WORSHIP LEADERS
THE BOTTOM RUNG OF THE LADDER | Grant Norsworthy
Underwhelmed . Disappointed .
I think that ’ s what some people feel when I tell them that , when I lead sung worship , my goal is to have the congregation sing .
There are higher rungs on the ladder . Absolutely ! But I have found it joyfully freeing - like a backpack of heavy rocks falling from my shoulders - to leave those higher rungs on the ladder to God .
They might be thinking : “ So , he just wants to lead some sort ofChristianese karaoke ?” “ Surely this is too small a goal !” “ Not spiritual enough !” Or even : “ Perhaps Grant doesn ’ t really get worship .” “ Doesn ’ t really experience the presence of God like we do .”
But as I shared in my last article SINGING BUT NOT WORSHIPPING ? I have come to the realization that - while I most definitely do want Almighty God to be worshipped and for people to experience His presence - I cannot discern these occurrences with my human eyes . I can ’ t measure whether or not God is being worshipped . Nor can I know with clarity whether or not the congregation is encountering the presence of God .
To quote myself from my previous article : “ But I can tell if the congregation is singing or not ! And that ’ s why I make that my goal . I choose to focus on inviting every man , woman and child in the room to sing prayers , praises and declarations of truth together . If I can get everyone singing together - hopefully with some passion , sincerity and volume - I have found that other expressions of worship and a deepening awareness of God ’ s presence are more likely to follow .”
Imagine a ladder , if you will . I hope this ladder helps explain what I mean .
To me , getting the congregation singing together is only the bottom rung of the ladder . And it ’ s only this bottom rung of the ladder that I am responsible for . It ’ s the humanly observable outcome that I am hoping to see with my human eyes and hear with my human ears . I can make vocal , instrumental and technical choices that warmly invite the congregation I am leading to sing ! I can encourage them to sing prayers to God , praises of God and reminders of truth about God together . To sing as an important , valuable and potentially transformative expression of worship .
Did the people have an authentic encounter with God ? Share in a time of intimacy with Him ? A touch of His Holy Spirit ? Healing ? Did their devotion to God increase ? Their understanding of God improve ? Their relationship with Him deepen ? Did they receive a word of knowledge from God ? I can hope so , but I cannot know for certain .
Sometimes people share with me that they have had experiences like these when I have led sung worship . I am pleased to hear their accounts , but these are not metrics on which I can base my musical and technical decisions .
If I make it my goal that the people I lead in sung worship should experience God ’ s presence , I think it can lead to three less-than-ideal scenarios :
1 ) If I succeed , I could become convinced that I carry a special anointing from God that enables me to bring about experiences of God ’ s presence . Even though I may recognize that any abilities I have are God-given , I could become deceived that it is actually me and my abilities that usher people into His presence . This can easily go to my head and pollute my heart . I can effortlessly and perilously fall into the idolatrous trap of worshipping my ability to give people experiences ( that I believe to be ) of God ’ s presence .
2 ) The weight of responsibility to bring about experiences of God ’ s presence can become so heavy , it can crush me . I can overthink and over-spiritualize every song choice , every word , every note , every repeated bridge . Even every team member and their motives ! It ’ s too
38 December 2024 Subscribe for Free ...