebook group:
www.facebook.com/groups/worshiptable/