WORSHIP LEADERS
THE MEASURABLE GOAL & THE HIGHER GOAL | Grant Norsworthy
photo by Nathan Mullet via Unsplash
Get your congregation singing !
It ’ s true . I am an outspoken advocate for this humanly measurable , musical goal when Believers gather to worship God through songs . I want to see and hear every man , woman and child in the congregation singing ! Singing prayers to God , praises of God , and declarations of truth about God .
This is how I measure if I have done a good job or not . If they ’ re singing - especially if they ’ re singing with some passion and volume - I feel like I have done a good job . If they ’ re not , the goal has not been achieved . I ’ ve failed .
I ’ d rather have them singing than have them listen to me singing on their behalf . Their “ voice ” is more important than mine .
But this is merely the humanly measurable , observable , musical goal . This is the goal that
( hopefully ) everyone involved can agree upon and buy into : the senior pastor , the elders , the singers , the instrumentalists , the technicians , and the congregation .
But there are higher goals than simply having the congregation singing . This is not just some sort of Sunday cover band karaoke ! To me this is the bottom rung of a metaphorical ladder . Other higher goals can be achieved , but it ’ s this bottom rung of the ladder that I am responsible for .
But sometimes people - even Church leaders
- hear my emphasis on congregational participation and misunderstand where I ’ m coming from . I heard it most recently from a younger “ Worship Leader ” of a larger , Pentecostal-flavored church . We ’ d been discussing the possibility of having me spend some time training his team of singers , instrumentalists , and technicians with a
More Than Music Mentor workshop . Perhaps after skim reading some of my articles , he ’ d gone off the idea . As he kindly explained , “ Grant , we can ’ t have you give a workshop . I think we and you have different goals . You see , you want the congregation to sing , but we want our congregation to have an encounter with Jesus .”
While I totally appreciated his candor , my heart sunk . “ Oh no !” I thought , “ How did I give him the impression that I don ’ t want people to encounter Jesus ? Of course , I do ! That ’ s the higher goal !”