Open Letter to a Worship Leader 1.0

Dear Worship Leader,

The clock on you, my friend is ticking. According to statistics, the average length of your stay in a job is 3 years. Thirty-six months.

Is that crazy or what? You're sitting there, buying guitar strings and trying to find the next great Hillsong tune and then -- you're burnt out, toast, finished. The tank is empty, and you don't know where to turn.

I've been at it now for about 10 years, and it occurred to me that maybe -- just maybe -- I have something to add to this situation. You want to last? Want to make it more than 3 years? There are plenty of obvious (I hope), internal disciplines and activities that we can do to preserve our internal life. Here's a list that I found in about 3 seconds.

But I want to touch on an attitude that is subtle and seductive, that pulls in on every "7th day", and that I believe will inevitably dry you up inside. The attitude is betrayed by our comments to our pastoral colleagues and friends: " They just weren't 'getting it' today." "I wish our people would be more into it." "I wish people would be more excited about worship. They just need to wake up!"

I understand these statements; I've made them repeatedly myself. Simultaneously, however, I want to say clearly that these statements are poison and they betray a wrong attitude about the stewardship that we are entrusted with on Sunday.

Said another way, I believe that we are absolutely NOT to gauge our worship leading effectiveness by what we see in our congregants' faces. The reasons why are myriad, but here's a breakdown.

1. To think that we can gauge the inner state of someone's heart (God's real measure for "worship") by the expression on their face is presumptuous. Paul says clearly that we walk "by faith and not by sight." Why should leading worship be any different? Unfortunately, whether it's because of broken egos or faulty theology, we fall for this desire to think that we can measure our job performance.

2. Assuming that God moves visibly in your church gathering, you must guard your heart about trying to make this happen repeatedly. If you do not, one of two things are going to happen:

- You will find yourself trying desperately (but subtly) trying to manipulate moments, which will undoubtedly make you feel like a giant, duplicitous ass. And who wants to feel like that while you're doing God's work?

- You will be unsuccessful at recreating that which God intended to happen only once. And you'll get really discouraged. A really wise man once said to me that if you look at scripture, you see many more examples of things that God did ONLY ONE TIME. Christ didn't turn water into wine, and then instantly send the disciples out for more jugs for next week's performance. Accept the fact that, more often than not, our Father likes to do singular things.

As an alternative, I suggest the following:

* If you want to be able to evaluate your leading from week-to-week, first know yourself. Be centered and aware of your values. Don't be "blown about"; just be satisfied that you have helped people sing God-songs, and be reminded of God's faithfulness and salvation. And then rest. Your job is not to whip people into a frenzy. Leave some room for God, okay?

* If you want some additional voices in your life, cultivate a short list of folks that can help you discern what was going on in the room. Listen to them, argue with them, but be prepared to ignore almost everyone else that is not on that list.

So there, dear worship leader. I know you want to be Bono or Chris Martin, or at least Martha Munizzi or Chris Tomlin. Unfortunately, God has called you to the church, and the church needs something different. What we need is faithful musical reminders of who God is and who we are. Avoid the seduction, go to work each week knowing that God WANTS people to worship him; in that sense, we don't need to do a whole heck of a lot. Don't fall for the seduction. You will get tastes; God will give you the encouragement you need. Beyond that, be satisfied.