ARTICLE By DAVID WILLERSDORF | Wednesday, 27 October 2010
I've come to the realisation that as a Church Worship Leader, I am redundant, superfluous and unnecessary. There is only one person I should be leading in worship.
If worship is my whole life given back to God every day in all my everyday ways as we see in Romans 12:1, the term "Worship Leader" should never refer to someone who is singing songs and prompting people as to whether they should be singing a chorus or a verse.
Worship Leading is a responsibility of each one of us everyday to lead ourselves in our own personal response to God as our worship. No one else can lead us - it is our own life-giving and pleasurable responsibility.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
--- 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
When did we start giving over to others the responsibility that God has given exclusively to us? God's design for me is direct interaction with Him. He made sure of this through His redemptive work on the Cross. Before then God's people had priests operating on their behalf. After The Cross, God has now made us all His priests, with one High Priest called Jesus Christ.
"So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."
--- Hebrews 4:14-16 (NLT)
"...God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and He [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him."
--- Hebrews 5:9 (NLT)
I love declaring God's truth in song and seeing it lodged in the lives of multitudes of people. Whilst my old job title might have been "worship leader", I see my role now as more of a God-Declarer, the same role all Believers should have. I might use music to declare, someone else will use spoken words; we all should have lives declaring the freedom-sound of God.
The traditional use of the term "Worship Leader" would have us all rely on one person or one music team to lead us in worship during a set period of an hour and a half on a Sunday morning. That would be like having a marriage counsellor who visits your home for an hour and a half each week and who tells you how to interact with your spouse. You were designed to have a direct relationship with your spouse twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week - not a relationship only lived out through intermediaries.
So where does this thought leave us?
As a former "worship leader", and now a "God declarer", it leaves me with freedom to inspire people with God. I am unshackled with the false responsibility of "if only the people would worship!"
To people who have always looked to a worship leader to "take them deeper" with God, it actually frees you up to enjoy leading your own worship of God, albeit with the direct assistance of the Almighty God. It means that you are now the God-declarer in your own life and you are unshackled to a human intermediary. You get direct access to Jesus - your High Priest on whose ministry team you are considered a royal priest.
Come declare God with me!