A Blog for Pastors

Are you the Worship Leader in your church?

No, you say, I’m the lead pastor, the senior pastor, the christian education director, the administrator. OK, but are you also the Worship Leader? You should be, regardless of what title you carry.

Is leading a congregation in worship as important as leading them into the Word? Is worship just the ‘filler’ before the  ‘meat of the Word’ is added to the mix? Would we get the same results without worship? Could we legitimately call it a Worship Service?

I’m not attempting to put the ingredients of our Sunday services into some kind of prioritized list … just reminding us that if we come to church and don’t worship the One around whose throne we stand,  we haven’t satisfied his heart or ours.

And if worship is vital (which is certainly is), then shouldn’t the ‘main guy’ be one of the most obvious worshipers?

In forty-seven years of paying attention, I’ve seen that the leaders who were most successful in getting me into God’s presence … of helping me shed the distractions of a noisy world … who most enabled me to see the privilege and power of entering God’s presence, were the ones doing it! Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Pastors doing last minute cramming on their sermon notes on the front row or those who choose to remain in their offices until ‘they’re on’ do little more than encourage their congregations to question the validity of the whole worship experience.

When our people are marching around Jericho pressing for a victory, when they’re about to cross the river into new and uncharted territory spiritually, let’s be in the front where we belong. Let’s be Worship Leaders when we’re by ourselves or with our families, but certainly when we’re in the company of those who look to us for a clue as to what is vital and important in their walk with God.