WorshipCentral

Some worship leaders are more natural leaders than others. The natural leaders understand that confrontation is sometimes necessary. They have broad enough shoulders to face temporary unpopularity for the sake of doing what they know is right. For others though, leading can be a tough thing. Speaking personally I’ve had to learn to take more of a lead with the band. I’m not here referring to leading times of worship, but about leading and overseeing a group of people.

I remember the first time I led worship at one of the Soul Survivor festivals. I was nervous and in many ways daunted by the prospect of it. When I came to practise with the band, all of whom were fantastic musicians who had been playing for many years, I felt extremely intimidated. Not only were they all musically much more competent than I was, they were also all older than me. As we practised, all the mistakes that were being made were coming from me (nothing much has changed). They were great about it and were very supportive, but in a word I felt like a loser. Despite all my inadequacies and lack of experience, I knew that I had to take a lead. Although I found it hard I took hold of this responsibility and tried to give direction. At one particular moment the guitarist came up with a very interesting guitar riff which I really didn’t like. Part of me wanted to leave it and let it go, but I knew I couldn’t and as a result I suggested maybe he worked on another idea - which he graciously did.

Leadership at times involves saying the tough things. Sometimes as a worship leader you may have to challenge some of your band, whether it’s something as simple as a lack of punctuality (some say this a defining characteristic of a musician) or a deeper attitude problem. This is never fun to do, but it is essential. If a member of the group persistently turns up late for practise the easy way out is to let it go and hope that things change. I have discovered, however, that it is less painful to address these issues early. If left, the rest of the band will either become resentful or decide to arrive late as well. What could have been a quiet word in someone's ear becomes a major situation. At other times you may have someone in the group who comes across as arrogant. For their sake it is so much better to challenge this attitude and encourage them to work it through.

If God has called you to lead worship, then you need to embrace the cost of leadership. Friends who are musicians say that they find it easier to respond as musicians when the worship leader exudes a certain amount of confidence and gives clear direction. It is important to explain directionally where you are going. This involves explaining your values for worship and also the structure and musical style you wish to pursue. I have had many conversations with worship leaders who complain that some members of their team don’t understand the meaning of worship. If you feel this then ask yourself whether you’ve clearly explained to them why you do things the way you do. Share your heart and more importantly share the Scriptures and allow them time to catch the vision. If everyone is on the same page it will make leading so much easier.

At times you will need to input musically into individuals. A friend who leads worship once mentioned to the guitarist in his group that he felt he needed to try to be more creative in his playing. The guitarist took the advice on board and invested in his playing to improve his creativity. Sometimes I’ve had to be up front with musicians to encourage them to push themselves. Most of the time people have responded brilliantly and it’s helped the band to improve.

It is a good policy to be honest with your worship band. As a result trust and security will grow as everyone knows where they stand. It’s so important that we learn to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We need though to be careful. Often when someone starts with the dreaded words, “Now brother, I say this in love,” we know we’re in for a hammering. Too often people are dumped on and criticised and we call it ‘speaking the truth in love.’ When we challenge, correct, discipline and input into people, it has to come from a place of love. In the context of relationship, we can say the tough things in a way that will challenge people, but will also affirm them.

In the same way, we as leaders need to be open to be challenged by members of the band. I’ve so appreciated when members of my worship team have pointed out to me things that I could work on, or should be aware of. Recently a singer on the worship team hesitantly pointed out to me that my vocals weren’t at their strongest on the low notes. I got the distant impression that what they were trying to say was that occasionally I wasn’t even hitting the low notes. As with any singer/worship leader I was devastated. I couldn’t decide whether to give up leading worship for good or hit them. But because it was Beth Redman I knew I’d lose any fight! As a result I took singing lessons and I’m so grateful that Beth was honest with me. If we are going to take a lead and input into people, we also need to be open for others to input into us. It cannot be a one-way dictatorship.