Stepping onto any platform to lead corporate worship is a step of faith that should come with a warning label: proceed with caution. We must never enter casually into this arena, which requires depth of spiritual maturity and a breadth of skills and abilities. The call to Moses and Aaron, to the disciples, to Paul, to elders, deacons, etc. all included instructions that set them apart from the whole of God’s people. More specifically, they were all charged with the task of leading people to trust and follow God. To follow our calling as worship leaders, we must know God’s direction and destination for our congregation, or we will lead our people astray.

So, where has God called you to lead your people? Where are you taking your people on the journey of worship? What is the destination? Most often, we ask a different question: how has God called you to lead people in worship? But God has called us as worship leaders, and leadership involves taking someone from point A to point B. If you haven’t set the destination, how will you know if you have arrived? How will you know that worship has done what it is supposed to do? In turn, then, how do we as worship leaders help ensure that worship does what it is supposed to do?

Over centuries of God’s people gathering to worship, answers to the above questions have been varied, expansive, and even hotly debated. Upon personal reflection, insight from God’s Word, and bequeathed wisdom of generations of leaders, I would submit that we are called as worship leaders to do the following:

1. Love the Lord. (Matt. 22:37). How is your relationship with the Lord? Are you growing in your understanding and love for God? It’s hard to have earthly relationships if you never talk or spend time with someone, yet I fear this is a common temptation for most worship leaders. I know because it is a temptation for me. Is your relationship with the Lord stronger now than it was last year, or two years ago, or when you became a Christian?
2. Love people. (Matt. 22:37). More specifically, love those under your leadership. Do you really see each person gathered in a worship service as someone for whom Christ died? Throughout Paul’s letters, we see Paul’s deep love and affection for the people of God. As one of my pastor’s has said, people want your time, attention, and affection. Are you ready and willing to give your congregation those things before you lead them in worship?
3. Lead people. We cannot take people to a place where we have not been. A leader is simply saying, “Here…I know the way to go. Come with me.” In your worship leadership, point people to The Way, The Truth, and The Life. Often, we unintentionally point people to ourselves by the way we sing, or dress, or our mannerisms on the platform. Can we lead in such a way that we almost disappear so that the Lord is seen in all His glory? (John 3:30). Remember, the leader is not the focus; the destination is. We are to help people get to the destination: Jesus Christ.
4. Be faithful. How has God equipped you? What skills and talents have you been entrusted to steward? Are you using them to their full extent to lead others in worship? When we are faithful with little, the Lord entrusts us with more (Luke 16:10). The title of Eugene Peterson’s book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society encapsulates the idea that spiritual growth and faithfulness occurs over extended periods of time. To be faithful is to be full of faith, trusting that God is working out His plan of redemption in His perfect time throughout all time. We are to be at our “post” ready to serve as God leads and as people need. May God help us run the race and finish well! (1 Cor. 9:24; Hebr. 12:1)
5. Be skilled. I really enjoy watching football. A lot of guys love to play football, but not everyone gets to play in college or in the NFL. Why? Because there is a certain amount of advanced skill required to play football at a high level. This comes from practice that, in turn, leads to a level of performance that is different from what is considered normal by an untrained individual. The Bible encourages us in this type of work and training:
   Do you see a man skillful in his work? he will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men. -Proverbs 22:29 
   Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. – Psalm 33:3
   What are you doing to develop your skills? Are you practicing and improving your craft? Keep working to develop skills that are above average to remove distractions, imperfections, and inaccuracies that can detract from worship.

6. Depend on the Holy Spirit. All our efforts in worship, apart from the work and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, are in vain. To play skillfully without depending on the Holy Spirit is hubris and self-aggrandizing. To lead in the power of the Holy Spirit is humbling and wise. John 14:26 recounts the words of Jesus to the disciples: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” Remember: it’s not about your ability; it’s about your availability—your availability to be used by the Holy Spirit.
7. Trust the Lord for the results. At the end of a worship service, it’s common to ask: “Did that work?” or “Did that connect or make an impact?” While the intent of this question can be somewhat helpful, our evaluation of worship can never fully measure spiritual impact. Ultimately, God is working out his plan in individuals’ lives, often in ways that we cannot see and or understand. It’s tempting to try to evaluate the impact of a service by how many hands were raised, how many eyes were closed, or other audible or visible interactions. These are superficial markers that speak to only a part of what God may be doing in a service. Remember that “the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7, ESV).

Jonathan P. Rodgers is Area Coordinator of Music and Worship, Director of the Samford Worship Collective, and Faculty Fellow for The Center for Worship and the Arts at Samford University. He has been directing choirs in schools and the church for over twenty years. As a clinician and presenter, Rodgers has been a guest conductor for honor choirs throughout the Southeast. Currently, he is serving as Minister of Music and Worship at Liberty Park Baptist in Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to this position, Rodgers was Minister of Music and Worship Arts at Hunter Street Baptist Church, and prior to that, Assistant Professor of Choral Music at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. In addition to his conducting and scholarly activities, Jonathan is an active pianist, composer, and arranger. Jonathan has been married to his wife Alicia for twenty-one years, and they have four children: Savannah, Leighton, Brooks, and Gabe.

Additional articles from this author:

Worship Check-up: Vital Signs for Healthy Congregational Worship

Healthy Congregational Worship—Is Trinitarian in Nature

Healthy Congregational Worship—Encourages Vibrant Congregational Singing

Healthy Congregational Worship—Is Planned and Prepared

Healthy Congregational Worship—Activates Vertical and Horizontal Relationships

Healthy Congregational Worship—Is Timely and Timeless

Healthy Congregational Worship—Remembers its Context and Community