Four Things Worship Leaders Need to Start Doing

An appeal for reform in our worship philosophy

Dec 05, 2024

The current worship movement has all but taken over the contemporary Christian music market. Due to a litany of reasons, including the historic recession of the late 2000s, the rise of online piracy and streaming platforms, and a unique generational shift of Millennials away from the Church, a once blossoming Christian music industry flowing with variety has morphed dramatically into a homogenous, jiggling-out-of-the-can product: the modern worship song. Microwave for five minutes and you’re good to go!

Don’t misunderstand me: there is much to admire in today’s worship music space. There are some people crafting some fantastic, artful pilgrim-songs for the Church out there, and by golly, we need them. Even I myself write songs that inevitably share characteristics and sensibilities with stuff floating out in the worship ether. Leading worship in a local church is part of my job, and I love leading many of these songs. But there’s a definite recipe one can follow; a formulaic path to clicks, follows and play counts that’s anything but a sacred-Psalmic process.

What happened to worship leaders?

Maybe we became so convinced we needed to become promoters that we forgot we were priests.

Pieces like this one on the “worshiptainment” element that’s taken precedent in our congregations are particularly damning. As spiritual leaders (whether you accept the label or not), our goal should be to worship God in spirit and in truth. You know, per the words of Jesus and all (John 4:24).

Bracing ourselves for what’s approaching on the spiritual horizon, with distinct societal issues coming to a head, there are some things we’ve got to address. Brothers, sisters, friends in the worship leading community, consider this an appeal to rightly weigh your ministry to the Lord. To gaze deeply in the mirror and let the Spirit point out what needs attention. And I’m not letting myself off the hook, either.

Family, we are in desperate need of reform.

Here are four things we as worship leaders need to start doing:

1. Become prayer junkies

Leading gatherings of God’s People is a tremendous honor and responsibility. None of us should try to do it (or really anything, for that matter) in the strength of our talents alone. Artistic gifting is great, but in reality there’s a surplus of talented people out there and a premium of people attuned to God’s heart. Prayer is where the power really is.

Jesus Himself was constantly in prayer, intentionally creating moments set apart for God, and we would do well to follow suit. This rhythm was the daily springboard for Jesus’ direction, power and intimacy with the Holy Spirit; the focal-point of His ministry. I imagine Jesus enjoying union with the Father and Spirit in a garden, or on a hillside, and meditating Psalms like this one:

“In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”
— Psalm 5:3

If we want to operate in God’s power as we lead and sing and play, we have to get on our knees.

In his book Red Moon Rising, Pete Greig zeros in on the prayerlessness of the modern Church and issues that have become harbingers of doom for 1st-world evangelicalism: “Amid sparkling creativity, spectacular innovation and unprecedented wealth, growing up in the West means for many a sense of alienation and a craving for intimacy, authenticity and hope.”1 Shallow friendships, shallow conversations; shallow hopes and dreams and shallow hobbies and shallow religion. Is that what we’ve come to?

Leaders: we should be lighthouses of hope, modeling intimate and thriving friendships with the God of the Universe. It will only happen as we spend time digging down, following the pulsing thump-thump of prayer, leading us to the Lifeblood that is the knowledge of God. Real, lived knowledge.

What Andrew Murray envisioned must become true of worship leaders everywhere: “We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth.”2 How can we lead people to places we haven’t ventured? Why are we singing about a God we refuse to engage?

A life of passionate communion with God through prayer “turns ordinary mortals into men of power.”3

So right now, it’s far more pressing that our leaders be logging time in the prayer closet than on TikTok.

2. Smile more

This one’s for me. No one is safe.

Did you know that a smile can be used by God to save someone’s life? It’s true.4

Leading the charge in the music industry is a wave of artists creating songs for the consumption of the masses, especially younger generations. But in spite of music’s transcendent positive qualities, many of these same artists are becoming increasingly addled with severe addiction and mental health problems, not to speak of their spiritual issues: harrowing, dark stuff at the root of those trees. Playlists today are filled with heartache, hopelessness, and an overall nihilistic outlook. This melancholic, therapy-is-my-lifeline approach to making art is influencing the way we evaluate and express ourselves musically — and it’s dangerous.

Those who lead fellow believers in sacred moments should be more heavily influenced by the Holy Spirit than the ethos of the culture. Bluntly? We’ve gotta stop being so sad, ya’ll.

Don’t take yourself so seriously. SMILE.

Come on. This is the assembly of the sons and daughters of God we’re talking about here! Lift your head up because people are watching you; your influence is far greater than you think. Smiling is “the universal welcome,”5 and if we’re truly hospitable in the Christlike sense in the Church, setting people at ease and leading through joy is an imperative.

Our strength comes from rejoicing in God (Nehemiah 8:10).

