I come from a combination of old-school Lutheran roots and 1980s+ charasmatic roots…quite the combo, but I’m grateful for both experiences. Lately, it’s been pressed on my heart, ‘where’s the reverence? where’s the fear of the Lord?’ regarding many of the worship services I’ve been a part of in the past few years… It seems the church is more centered on “me” than on Who it is we’re created to worship, Christ.

Thanks, again…it’s good to hear the Lord is sharing this message to other believers and that they’re responding to His voice.

However, just as it is helpful sometimes to have a person who is gifted in prayer to start praying and essentially “leading” in prayer to help others get hearts set right, and possibly encourage participation in the prayer, the same can be said for a “worship leader”. These are people who can never ever stand in the place of Christ (and therefore grant us access to our Father) because, one; we already have that access, and two; they are sinners just like me and without Christ are rejected by God. However, there are people who can actively encourage us to go to God with our prayers, concerns, and praises, by setting an example.

In many places the Bible does tell elders and leaders to be examples to others, and always point to Christ. (I Cor. 11:1, Phil. 3:17, 2 Thess. 3:7, I Tim. 4:12) A worship leader is simply one “example” of what a specific physical manifestation of worship may look like, and that “demonstration” can encourage another person in the freedom to worship God, simply by example.

Worship is an individualistic thing. A worship leader can not worship God for me. A worship leader can only encourage me, through example, to be free in my worship of God.

I think I agree with your assertion that “worship leader” in and of itself isn’t a true office of the church. In many cases, though, a church’s “worship leader” is actually a pastor/elder whose giftings and passions happen to lie in the area of musical worship, so that’s where his main responsibility lies. His responsibility to shepherd the flock, to teach and preach, etc are in no way mitigated, but the bulk of those responsibilities might be taken on by other members of the eldership.

I think the category is based on an old covenant understanding of worship, where the priest – essentially the High Priest – was the means of access to God’s presence (Hebrews 9:6-8).

However, in the new covenant it’s different. Jesus is both the true worshipper (Heb. 9:14) and our true ‘worship leader’ – we have access to God through him (Heb. 9:11-15; 10:19-22). We don’t need anyone now to lead us into the presence of God because of Jesus.

In short, I would argue that this is why there is no ‘worship leader’ position in any of the lists of charismata in the NT – and some of those lists are pretty different! To have included such a position would have been a return to the old ways of Levitical sacrifices … and those days are gone.

I’m not talking amplification of the band, well, maybe a little bit, but FIRIN’ UP THE CONGREGATION BABY! SINGING AND SHOUTING PRAISES TO THE KING!

I agree that worship leaders are to lead people into worship. I liken it to what the different gifts are in the Body, how each member has a place and a purpose. A teacher teaches the Word to people. A prayer prays. A worship leader isn’t a performer per se, but someone who points to Christ, someone whose countenance looks as though they are in the presence of the Holy One and I’m invited along, someone who encourages worship through facial expression, countenance, physical motion and being lost in the love of their Savior.

Some of the most worshipful moments for me are actually when the band goes silent and the Body of worshipers sings a cappella. I just love that! God bumps moment!

I enjoyed reading this post Rae!

Great post on singing. I have blogged something on this too on our biblical theology blog (http://www.beginningwithmoses.blogspot.com) … it’s more on the theological substance of what we think but I guess these kind of issues often go hand in hand.

David.