The Accidental Worship Leader

Let Me Tell You A Story

I had a friend named Phil. He was a theatre major who began to feel God calling him to full time ministry.  You would think that Phil would start or join a drama ministry or maybe with his degree he could work as a Christian educator. Perhaps God was calling him to work as a missionary of sorts in secular entertainment? Since he was good on stage and in front of an audience maybe he was supposed to be a pastor? But the ministry position that he was offered was for facilities. God was calling this theatre major to be a church janitor.

The problem for Phil was that he didn’t know what he was doing. He could use a vacuum and he knew how to change a light bulb, but beyond that he was not the handiest of men. Now he was in charge of the facilities and maintenance needs of an entire church. What was he supposed to do?

THE ACCIDENTAL WORSHIP LEADER

I’ve met a lot of worship leaders over the years who are like my friend Phil. They didn’t ask to be the worship leader. Unlike Phil, they do have some talent or experience in their ministry area because they are musical where Phil wasn’t that handy. But leading worship is different than playing your guitar at home or playing keys in a band in high school. Someone found out these folks were musical in a church that had few musicians and they were servant-hearted enough to take the role even though it wasn’t a natural fit for them.

WHAT SHOULD BE EXPECTED OF THE PHILS?

The reality is that the folks at Phil’s church didn’t really expect more than the floors to be vacuumed, the lights to have fresh bulbs, and the bathrooms to not smell.

No one is expecting complicated orchestral arrangements or pro level music from you either. If you’re a worship leader like Phil, who wants to serve Jesus and this is the need your church has, then God bless you. I’m serious. You are awesome. Please don’t ever feel pressured to do more than you can. Who is more honoring to Jesus? The worship leader with two pennies worth of talent who plays, sings, and leads the church with all their heart? Or the worship leader who is overflowing with talent but “wings it,” and is more concerned with musical arrangements than passion for God? (Mark 12:41-44)

DOING THE BEST WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

Luke 16:10 tells us to be faithful with the little things. When Phil was asked to take over facilities at his church, the first thing he did was go to Home Depot and buy a “How To” home improvement manual for basic fixes (for the church’s leaky kitchen sink, etc.) then he went and found the church tool box and got some money from the treasurer to replace a few tools that had gone missing over the years, because everyone needs a good screw driver.

Leading worship isn’t that different. You can get a “How To” manual. First and foremost is the Bible. There are so many opinions and schools of thought about what worship is or isn’t, and if you’d just look at the scripture you would find many of them to be wrong.  After the bible, there are many good blogs and podcasts for worship leaders. Hopefully you find the resources on the Church Collective to be useful and helpful to you as your grow as a worship leader.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR A “PHIL”?

So you’ve found yourself the worship leader of your church. Now what?

1. Stay faithful.

2. Be submissive to the Lord, and to the leadership He has established in your church.

3. Be diligent. You can always get better in all aspects of being a worship leader.

4. Be realistic in your expectations and the expectations you allow others to have of you.

5. Be ready for the change to come.

I’m going to camp on point #5 because I think it’s overlooked. Change will come, it is inevitable. The question is, what will you do with that change? What happened to my friend Phil? Maybe he was just holding the facilities ministry until the Lord raised up a better person for the role, and then Phil was freed to go forward in his callings with a great lesson in janitorial service.  Or maybe, just maybe, Phil discovered that he was handier than he thought, and God had put him in a place he would never have placed himself because God knew better than Phil what his skills and abilities where.

Both outcomes are more than likely.

If you’re a place holder, be faithful, build a culture that’s flexible for when the change comes, and when the next guy does come, support the new worship leader and the changes that he or she will bring as best as you can.

But what if you’re not the place holder? You may not have even realized that was a possibility yet. But if it’s the case, be open as the Holy Spirit trains you and grows you as a leader, administrator, musician and worshiper. It could be that God has placed you in a role that’s a poor fit for you because it’s an excellent fit for the woman or man God is making you to be.