Posts Tagged ‘worship leading’
“He must increase, but I must decrease”
As a fledgling worship leader, two blogs which I read often are Bob Kauflin’s “Worship Matters“, and Jamie Brown’s “Worthily Magnify“. It’s filled with practical and spiritual counsel on how to develop more effective and God-honouring worship leading, and it comes from leaders with many years of experience.
Brown’s recent post caught my attention this morning: it was on how a worship leader could decrease his presence. He gives immensely practical tips on how worship leaders can draw less attention to themselves. An excerpt:
I’ve heard it said that the role of a worship leader is similar to that of an usher at a wedding. An usher at a wedding is prepared, kind, there to serve, shows people how to get where they need to go from where they are, and does everything he can to make the wedding go smoothly. If the usher does a good job, no one leaves the wedding talking about the usher.
If a worship leader does a good job, no one leaves the service talking about the worship leader. That’s a sign that the worship leader’s prayer was answered – that “He must increase, but I must decrease”.
Friends who knew me before I was saved will remember and affirm that I had an extremely gifted opinion (e.g.o.) of myself. My life’s ambitions and goals were ways in which I could promote myself and my fame, whether it was aiming to be a world-famous composer, or a wildly successful singer-songwriter, or just to be well-known and well-liked by everyone around me.
Even stepping up on stage on Sundays is a daunting thing: my old man wants to glorify myself and take in all the adulation and praise, whereas it should all rightfully belong to God. So that’s why John 3:30 is reverberating wildly in my head and is a great verse for any ministry teamster in a public role. I’m grateful that God’s working on me still.
Check out the full post; it’s definitely a worthwhile read.
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John [the Baptist] answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:27-30)