CHAPTER 1

WHAT AREWE?

I have to be honest with you. This book is somewhat a reactionagainst what I have seen in the larger church culture of the world. Theoverwhelming misunderstanding of what a worship leader actually isand what the measure of success for a worship leader is has left mewith a great measure of concern.

Even as I write this, I am dumbfounded, staring at an online ad thatsays, "Are you a worship leader? Click here to learn how to sign arecord deal, get radio airplay, and start playing real paid gigs."

To be totally candid, I had three immediate reactions:

* Anger

* Grief

* A little bit of throw-up in my mouth

At what point did the measure of success in ministry become recorddeals, radio play, and real gigs? Yet this is the definition of worship leadingfor much of the world. This has become the pursuit and the end goal.

Don't get me wrong; these are not bad things in and of themselves. If youare writing songs and producing quality art that a record label can comealongside to help take those songs to the larger church for the edificationand encouragement of the masses, then by all means, go for it!

If you have a good song that I can hear on the radio instead of somemusically mediocre theological train wreck of a song, then I am all for that.

If you are called to full-time vocational ministry, and you can providefor your family by leading the church in worship with excellence, youshould be paid for your labor.

But the simple fact remains that most worship leaders will never havethese things. For most, this is a completely unrealistic expectation orgoal to have, and the overemphasis of these things as the measure ofsuccess has left scores of worship leaders feeling like broken failures.

Most worship leaders will plod away as bivocational ministers, never to becelebrated by anyone other than their local congregation and God Himself.

And that is okay.

So when I see anything that holds up an unhealthy, unhelpful measureof a successful worship leader, I react.

But in my reaction I want to be careful not to swing the pendulum andfocus entirely on all the things that are wrong with a situation, ratherthan pointing to ways to take positive strides forward. I have seen thisfocus on "here's what's wrong" happen over and over again; and whileit's useful for building a following, it's less helpful in digging us out of theproverbial lurch.

I have heard sermon after sermon preached completely in thenegative. "The gospel is not this and the gospel is not that. The gospeldoes not _________ and the gospel does not _________."

Many churches and ministries base their entire existence on whatthey are not. "We are not one of those churches that __________.When you come to our church, you're not gonna see ___________."

The blogosphere is full of people who have made a name forthemselves by ripping the many forms of the modern evangelicalchurch to shreds.

For the first sixteen years of my life the only thing I heard aboutwhat it meant to be a Christian was, "Don't smoke, don't drink, don'tchew, and don't date girls who do."

It is easier to criticize than to encourage.

So it would be really easy for me to write an entire book on all the thingsthat a worship leader is not. But that wouldn't actually move us anycloser to an understanding of what exactlya worship leader is.

I use the term "worship leader" veryintentionally.

It is not in the Bible and I know that thereare many other titles that I could use thatwould potentially be less controversial.For example: song leader, music director,or even choir master if we're going strictlybiblical. After all, Jesus is our truest andultimate worship leader—our High Priestand Mediator who leads us to the throne of God (something a man couldnever do) and allows us to worship by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Directly underneath Jesus stands the lead pastor of the local church,who functionally acts as the primary worship leader. While he may notlead the church in congregational singing (though he very well may),he is an undershepherd of the Chief Shepherd, joining with Jesus indirecting the worship of the sheep in his care through the preachingof the Word and much, much more.

So with those things in mind, I want to answer very intentionallywhat may be the first objection or question that arises; namely, "Whycall ourselves "worship leaders"?"

Not only is "worship leader" an easily understood and widelyidentifiable title for the person who leads the church in corporateworship, but it is also perhaps the most helpful and descriptivebecause it refuses to limit the worship of God within the church tosinging only. The Bible is clear that worship has an all-of-life-nessabout it that can't be relegated to just singing.

While singing has a powerful and unique role in worship, songs maybe our smallest expression of worship. To call a worship leader a worshipleader is to say that his responsibilities go far beyond simply leading thechurch in singing some songs.

A worship leader is to be a person who exemplifies worship in all areas oflife as an example for the church to emulate;who pursues God with everything and livesa life of holiness that worships throughobedience in all things; who leads the churchin an all-encompassing lifestyle of worship.

Part of the disconnect that has led to theprominence of rock star worship syndromein the church is that people have failed to understand this all-of-lifenature of worship. They want to compartmentalize worship to theseventy-five minutes on Sunday morning.

If Sunday morning songs are the church's only worship experienceall week, there is no wonder that we have placed such a hard emphasison having the best, most musically gifted song leader. But such a focuson music and the music leader is often at the detriment to the myriadother aspects of worship, both personal and corporate.

Songs are only a piece of corporate worship, but true worship leaderseffectively use those songs in concert with a lifestyle of worship, astools to accomplish Christ's pastoral purposes in the lives of the...