The Poison of Place in Praise and Worship Leading

The position of a worship leader, or indeed any a part of the worship group, is one that many individuals aspire to. That makes this position a potential source of a poison in your life, and one you need to take care of quickly so that it'll not grow into a huge source of pride.

Having a place of leadership means power and, as the outdated saying goes, "absolute energy corrupts absolutely!"

I've been in church buildings where, when the position of worship leader has come up, there has been nothing short of a struggle between potential candidates to acquire that position! It feels a bit like being within the corporate world, the place it's "canine eats dog" on the company ladder, when the final man standing will acquire the position, no matter his abilities or his genuineness of heart. Brothers and sisters, this should not be within the church!

In case you have been appointed to the position of worship leader, then it's essential recognize that it's a place of accountability and exhausting work, not a way of constructing others do your bidding. As Jesus pointed out in Mark 10:45, our future as leaders is to serve, to not be served. Although the place may have its advantages, we need to deal with what is right and proper.

Being a worship leader implies that we're those who make the essential choices with reference to worship. We fairly often choose the songs, the music fashion and who is on the worship group for that week. We choose to elevate or to demote our team members, and we set the course that worship will take. Many of us are very able to make these selections, and have very clear and agency ideas as to how this stuff must be done. However can we acknowledge that with great energy comes nice responsibility?

If you're a worship leader, you will have to make choices, some of which is probably not easy. But you must also bear duty for the implications of those selections, and not passed the buck to different members of your team. As Pres. Truman mentioned, "the buck stops here", and that is completely true for worship leaders.

The place of worship leader is a position of duty, not just of choice-making, so we have to face this place with a fantastic sense of humility, understanding that without the Holy Spirit there is no probability that I worship leading can be a success!

In the church, as in some other organization, there are positions and obligations and we as worship leaders have been lucky sufficient to be appointed to a type of key positions. This means that, in the eyes of both out workforce members and likewise our congregation, that we're worthy of such an honour, but we should not let this honour go to our heads!

Over a few years of worship leading, as I've travelled all over the world speaking with and observing worship leaders, in small church buildings, medium-size church buildings and huge churches, many worship leaders struggle with the poison of abuse of position. This is easily detected by their perspective towards their friends, and how they treat others both on and off their teams. I'm immediately cautious if I meet a worship leader who speaks, and everybody around him snaps to attention! Very often, this worship leader has used the place to gain management over other individuals, that they made do his or her bidding, and so they educate their crew members that serving them is the equivalent of obeying the Lord himself! There's a number of satisfaction, and little or no humility and these leaders, and generally this angle has come down from the pastors!

Let me make this clear: there's nothing mistaken with asking group members to do things to help. Whether pitfall becomes a pitfall is within the attitude that is behind the request.

As a worship leader I've always made it my observe to try and serve with a spirit of humility, and to serve as a servant would, washing the ft of my fellow staff members quite than ordering them around. I have found that, if I treat them with love and respect, that I gained large loyalty and a greater consequence all spherical as a result of they really feel inspired by their leader, slightly than persecuted. The top result is that my loyal group members will do something for me, typically with out my even asking, to bless and take care of myself and my family. These actions by my crew members are fuelled not by a way of dread and persecution, however by a genuine sense of loyalty and respect the likes of which overbearing Worship Leaders can not get hold of if they focus on the position and all its finery!

If something is less than scratch within the worship, if it goes too long of fails to interact hearts, then I contemplate myself accountable, even when I was not even the one leading! Whether or not i am on the morning or not, the buck stops with the leader, and I would like to seek out the answer and bear the responsibility.