Bad, 𝘣𝘢𝘥 worship leaders!

Leaders are supposed to lead. Even if they’re busy singing and playing the piano.

Another pet peeve: Worship leaders who worship more than they lead.

Trouble is, whenever I bring this up, people think I’m talking about the people who just recently led worship. Admittedly, they brought this up; but not everything I’m about to rant on was practiced by them. They just happened to have sparked me. And I know the job isn’t easy; but there are some things that every worship leader ought to remember to do.

1. Worship leaders should remember that they know the lyrics better than everyone else. That being the case, they need to have hymnals, lyric sheets, overheads, or PowerPoint available. If none of those things are available, they’re just gonna have to say every lyric before they sing it. I know, it interrupts the rhythm and some people find it distracting. Doesn’t matter. People need to be able to sing along than fumble along. And there is no justification for springing a new song on the congregation when you don’t provide words. “Just listen to the words” is not acceptable.

2. Worship leaders need to provide cues. They should never assume that the musicians, the congregation, and the guy on the PowerPoint knows which direction they’re going to go. My worship leader at my home church always announces which portion of the song he’s going to sing next; this prepares the congregation (many of whom get a little embarassed—even though nobody’s heard them—when they start to sing the wrong thing) and the PowerPoint guy, who is occasionally me. Part of leading is to let people know what’s coming.

3. Worship leaders need to read the bloody lyrics. I ranted recently about “Heart of Worship” because it’s a song that applies pretty much only to worship leaders, yet worship leaders love the freaking song and regularly infict it on congregations that don’t know what they’re singing and think it’s about them enjoying worship too much. As musicians, leaders should recognize three important things about worship songs:

1. Most people sing without thinking about what they’re singing.
2. Most people don’t read scripture, so much of their knowledge about God comes from their worship music.
3. Therefore, worshippers are developing their theology unconsciously, and for this reason God will hold their teachers—the worship leaders—accountable for it.

The Puritans, recognizing this, frequently wouldn’t allow any worship music that didn’t come directly from scripture. We shouldn’t go to that extreme, but we should have worship leaders who recognize that music selection shouldn’t be based on the catchiness of the tune. (Or at least worship leaders that alter the lyrics until they’re appropriate.)

4. Worship leaders need to stay on task. Too many worship leaders forget that they’re leading and start worshipping—and leave the congregation behind. The last worship leader at my home church regularly annoyed people because he didn’t have the patience to let the congregation catch up with where he was spiritually. You have to watch the congregation, encourage them in areas where they get uncomfortable, slow down if you notice they can’t keep up, etc. In other words, lead.

5. Worship leaders should NEVER blame the congregation for the worship. This morning it looked like someone was passing out formaldehyde before chapel. Too often, I have heard worship leaders nag the congregation to get into the worship. (This morning, the worship leaders didn’t; the speakers somewhat did.) So we’re going to blame poorly led people for going in the wrong direction? Stop misdiagnosing the symptom! If any member of the congregation is having trouble with worshiping, there’s a problem, and it won’t be solved by nagging. It’ll be solved by coming alongside the person, encouraging, comforting—you know, Holy Spirit stuff. Nagging is the fleshly response.

I likely can find more to rant against, but that’s all I can think of for now. Feel free to contribute your own gripes.