Bob Kauflin on the Task of Worship Leaders

A few weeks ago I introduced the words of Bob Kauflin on the role of the worship leader in a worship service. The second part in that series concerns the task … what it is we actually do and how we should evaluate it. Here are Kauflin’s words from a summary video found on YouTUBE.

… a few years ago a friend and I came up with a definition of what a worship leader is supposed to do. It goes like this:

A faithful worship leader magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by skillfully combining God’s word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the Gospel, to cherish God’s presence, and to live for God’s glory.

Now, there’s a lot to unpack there, but I think the most important phrase is magnifying the greatness of God in Jesus Christ. In Psalm 34 David says, “Come, magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.” And that’s what we’re seeking to do every time we lead people in praising God. We want to magnify Him. We want to make Him bigger in people’s eyes. When people come into our meetings,so often they are overwhelmed with their problems and sins. … Our job as worship leaders is to use God’s word combined with music to help them see in a compelling way how great God is; how holy and awesome He is; how good and merciful and sovereign He is. …
We don’t want people leaving our meetings saying, “What a great band!” We want them leaving saying, “What a great Savior!” Because apart from Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death on the cross for our sins, all our worship, all our achievements, all our efforts are unacceptable in the eyes of a holy God. But because of Christ and His finished, atoning work, enduring God’s wrath in our place – and through faith in Him – God hears our songs and prayers as though Jesus Himself were offering them.
This is successful worship leading: helping people see that Jesus Christ has opened up the way for us to draw near to the Father; and that we have every reason to give Him glory, not only when we sing, but every moment of our lives.
[Emphasis mine]

Here is the whole YouTUBE post in Kauflin's own words:



The peace of Christ to you.