I was blessed today to be able to be off the stage and be in the congregation worshiping. While I was out amongst the people in a way I don’t normally get to be, I got quite a few comments. Some were along the lines of surprise: “I’m not used to seeing you there…” But the most I got were: “Looks like you got the weekend off…”
That’s never true for any of us as leaders in our church.
I’m not just talking about Worship leaders/pastors. I’m not just talking about Worship band or worship vocalists.
I could go into a few reasons as to why it wasn’t a weekend off. I was listening to the mix to get a feel for what our people are hearing on a weekly basis. I was “replacing myself” (although in reality, I’m not really doing much in terms of training the couple who led today, as they are seasoned veterans in music/worship). I was evaluating our congregation’s response to the team in worship.
Those are all very true statements and we all need to be doing those things, but that’s not what I’m talking about.
What I’m talking about is how we are all leading in worship no matter what our position in the church. Of course, our position in the church determines the amount of influence we will have on the congregation and our ability to lead them, but we all have the ability to lead.
We’ve all seen this from the stage, someone towards the front of the congregation raises their hands, and then we see several others behind them follow suit. In this sense, we never have a weekend off. We never have a weekend when we can relax and not be worship leaders.
This weekend, for instance I minimized the influence I could have on the congregation because I chose to stay in the back. It was intentional so I could move about the sanctuary and listen to the mix in different parts of the room. However, in doing so, I limited the influence I could have to the few people behind me. If I had been up closer to the front, I could have had more of an effect on people’s response in worship.
So, whatever your position in the church – whether you’re the worship leader or a worship team member, a paid staff member or a volunteer, a regular attender or a visitor, a greeter or the senior pastor – you never have a weekend off. Every weekend you have the opportunity to lead someone in worship. Every weekend, you have to make a choice about what you’re going to do with your influence. Are you going to “take the weekend off” and just observe? Or are you going to lead from wherever you are?
