How do you know if you are called to be a worship leader? Should you count only on what you feel is the calling of God? Should you depend only on the encouragement of your pastor and congregation?
You may feel called by God to participate in leading worship, but maybe it hasn't been affirmed in any way by the leadership of your local church. It can feel frustrating to have this calling but not be used by the church. If God really has that calling on your life, He'll make it happen. We artists can easily forget that God can also use others in our life to help discover God's plan for us. We tend to have a "self-importance complex" (if you are an artist and you don't know what I'm talking about, that just might be an indication that you do have it!). Artists must recall that Christ died for them just the same as others, they are just as much a sinner as the rest of the world.
Being a worship leader is not simply standing in front of a group of people singing well and playing an instrument accurately. As a matter of fact, there are some at Grace who I would consider incredible worship leaders by living a life given fully to the Lord without singing a note on the stage. It's about the offering of your entire self. Learning patience, learning to trust in God, learning to submit yourself to those in authority over you are just as important, if not more important, than singing and leading music. Stop waiting to play or sing in your praise team and start serving in your church. Believe me, when you learn these things and apply them in your life, and the time comes for you to be called, you will have earned the trust of your church leadership and your congregation to lead others to the throne of God.
During your time of waiting, ask God to work on you. Ask Him to mold you into a true worshipper of Him. If you want to be a genuine leader, you've got to live the life of a worshipper first. Just a side note, if you do ask for this, take note that you may be asking for some trials in your life. I lost my job of 6 years a week and a half after asking God to mold me into an effective worship leader at Grace Church. If you really want to lead people in worship, you might seriously pray about your commitment. Pray about why you want to lead. Stop praying that God will open the eyes of your leadership to the talents and abilities you may or may not have and let God mold you into the worship leader He wants you to be. I guess it depends on how bad you really want to be used in the area of worship.
Click here to see how Matt Redman responds to this issue.
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