A while ago my daughter proceeded on vacation. I was looking forward to this because for another two months I will be relieved of school runs. But then, finding what to engage a six year old with can almost make you wish school was in session every day, every week and every month.

My wife and I had figured out a number of things to engage her. Arts classes, dance classes, possible overseas trip and visits to friends. Of course, one of the things she would find herself doing when at home is to watch TV. But then on the first day of vacation, my daughter was extremely frustrated with what was shown on TV. She wanted to watch cartoons. But most TV stations were showing documentaries that bothered on dividends of our “nascent democracy” and the sort. So my wife and I decided to get cable TV so that she could watch, amongst other things, Cartoon network. Of course, that has its own challenges as one has to constantly sift the bad from the good.

I learnt a great lesson from this experience. There was a lot happening on TV. But none was good enough to engage my daughter. Bringing this truth home to worship and its ministry, it’s possible for there to be a lot of activity on stage and yet it does not engage or captivate those who have come to church. One of the hard truths those of us who minister on stage have to come to terms with is this: the intensity with which we minister is not equal to the intensity with which it is received by the congregation. And there are several reasons why. It will surprise you to know that quite a number of these reasons have nothing to do with the congregation. There are so many assumptions we make that just don’t make sense. Like someone wrote, what you assume sometimes makes an ASS out of U and ME. Even after I read this amazing truth, I still find myself making silly assumptions ever so often.

One of the things we need to seriously deal with in order to be able to lead worship in a way that engages God and people’s attention has to do with knowing. Knowing what you may ask? Knowing God, knowing the people you are leading and knowing yourself too.

Knowing yourself: When it comes to leading worship, you must know yourself. You must understand your personality. You must appreciate your strengths. After leading worship for over 15 years, I have come to realize that I have got a particular style. I have also come to realize that not everybody likes it. My job is not to make them like it. I am not called to everyone. I can’t be everything to everyone. I remember reading an article by Don Moen the other day. He said even his children think his music is boring!

If people invite me and hope I can turn people on the way Kirk Franklin or Gbenga Adenuga would, then they have wasted their money, time and effort. I am me. I have come to realize that I am who I am not because of what I do. It is who I am that defines what I do. I wish I could do the things that Kirk does. But if I do, my soul will brand me fake. And the people will bear witness to my soul’s testimony. The other day I watched the film Ray, which chronicled the life of the legendary Ray Charles. Here’s a conversation that ensued between him and his wife that really impacted me: “Who is Ray Charles” asked Ray “Nobody if you don’t know” replied his wife.

You are not somebody because of your name. Your name comes alive when you discover who you are.

Knowing the people: Years ago, whenever I got on stage to lead worship, I didn’t think twice about having the first two or three songs I sang being Yoruba songs. But then one fateful day, we had to pass out data forms to everyone in church. When they turned in the forms, I had the privilege of reviewing the data and then I realized we had as many Ibo people in church as Yoruba people. So what happened to Mr. Okeke who, though lives in Lagos does not understand Yoruba, when I sing 3 songs in a row in my father’s native tongue? He disconnects! Notice this, God does not have any problem with the song, but then because there has to be an encounter via communication in worship, the whole experience becomes still-born for some people. Consequently, corporate worship in that sense was ineffective.

Sometime in 2003 I was involved worship missions to Nairobi, Kenya in partnership with Calvary Ministries. I have been around a bit and I have got to give it to East Africans, nobody sings with verve like them. But then most times, I could not participate very much in the worship because they sang in Swahili most of the time. So after 3 songs, I just give up.

The solution does not lie in finding what songs everybody likes either. In cosmopolitan societies like Lagos, I will advocate that singing in local languages be scaled down to about 30%. And even when we do sing in such languages, an effort must be made to make everyone understand what the words mean. That does not mean we should now start sounding American. One of the things that peeves me is when a choir sounds so American when they render special songs or during praise and worship. There are several things wrong with this.

First, you need to understand that though we have been influenced by American values, we don’t even have a Yankee heritage. If we should have a colonial mentality, it should be British, not American. Some people can’t even speak good English and yet sound so American when they sing. Good heavens! The people listening to you know you are fake. And even if there was an American in the audience, he or she would not be impressed one bit. There is nothing wrong in singing American songs but we can tweak and make them locally relevant. We don’t have to sing it the way they sang it. By the way, the world is waiting to hear songs that refresh springing out of Nigeria.

Those of us in the music ministry can be so unmindful of what people go through. But having the privilege of assisting my pastor for almost a decade has made me to be a bit more sensitive. I have named new born babies but I have also buried the dead. After service, as worship leaders hang out with people. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Mourn with those who mourn. Buy someone a drink.

I know two women in my church who have each lost at least two children in the past five years. Many times before I get on stage, I ask myself, what song can I sing today that would be a blessing to these women? I could get on stage and scream into the microphone “If you are happy to be alive today, if you have breath in you today, pra ai ai ai se daaaaaaaaaaa Looooorrrrrd!” But would these people be moved? Perhaps yes, but not as much as I would really like. But then, I have come to appreciate these two people who come to church every Sunday and praise Him despite what they have been through. That’s faith. High praise is not determined by how many decibels are expelled in the sanctuary and in fact by how much we get the people excited.

Know your God: It’s amazing how we spend hours rehearsing, spend thousands of naira and dollars buying new sound equipment but then we don’t realize that what makes worship what it is is knowing God. The knowledge of God is what determines whether our worship is vain or effective. We may say good things about the Lord but that does not mean we really know or believe what we say. Have you ever heard someone speak and because he wants to impress you, he uses words that you know he does not even understand.

The other day my wife and I were listening to someone who was the MC for a programme on TV. He was trying very much to say a lot of good things about a particular elder statesman. “He is this, he is that” he went on saying. And then he said something that just didnt add up, “He is a very senile man” What?!!! He probably heard the word somewhere and thought it was a nice way to describe old men. Our worship leading in a way can be like that. We sing songs because of the groove but we have not really discerned the spirit of the song.

I always feel so terrible on stage when I start to say things about a God who I have not related with in days. Sometimes on such occasions, experience and God’s anointing takes me through but as I stand there I feel like someone who has organized a party that is really rocking, yet feels sad at the same time. How do we know God? It’s found in that classic song for kids “Read your bible, pray everyday”. When we do these, then we can usher His presence into the sanctuary, because we will know where he is headed (Psalm 68: 24 – 25) and also because we know whom we worship (John 4:22)

Wale Adenuga is a song-writer and worship leader. He heads Fountain of Praise Music.

Visit Wale's blog at waleadenuga.blogspot.com