Out Of Control

Keith Lancaster What are the most important characteristics of a worship leader? When I ask people that question, many say, the voice. ⁓ it's nice if the leader has a beautiful voice. Or they may say it's helpful to be skilled as a musician. Well, it's great to have a nice voice when you lead worship. But I believe some of the most effective worship leaders don't have a good voice at all. Well then, what are the most important characteristics of an effective worship leader? My answer may surprise you, because it's not what you think. Let's talk about this. I'm Keith Lancaster of Acappella Ministries. Could you do us a favor and sign up for our mailing list so you can know when we're going to be in your area informed of other special events that could bless your life. We live in a culture that absolutely loves sports. And if you enjoy following sports enthusiastically, You become known as a fan. When someone becomes a Christian and begins living their life walking in the footsteps of Jesus, they are often called a fanatic. It's all based upon your perspective and what's important to you. I love to hear people with beautiful voices leading praises to God, but in my book, that is not the most important characteristic. First of all, the leader needs to be out of control. Wait, what do mean by that? When you become a true disciple, you actually give up control. Galatians 2.20 says, "I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me". People regularly use the word "Lord" in a different and sometimes a flippant way, or it's viewed as just another name for Jesus. Actually, Lord means Master, Ruler, one in complete control. Complete control? If you're claiming Jesus as Lord, you are saying, He is in control! So I would say that an effective leader needs to be out of control. I also believe that an effective leader should be intoxicated. What? That would normally get you fired from a job. What do mean by that? Ephesians 5 says, not get drunk on wine wherein is excess or leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit." In other words, we should be filled or intoxicated with the Holy Spirit of God. Romans 8 :9 says, "You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ". I was listening to a podcast called Wise Disciple. I was taken by the statement that there are many Christians who live life as practicing atheists. in the sense that they seem oblivious of the unseen realm, which is in fact the eternal realm. We need leaders who are filled with the Spirit. I have found that the most effective and inspiring leaders are actually contagious. Whoa! The word contagious normally has a bad connotation. We just came through a COVID epidemic in which everyone was trying to avoid being contagious. But if you are filled with the Spirit and if you have a glorious joy, you can't help but be contagious. 1 Peter 1: 8 says, "Even though you do not see him, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy". After all, the gospel means good news. If you aren't sharing a glorious joy, it could be a false gospel. Another important characteristic of a worship leader is one who becomes an enabler. To be an enabler is often used as a description of one in the context of encouraging others to do something wrong, evil, or unacceptable. But obviously in this case we need worship leaders to enable through mobilizing God's people so that everyone can be the choir in worship. Psalm 150:6 says, "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD". When people ask me, what do you think should be the primary goal of a song leader? I tell them that the goal is to motivate, to facilitate, I love that word, and enable the entire body of Christ, which means insist on everyone engaging in worship. It's not about being passive and just listening to others as if you are enjoying a concert. The worship leader is a facilitator. And the worship leader trains others who can do the same thing. 2 Timothy 2:2 talks about teaching others, training others who can, there again, teach others. So we focus on enabling. It's not unusual to find the people who have a gift and an exceptional talent also have a swollen ego and perhaps an unhealthy inflated view of themselves. I believe that an effective worship leader realizes that he is unworthy. Humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand. Luke 17: 10 says, "When you have done everything you were told to do, should say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty". Instead of taking pride in your talent and your accomplishments, the unworthy servant says, "God have mercy on me, a sinner". None of us are worthy, but the Lord has chosen to make us worthy. Praise God. A worship minister must be cognizant of their status of being an alien. It's humorous to me to talk about aliens from outer space and hear discussions about beings spying on our planet. An alien is someone who doesn't belong in a certain place. Christians are actually strangers, pilgrims, and aliens. Philippians 3:20 says, "Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." In John 18, Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world." Do you remember when Jesus prayed to the Father, "My prayer is not for you to take them out of the world, you protect them from the evil one." We are IN the world, but not OF the world. That makes us not of this world or aliens. When you hear someone incessantly talking about a topic, you may refer to them as a soapboxer. Get off your soapbox! But a worship leader is truly a soapboxer with the goal of lifting up the name of Jesus. We are not the source of the light, but we are the reflection of His light, pointing people to Him. "You are God's special possession. so that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." The preacher is not the only one who declares the gospel. People often think that way. Every believer must declare the gospel through their lives and including through the songs they sing. In summary, far more than focusing on having a good voice and being an outstanding musician, a worship leader should be out of control, intoxicated, contagious, enabling, unworthy, alien, soap-boxing fanatic. If you are interested in training leaders to be like this, I encourage you to send them to our annual Worship Leader Institute. It's a men's boot camp. It happens in June. We take a holistic approach to leading God's people in worship. It has become an international institute with students attending from all over the world and from all backgrounds. It's a graduate level, intensive, customized and personalized hands-on coaching experience. I will praise the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.