Granted, there are times where what we’re praying or singing expresses more poignant emotions like repentance or gratitude for Christ’s sacrifice. Yet even in those deeply heartfelt and heavy moments, there can swell a reservoir of delight in the mercy and goodness of God.

So, from an old emo kid, stop with the shoegaze, already.

Think of Who and what we’re celebrating. You should be happy to be here. Express joy. Shed the weight. Loosen your shoulders. Take a deep breath. We are the redeemed People of God; that’s a good thing. Smile, laugh, rejoice.

Just me? Okay. Fine. (But I’m right.)

3. Lean hard into being Biblically pastoral

Of all these thoughts, this one may be where I’m the most concerned. Here it goes:

Worship leaders don’t know the Bible.

There, I said it.

Yes, it’s a generalization. A bit of hyperbole never hurt anyone.6 But honestly, the amount of people leading the Church in praise every Lord’s Day who are nearly oblivious of the Scriptures completely terrifies me.

It’s like a bunch of kids who failed at musical theater or hitting it big in their college pop-rock bands and decided to hitch a ride on the worship train after attending a couple services. “Oh, I could do this.” Cringe.

Have you ever peeked onstage through an eyelash during an awkward prayer or exhortation? Same. To be fair, leading people is hard. Public speaking is hard. Understanding God’s Word can take a lot of investment and be hard. But it’s kind of what we signed up for as ministers of His Presence. Right?

Staggeringly, per recent Barna Research, “over half of all churchgoers are now unable to identify basic biblical priorities, including the Great Commission.”7

What exactly are we doing, then?

Every moment in our gatherings is a discipleship moment. We just miss them a lot.

Worship leaders must begin to cultivate a pastoral heart in caring for the community they are serving by building a deep well of Biblical knowledge. Yes, Phylis sounds like Mariah Carey every time she sings the lead on All Hail King Jesus. But does she have God’s Word deposited deep in her gut in those moments to encourage, pray or exhort the congregation? Does she exemplify what it means to walk closely with Jesus off-stage? Or is her personal discipleship superficial, evident in how she behaves, what she engages in, and her ignorance of the Scriptures?

I want to grow in my understanding of the story of God. I want to lead people well, and in truth, not just out of my musical ability. The Bible must become my bread and butter.

Hitting these notes in his book, The Reset : Returning to the Heart of Worship and a Life of Undivided Devotion, Jeremy Riddle writes the following:

We must re-adhere our lives and ministries to the standard of Scripture instead of the current ‘worship’ culture that has made corruption common. If we choose to live by comparison to our current environment instead of the standard of Scripture – simply mimicking what has become common and acceptable practice amongst churches, worship departments, worship leaders, songwriters, musicals and the labels – we are in great danger of making a mockery and an idol out of the very thing meant to exalt Jesus.8

Look, musical talent isn’t enough.

On its own, prayer isn’t enough.

Biblical knowledge isn’t enough.

But when you blend them all together in leaders who have the heart of a servant and true passion for Jesus, something amazing happens.

People meet with God. Together. Really.

4. Stop and listen

Efficiency is the name of the game in America.

The principles of corporate philosophy have ebbed their way into church life and changed the way we do things. Changed the way we serve, lead and anticipate God’s vision for our people. Changed our analysis of our own spiritual vitality. This has profoundly affected our gatherings. Many times, it can seem like we’re just in a hurry to get to the next thing.

Hurry kills creativity and chokes out our sensitivity to God’s Spirit. John Mark Comer calls it “a form of violence on the soul.”9

Worship leaders, sometimes you need to stop. Wait. Breath. Listen.

This isn’t the Ryman Auditorium or The Troubadour where you’re gigging out, hoping the producer in the back digs your stuff.

The Church engages and waits on God together. Our role is to serve God and serve people by helping facilitate a portion of those sacred moments. Have you ever just taken a breath and stopped, instead of giving in to the anxious rush of “we’ve-gotta-hit-the-track-for-the-next-song” (because we’ve gotta get through the setlist already, ya know)? Have you listened to what God is saying now, doing today, for this gathering?

Almighty God is with us. Here. Now. And there’s tremendous power and grace when the People of God, fully surrendered, are waiting on Him. Blessing Him. Opening up to listen to what He wants to say to each of us through the blessed Spirit.

Worship leaders, we don’t always need to rush. We don’t always need to hurry to have something else to sing or say. Sometimes we just need to do… nothing. For just a moment. Maybe you’ll catch wind of a new melody from Heaven. Maybe God will give you a specific passage of Scripture to encourage people. Maybe that one old hymn in the recesses of your memory is exactly what Jesus feels like hearing right now, even if you didn’t rehearse it.

He’s the One we should be most concerned with pleasing, anyhow.

Listen.

See what happens.

What do you think? Are there other practices worship leaders should start or stop doing in keeping with Biblical outlines for the Church in engaging God’s Presence?