If you have led worship at the same church for a while, chances are you have a firm belief that you know your congregation. You should know them by now. But do you really?
I would like us to seriously consider this question: do we know our congregation? Or do we assume we know them?
I have traveled from coast to coast in Canada, singing in almost every denomination there is. I have seen many styles of worship and I have seen a lot of concerns. I have witnessed many song leaders that lead what they know, or what they like, forgetting there is a congregation that attends their church. Forgetting, in fact, that the congregation is the reason they lead in worship.
Here are a few questions for you to consider:
Am I playing music every week that the congregation “gets?”
Do I know what style of worship my congregation enjoys?
Do I care what style of music/worship my congregation enjoys?
Have I ever really stopped to think and ask what musical preferences are in my congregation?
Chances are…there are many styles of music represented in your congregation. May I suggest there might be many more styles represented in the congregation than you are playing? Is that possible?
There are a couple schools of thought regarding this issue…
1. It is our job to teach them and bring them along to the new worship.
2. We need to cater to everyone and please no one.
I would like to offer a different solution, based on the premise of love!
If you truly love your congregation, you will play music that is appropriate for your congregation. If you truly love your congregation, you will focus on them…and less on you. If you truly LOVE your congregation you will put their needs before yours. You will pick songs that your specific congregation knows and appreciates.
If you truly love your congregation and they know it, then you can lead them in worship. If you are playing the newest and greatest tunes, so they can hear how good you are, then you are not leading them…you are singing for them.
Now, I know that nobody reading this has ever found themselves being that selfish! Right? Well I have! There were times I would go into a service ready to show the congregation what I know…ready to teach them how to sing and worship! It was not my intention, but it was the outcome of wrong thinking.
I thought I was to lead in music. I thought I was there to sing and play. I forgot that my role – given to me by God – was to lead the congregation I was in front of, into worship – into HIS presence. We are to lay the groundwork for HIS word to be presented. We are not there to “sing songs,” although that is our medium.
If you remember that you are called by God, that it is in HIS authority you stand up and lead…that it is your job to lead the congregation into His presence, all the while LOVING HIS PEOPLE…then you will avoid a lot of controversy and have a congregation that feels loved.
That is a win/win!
Kevin Pauls, Live Music Producer
www.expressiveworship.net
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