10 Mistakes Worship Leaders Make - Mistake #2 - Means or End

Mistake # 2 – Worship is a means to an end

Aristotle captured a critical truth when he said “A” is “A.” A thing is what it is.

Worship is worship. But, worship leaders have a tendency to redefine other meeting components as “worship.” It’s fine, even necessary, to accomplish other purposes, such as doing something to signal the meeting is beginning, set the mood of the meeting, build a platform for the preaching, or showcase new songs, etc. But, those things are not worship.

If we mindlessly call them worship, we are pointing at “A,” but calling it “B.” If we do that long enough then people will gain a false understanding of worship. Worship leaders need to say; this is praise, this is thanksgiving, this is supplication, this is lament or even travail (when was the last time you sang one of these)? The point; teach your children well – tell your flock what it is they are doing so they know how to tell the difference.

This poses a dilemma for many churches, assuming you’ve tackled #1. There may not be time in the Sunday service to shed distraction, unify hearts and enter a place of awe and adoration for our sovereign king. Think about it. If that is the case, what do you do?

10 Mistakes Worship Leaders Make - Mistake #1 - Assuming

Mistake #1 - Assuming that everyone has tasted worship.

Imagine: you have a basket of apples and you are standing before an audience which had never seen, let alone tasted, one. How are you going to impart the essence of the apple to them?

Lecture about it? PowerPoint it? Eat it in front of them? How about passing them out and letting them taste and eat for themselves?

O, taste and see that the Lord is good! – Psalms 34:8

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but . . . worship cannot be taught. You cannot stand on a platform and bring people into worship anymore than you can stand on a stage and bring people into apples. It has to be tasted. And, once that happens, people are forever changed. They never forget it!

Throughout history, the nature of worship has changed. In oral culture, worship was a cosmic drama. There was no “worship leader.” It was a divine play and everyone was part of it. That drama actually changed time and space to sacred time and sacred place. The people were reenacting a cosmic event as though it were happening again right in their midst.

When the Reformation came along, making print became the dominant communication, content became the essence of worship. The primary issue was the lyrics – doctrine in music.

In broadcast, worship is about the person on stage. So, if that person is genuinely worshiping, those gathered in that place will catch a “taste” of real worship. If he or she is performing, that comes through. If the worship leader is living a lie, that tends to confuse or contaminate the process.

So, it is essential for worship leaders to, first, know what real worship is, and then, second, to give the people a taste of it. They should never just assume that everyone “gets it.” Worship leaders must always be prepared to explain (and disciple others in) real worship.

10 Mistakes Worship Leaders Make - Introduction - The Epic Story

I'm introducing a series from a seminar I gave at last year's International Worship Institute. These are my observations and sentiments as an amatuer worshipper. My vantage is the guy sitting out in the congregation trying to find the Presence of God.

Oh, I’ll never forget that moment. I was running late for an appointment. So, I almost didn’t answer the phone. But, I found myself reaching for it. And as I did everything seemed to tumble into slow motion. Strangely, my heart seemed to know; it was like the future was crashing into the right now.

“Hello.” A long silence. I wondered if anyone was there. And, then, her distinctive small vibrato voice moaned, “Oh, Daddy.”

Slowly, I dropped into my office chair. Those two words swelled my throat shut and built a fire in my chest. I didn’t think I would ever hear her voice again. For two years, I thought my little girl was dead.

That’s the day my life started again.

Nothing grabs the heart or fires the imagination like a story. That’s because the great epic story of God and His creation is universal; even if we don’t “know” it, the tuning fork of our heart begins humming when we hear it.

“The Story” is engraved into the architecture of our soul. And, what is that story? That God dwells in Heaven and from time to time, He reaches out to touch the earth, nations, or individuals. Those “epic moments” are not expected, nor are they deserved. But they carry His unmistakable signature and they are life-altering.

So, yes, a phone call echoes that eternity-crashing-into-time-and-space reality of God entering into the course of life on earth. And, just as He once stepped into Pharaoh’s brickyard and said, “Let My people go,” He steps into other enslavements and proclaims liberty to the captives…like a father imprisoned by his daughter’s long exile and presumed death.

Epic stories almost always start with a crisis. That is followed by travail, struggling with Heaven and earth to find resolution, synthesis, or just . . . relief! You fight inner battles and outer battles and then arrive at a crossroads where all the previous issues stand waiting for the decision. The choices exercised right there tend to lead to victory or going back to square one to start the journey again.

For example, when I was a teenager, someone invited me to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting one day. I had conflicted feelings, didn’t really want to go, but I heard myself say “yes.” That was the beginning of my epic story. Through that meeting, God stepped into my “brickyard” and proclaimed liberty to a captive.

And, I’ll never forget the moment when my 8th-grade teacher lifted me off the floor, slammed me up against the locker, and said, “Miller, you have too much going for you for me to see it go to waste!” That word changed my life. It was the voice of God, rescuing me from what Peter called a “futile way of life” (I Peter 1:18).

Concepts (and even the words themselves) like freedom, peace, and love are so profoundly resonant because they are the result of God’s intervention. They flow from His story. So, great stories like “Braveheart” or “Star Wars” or “Saving Private Ryan” absolutely drip with these components of God’s epic visitation.

So, what does all this mean to worship leaders?

In a very real sense, worship leaders are “keepers of the story.” They are protectors of the vibe, trustees of the flame. And, I believe, all worship leaders need to start right there. Forget music, technology, schedules and rehearsals. Start with the story.

To worship leaders, I would say, “Learn the story and let the story deal with you. And, then, allow its Author teach you how to tell it (just as He taught David, Moses, Abraham, Paul, and others). Don’t just assume that it should be told the same way everyone else tells it. Don’t even assume that music is an essential component.”