the fine line between leading and worshiping

[sonworshiper]

Hi all,



I've been thinking about this quite a bit over the last few years. It comes from the concept that my mentor in leading worship told me way back when I first began leading worship, to pay attention to where people are during the worship. Let them sit if they seem tired, pay attention to what they're doing kind of thing. She also said that the worship leader should never get "so lost" in worship that they don't notice that they've lost the congregation.



Since that time, I have become more and more of a worshiper. Sometimes, it's hard to pay attention to what's going on AND worship God myself. Do you know what I mean? I don't want to become a lead worshiper who is "lost" in worship while the congregants look on in wonder. . . . :brow:



I find that at certain times in worship, I HAVE to close my eyes and concentrate only on God, or I lose my way--like in spontaneous worship and such. :yes:



Just wondering what your opinions would be on this subject. . . .bring 'em on Dean! (and Helena!) ;-)



blessings! :twirl:



Moe.

:crooner:

[HelenaZF]

I'm from the "watch and pray" school of worship leading. I do think that you need to be aware of what is going on in the room so that you can respond immediately to it.



I'm not just referencing the congregation, though....I'm talking as well about seeing what else is happening. Is someone about to give a prophecy? Has a banner started to move? Is the pastor wanting to interject something, or want some musical underlayment as he speaks or calls people up for ministry?



You can't be aware of any of those cues if your eyes are closed.



So I would say that to be a really effective "team" player, one needs to cultivate the ability to worship with one's eyes open. Spending a lot of time leading worship with your eyes closed gives the message that you are the main worshipper, and you are calling the whole show. Since you have the power of the sound system behind you, no one will be able to break in gracefully. Closing your eyes effectively shuts out all other directional input from the other ministers around you.

[DeanZF]

<COLOR color="navy"><SIZE size="3">So many thoughts, so little space and time! :disco:



There is an old saying in Israel, that where you have five Jews discussing an issue, there will be at least six opinions! :jew: I totally concur. I have at least three separate points of view on these questions, Moe!



First, I am often guilty of closing my eyes in worship while I am up front. Sometimes, that's just because I'm either out of practice just in worshipping or at least in helping to lead worship with my eyes open, which my head and heart tell me is the appropriate position as a leader. I agree with your mentor in that regard.



Second, it's vital, at least within the confines of what I would deem a "normal" charismatic-type worship experience, to be watching and praying (or watching and praising). If you want to be aware of what God is doing, and cooperate with it, it's a whole lot easier to have the eyes open to see what's doing!



You can ask Helena about the difficulty in dealing with a team-mate whose eyes are closed (that would be me). It's very hard to lead a blind musician!



Third, and perhaps hardest to chew on, I have to introduce you to one Bob Mason (Robert Mason, formally, writer of "O Come Let Us Sing for Joy to the Lord," among others, and former worship leader for Larry Lea at the Church on the Rock near Dallas TX a number of years ago). He drove a mighty lesson home about worship leaders to a room full of folks, way back when. It's the "job" of the worship leader to facilitate the worship of others more than it is the job of that person to be worshipping in front of the rest of the folks. If we concentrate on making sure that those who are following actually have some place to GO! We do that by watching to see what the Spirit is doing and cooperating with that. Yes, we can do that with our eyes closed, depending on "the force", as it were, or we can open our eyes and watch the people for some firm input on what He is doing by seeing their responses or lack of response. We can linger where we see power going forth, we can move on if we're lingering where we shouldn't be!



This whole thing depends more on spiritual sensitivity and less on practical musical skills. Knowing how long to linger, how many repeats of a phrase, how long to worship freely on a chord pattern, when to change to a more militant style, when to slow down or quiet down, when to kneel or move to silence, that's hard if you're trying to sess that out literally while physically blind and in our own little worship world.



Mason suggests that we enable their worship because most of them ONLY worship during their Sunday experience. He further suggests that we are ABLE to enable that because Sunday is NOT our only worship experience of the week. Most worship leaders are indeed worshippers who worship regularly during the week (Mason is not alone in this sort of teaching, just my convenient reference point of the moment). Worship leaders regularly get deeper into worship than most of the parishioners will honestly EVER experience! And if you drop a hat, we can get back there quicker that you can blink your eyes, let alone close them!



Yes, there are those who advocate modeling worship for a congregation as their congregational worship leader. I think there's a time for that, but not on a regular basis. There are those who advocate teaching roles for worship leaders, teaching the folks what's expected, possible responses, appropriate behaviors. I think there's a time for that, too. The main thing for any worship leader WITHIN THE CORPORATE CONTEXT, however, is LEADING, not worshipping, IMO.



Mason gave a little parable that has stuck with me for more than 20 years at this point, and gives the whole picture in a way that struck me at the most fundamental level of the leader within me:



</COLOR>

Imagine that you're new in a congregation. You've attended a couple of services and like what you see and hear. You're at peace and thinking that this might be "home" for a while. One of the people in the congregation notices you, sees that you're serious about your walk with Christ and says, "Some of us gather at the pastor's home on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for prayer and a little worship time. We usually spend 60-90 minutes together, starting at 5:00 am. Would you be interested?" Well, because you are serious about your walk, and because you are interested in finding out more about what drives this congregation, you agree to attend. That Tuesday morning, you arrive at 4:55 am to a dark house, with no cars in the drive or on the street. Hmmm, maybe they all live in walking distance?? You check your watch for the time and the date (love them digital watches!!). Right date and time. You check your notes and make sure you have the right address. Yeah, right number, right street, followed the instructions correctly. No lights on anywhere in the house. The gate is locked so you can't explore the back yard, but do you want to do that anyhow? If it's the wrong house... If there's a big dog... If there's an alarm...



Now, rewind, and let it play out this way: You drive up to the house and there in the driveway is a car with the dome light on. You can make out the figure of the person that invited you. The house is dark and you're concerned. You walk over and knock on the car window. Your new friend greets you with a smile and explains that most everyone lives within a block and so walks over, and that they meet in the back room of the basement. The two of you walk in through the gate and around back, into the basement room and enter into prayer and worship. There is still some apprehension, moving into a strange space, side by side with your new friend, both exploring what is an unknown space for you. Does your friend inspire confidence in you by walking beside you?



Or even better, imagine arriving at the house, finding the porch light on and your friend standing inside, waiting anxiously to see if you were coming. You are greeted warmly at the door and offered a cup of your favorite morning beverage and introduced to the group. You are unconsciously aware that your friend has already been where you are going, knows what's going on, is not himself/herself a guest at the event.

<SIZE size="3">The "good" worship leader is already in worship mode when the congregation arrives. It's not what the folks see, it's what they sense without thinking about it. If you are showing them, you (in one sense) met them in the driveway. If you have already been there and your daily, personal worship quota has already been satisfied, folks will sense the porch light is on, the coffee's brewed, and you're ready to introduce them around. That breeds a comfortable, "worship-ready" environment where folks can come in and be comfortable, without apprehension.



Hope that wasn't just a ramble, and that it helps.[/color]

[flaglady]

Sorry - I've only just found this - (bad flaglady!!)



I so loved that little parable, Dean. Wonderful! I so clearly remember being early to church one time and finding the pastor walking round the meeting room praying "Holy Spirit come. Holy Spirit bless all the people who come this morning. Holy Spirit come" over and over again. It gave me a whole new perspective on him and on the meetings.