Leading worship is a community thing.

Last week, I got to lead worship for the small group I go to every Wednesday evening. I thought, rather naively, that this would be the easiest thing ever. Yeah, I know.

But this confidence of mine is not without precedence. I’ve lead worship many times before, on stage and off stage. I’ve gotten over my fear of public speaking and performed in high school musicals in front of crowds of people. What could go wrong?

As it turns out, it’s not about how afraid you are. It’s about leading effectively and humbly.

Worship leading can be a… nebulous thing. There’s no guidebook on how to do it, and the Bible scarcely provides much instruction on it. Unless you have a mentor that can show you the ropes, it’s largely up to you to lead others in praise. Pretty scary.

When I was just starting out, I was fortunate enough to have a pastor that was actively involved in the youth praise team. He helped organize set lists, kept rehearsals on track, and most importantly, gave spiritual guidance. He shepherded us volunteers who had little to no musical experience, and gave himself as a stepping stool to make our worship team happen.

And that’s the main thing here - being a shepherd. Leading worship is an act of shepherding. People can have no idea how to worship and give praise to God, and they need someone to guide them. Not someone who sings the best, sounds the best, plays guitar the best. As far as I’m concerned, those people are a dime a dozen.

Anyway. Before I led worship for my small group on Wednesday, I prepared as I usually did, a couple hours before I left the house. I took into account the age range of my group, and selected songs that I thought they would know. Since most of them were middle aged, I chose some old songs, Vineyard and Don Moen. I practiced with my guitar, familiarized myself with the lyrics, and I was set. At 5:45, I was out the door to beat the evening traffic.

Noticed anything wrong yet?

What I failed to take into account was the spiritual side of leading. When we come together to worship, we step into a time where we express our reverence and bear our hearts before God. And I, having been in many worship teams, assumed that the people in my group knew how to do this, how to be intimate with the Lord during times of worship. I never considered that we wouldn't be on the same page in that regard.

When it comes to making a set list, it can be difficult if you just plunge into it blindly. The easy thing to do is to choose popular songs, or our personal favorite songs. Choosing songs based on other people’s familiarity with them is not a bad thing to do, but it’s a rather shallow metric. Rather, our set lists should be prayerfully chosen and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Not just as leaders, but as Christians, we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and go where he wants to take us and our communities. And that includes times of worship too.

When I showed up for small group and we entered into praise, I sang passionately, played my guitar with my eyes closed, all that jazz. But I was uncomfortable, and the atmosphere was a little stifling. The others in my group were singing too, but they didn’t match my energy. And I realized that I wasn’t really leading them. I was just worshipping by myself.

There’s a video on Youtube of Taya Gaukrodger, of Hillsong United fame, leading worship with a keyboard for fifty minutes. She’s a phenomenal singer, as we all know. But what I most like about her is that she talks to the camera occasionally, preaching and sharing insight on the song she’s leading us in, sometimes being vulnerable as well. It’s not a style that everyone might get on with, and I’m not saying we all have to lead like Taya, but there’s a quality to her leading that reflects a right spirit when leading worship - being mindful of others and where they are with God at the moment.

Leading worship is a community thing. As leaders, we are not called to be stand alone singers or artists, hogging the spotlight. We are called to be shepherds, guides that don’t just point others to God, but walk with them along the way as Jesus did. It is a position that demands for us to be with God and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, for us and our communities.