College is obviously a very formative time for people and for many different reasons. There are all kinds of new experiences waiting at college: some good, some bad, and definitely some ugly! I think most of us can agree that, as a follower of Christ, college is a very formative time for our relationship with the Holy Spirit, as well. For many, college is when our faith becomes our own, not our parents’ and not our youth ministers’. For others, their faith may be completely new and they are burning with a new passion for worship. This is truly exciting! As a person’s faith becomes real, so do their desires to serve the kingdom, so naturally there are a lot of people that find themselves with the new-found calling to help in leading worship. It is our (worship leaders, ministers, even fellow student leaders) job to help raise up these new leaders and help guide them as they seek God’s will in their life. All this to say that I have a few ideas to help you in raising up new student leaders! I think the three biggest things that go into raising up new leaders are sharing, training, and discipleship, but I feel these are too involved to delve into in one post, so for this time, i just want to focus on sharing!
And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. (Hebrews 13:16 NLT)
Sharing is important in raising up new leaders for many reasons. Let’s be honest, students usually don’t have much to work with. When I started playing guitar at my local church as a freshman, all i had was a not so good solidstate amp and a guitar built for shredding (which i could not do, by the way). The guitar players at the church embraced my bad gear (and playing) and shared a lot of things with me. They shared pedals that they did not need or were not using, they would let me use their amp for a Sunday every now and then, sometimes i even borrowed a bass to play as a fill in. More than gear, though, my fellow leaders shared wisdom with me, both musical and spiritual, that helped me grow into a better musician and a better follower of Christ. They made me realize how to make a pleasing sound (imagine that!), which made me so much more confident and less distracted by my gear. They also served me by sharing their homes and their time.
All of these examples of sharing help make a new leaders job so much easier, giving them a chance to learn about what is really important: how to lead! This is just one act of service that you can do for your new members that will show them how much you appreciate them and their pursuance of God’s will for their life. Your church will also appreciate it. Trust me, they love it when you sound good!
It is also important to note that we cannot always depend on our church’s music ministry to provide for these students. We also cannot do it all ourselves. The betterment of these students’ training is a cooperative effort from the church as a body. We should see this as an opportunity to serve and minister to these students. We should embrace servanthood like Christ and remember that we are not at church to be served, but to serve!
Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. (1 Timothy 6:18 NLT)
We simply need to remember that a bad guitar or even a bad guitar player does not make a bad servant. Hallelujah! I hope that this post is a ministers to you this week when you are serving your teams and working to raise up new leaders. I love you all and have a blessed week!