Bob Kauflin on the Role of the Worship Leader

Bob Kauflin received a piano performance degree from Temple University in 1976, then spent 8 years on the road with GLAD. Since then, he continues to write and arrange for GLAD and others while serving in pastoral leadership on the local church level. He is also a noted speaker on worship and church issues and maintains the worshipmatters.com website.

He recently published a book that I’m looking forward to adding to my library – Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God. To help market the book, the publishers have taken advantage of the changing international information infrastructure and published some video content related to the major sections of the book on YouTube. You can see the whole thing on my previous blog entry. I spent a little time this morning and transcribed it so I can go back and read it again … and so I could share it with my choir and worship team. It’s rich with wisdom … and it applies to ANY worship tradition, and it applies to anyone who speaks, sings, prays, ushers, preaches, etc. to lead others in public worship. Read what Kauflin says:

Years ago God got my attention by allowing me to experience the hopelessness of seeking worship for myself. I’ve learned that God isn’t looking for worship leaders who want to look great in people’s eyes. He’s looking for ones who want to make Jesus look great. And we can’t do both. We can’t try to look impressive and try to make Jesus look impressive at the same time.

Leading worship involves my entire life. It means really wanting Jesus more than anything. It means taking the time to study His word and find out what He’s really like. It means putting the hours in to develop my skills so I can serve my church more effectively. And it means striving to be a great example, not just a great musician.

Being a worship leader isn’t meant to be a hobby or a way of fulfilling my musical aspirations. It’s an opportunity to proclaim that I’m a great sinner who’s been redeemed by a great Savior, and to invite other in to celebrate that reality. Leading worship is a holy responsibility; and if you don’t feel adequate for the task, you’re in the perfect place for God to use you.

If you have time, go see the whole talk (it’s only about 3 minutes) on my blog. You’ll find additional nuggets of wisdom that will enrich your service to God and this congregation. That’s enough to think about for now.

The peace of Christ to you.