I was having coffee with one of my mentee’s today and we were chatting about the importance of being able to hear from God whilst simultaneously speaking into other peoples lives… like on the go. As we shared our coffees and our hearts, I realised worship leading is so much like our 1:1 coffee dates. I’m constantly asking God “what do you want me to say here?”, trying to listen to Holy Spirit’s promptings while carry on a conversation and then actively, obediently articulate heaven into these lives… Isn’t this what we do as worship leaders? Only instead of an individual in front of us, we have multiple individuals. From the platform we have an acute power to speak truth directly into one life. One life among many. Many lives. Many lives making up the one body.
Think about that for a moment. You are speaking into many lives, but being finely attuned to the story of one. What a responsibility! The thought of rocking up unprepared on a Sunday or being disconnected to God before, during and after is terrifying! But if we’re honest, life happens and it’s easy to take our responsibility lightly. The thought we could do all this without actually connecting to the “one” is equally as disastrous. You know the one… The one who is coming to the room who has already given up. The one who hasn’t been here before. The one who is broken. The one who lost their job. The one who doesn’t feel worthy. The one who’s little baby just died. The one who can’t find words to praise. This is the power of worship: Meeting together and declaring His truth over circumstance, we become one voice. Together we become intertwined in the melody of life, as we bring worship to our Father.
This Sunday might be an ordinary moment for you, but it might be the first time the “one” meets Jesus. With the “one” in mind, I’ve come across two reflections I believe we should bring to the forefront in how we lead our collective “one” into a place of worship. Who are we leading? And are we leading them well? Ask from a humble, servant heart, how can I serve the “one” in my congregation today?
It’s easy to combine the wash of faces, a great song, with a great team into an “awesome move of God” (and applies unequivocally in the reverse also). So ask yourself: how do you lead? Do you give gentle instruction, too much instruction, no instruction at all when leading where to go next or do you expect your congregation to automatically know how to follow you while you sing freely? Are you working with lots of space it is hard to know where to actually tread or are you working within a framework that has little movement? Do you spend time preparing in the Word and at your instrument privately in the lead up or do you just rock up and hope the Spirit moves through you? It’s when you begin to understand the importance of the story of the “one”, and how culminating those stories as one in worship, with one voice, that we place an incredible and new value on His people. Suddenly we can see how Jesus sees us. You. Me.
I’ve heard it said often “if I was the only person left on the planet, Jesus would still die for me”. Well babe, His love is that great. He cares and pursues the one. He would pursue you, even if it was His only option.
It’s not a cliche.
It’s reality.
Your story matters.
The narrative behind who you are and how you got here needs to be told. And needs to be heard.
Which is why hearing God is so important as we lead, it can be something that is often overlooked as we prepare for our services, lost in songs, set lists, musicianship or team dynamics, or as we flippantly put songs together at the last minute. We need to be open to where He is leading us, so we can lead His people. So, I’ll keep asking, and try my best to keep attuned, and lean in as I lead (in my everyday and on the platform), all in the pursuit of meeting with the collective “one”. To point His precious one’s back to Him.
After all, He is always in pursuit of the one.
The ones He loves so generously.