Worship Leaders - Who's got the right stuff?

There are way too many people who equate talent with leadership. Because they have some sort of skill, they must be qualified to lead others. I disagree with that wholeheartedly.

The worst culprits? Worship leaders. You got some guy who's awesome at playing guitar, a great singer, knows the music, and yet when you put him in charge, it falls apart. Yet people who have the authority to assign leadership remain convinced that they're qualified.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Let's stick with the worship leader example. In case you're not familiar with this industry, let me outline everything that a worship leader needs to think about:

1) Band mates: Who's in the band? What are their skills? Where can they best be utilized? Are they strong Christians or are they weaker? Can you give someone a special part? Are they going through something that you need to encourage them on? Do they have a problem with something that you need to address?

2) Song selection: what set list will accomplish the most? Does it have consistency? Does it fit in the time frame allowed for worship? Is the band capable of playing the song with excellence (including you)? Is there a mixture of fast and slow, worshipful and praise, old and new?

3) Leading the band during a song: What parts sound good where? Who should sing when? Are you giving proper signals to go to some other part? Are you allowing other band members to utilize their gifts?

4) Leading the congregation during a song: Are you making sure the congregation is with it? Are you encouraging the congregation? Can you adapt to a bad reaction from the congregation on a song?

5) Being sensitive to what the pastors expect: Are you staying in your proper time slot? Are you providing songs that coincide with the message? Are you providing a mix of songs that will glorify God yet not creep out any of the newer members of the church?

There's a lot more where that came from, but I think it's a good start! The point I'm trying to make is that leading (specifically, in worship) is not easy and it's not for everyone. There are so many things that go into successfully leading something and a good leader remembers it all. Trust me, I'm still learning and have a long way to go! And I'm sick of people assuming that because someone is good at a specific thing, makes them a good person to lead others in that. Not true. Plus, I haven't even mentioned a whole other side to the ability to lead - attitude and personality. Maybe that will be my next post...