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The
Profile of a Worship Leader (PART
1)
By
Wale Adenuga
I
didn’t think much about the things I am sharing
here until I was asked to speak on the topic at a
worship seminar which held in Ibadan recently. I pondered
a lot on that word profile.
I remembered those fine art guys in school who used
to sketch one’s profile. Profile in that context
means silhouette, outline, shape, shadow, figure or
form. A profile is a representation of the real thing,
even though the entirety of the object can not be
seen in the profile. The profile is like what the
bible says, a shadow of things to come.
As
we stand up on stage, people only see and catch a
glimpse of what we really are. And most times we sell
to people what we really want them to see. Different
people have different opinions of you as a worship
leader. Some of those opinions will change with time.
That is true no matter what you do to maintain your
reputation or the impression you make. I remember
telling my wife as we were courting that my life is
not as sweet as my voice. If she taught I was so sweet,
I obviously have disappointed her again and again.
We
live in a world where we place more attention on what
we see. We walk more by sight than by faith. We walk
by faith most times when our sight has failed us.
The most important things that pertain to our ministry
are things that are unseen. When we get these things
right, then they will positively affect the things
people see. I want to share with you a few of these
things:
A
worship leader must have a proper sense of personal
worth:
Like Lamar Boschman said, a worship’s leaders
sense of worth should not derive from what he does.
“That why we are called human beings, not human
doings” he says. I recall watching the convention
of a political party recently. A gentleman was being
interviewed. The journalist omitted the man’s
title when he was introducing him. When the man responded,
he made sure that of us knew he had a title. “I
am chief XYZ. Now back to your question.” I
found that most amusing. Most people feel empty or
incomplete without titles or without finding recourse
to a career or something to lean on. But we must learn
that you are who you are. Moses desired earnestly
to know how he would sell God to the people he was
being sent to. A typical common sense answer would
have been, “I
am the Great God who created heaven and earth”.
But He just said, tell them I am that I am. He didn’t have any point to prove. And neither
do we.
When
leading worship,
there are so many things to think about from being
sensitive to having a flawless musical presentation
and anything in between. We are not called to prove
a point. We are not called to make an impression.
You are who you are. Once you realize that, a whole
lot of weight will be lifted up your shoulders and
you would be free enough to focus on your time of
ministry and make impact.
He
or she must understand what worship is:
We
can’t possibly define worship. The only way
we would be able to define worship is by getting a
hold on the object of our worship. And we can’t.
And we won’t. Think about this: those twenty
four elders and four living creatures see God every
day and all they keep saying is Holy,
Holy, Holy. It almost seems they are coerced to
say that 24/7 on a decade basis. Don’t they
get bored from that monotonous chore? But here’s
why they keep saying that. His holiness is not just
one of those things. His holiness is eternally captivating.
So they just can’t stop crying Holy,
Holy, Holy. They can’t take their eyes and
mind off His holiness.
Worship
means different things to me. It means being willing
to give up the dearest things in my life if God requires
it. The first time the word worship occurred in the
bible has to do with Abraham giving up his dear son
(Genesis 22:5). That does not mean that’s the
first time worship occurred in the scriptures. God
himself knew it was an expensive sacrifice. Hear God:
“Take now you son, your only son, whom you love
…”(Gen. 22:2) I guess God stated these
distinctions so that Abraham would not even start
to consider Ishmael. I don’t know how this sounds,
but I seem to think that because a man gave up his
dearly loved son, God would have been all the more
inspired (even though its unnecessary) to give up
His only begotten Son because of the act of worship
shown by Abraham.
What’s
very dear to you? About six years ago, my pastor bought
me a shirt. And boy, I loved that shirt. It was quite
trendy at that time. So I scarcely wore it. One Sunday,
I decided to wear the shirt. Lo and behold, I could
not find it in my wardrobe. After a while I realized
that my junior brother who came to visit must have
taken it. I was furious. I sent a friend who was travelling
home with a note to him. In it I wrote “I want
that shirt back now!”
It was good that the note did not carry the
weight of my fury. By the time my brother got the
note, the shirt was already torn. He wrote back to
me saying he was very sorry and that he would get
me a new one. When I got his note, fury gave way to
shame. I realized that if God had impressed it on
my heart to give away that shirt, I probably would
have resisted. What’s so dear to you that you
can’t let go? It’s not only good things
that we hold onto. We also hold onto habits and sins
that hinder our fellowship with God. They are dear
to us. They need to be given up.
For
me, worship also means knowing and responding to the
worth of God. One of the reasons why corporate worship
might become stale is when there is no progression
in the worship leader’s knowledge of God. Paul
makes this clear in Romans 11:33: “Oh,
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God” We only part with our money when
we know that what we want to buy is worth what we
are willing to pay for it. Knowledge is involved in
this.
Interestingly,
the word worship is a refined version of the word
worthship. And that gives us a good idea as to what worship is all
about.
The
other day my wife and I watched someone making a comment
on network news. As he spoke he used words like endemic
and nascent
and such other words that Nigerian politicians often
use. As he spoke, we could easily tell that he didn’t
really understand what he was saying despite using
the big words. Same way it’s possbile to sing
and lead corporate worship using beautiful songs of
worship without understanding what they really mean.
Most songs are inspired by some circumstance or revelation.
It really helps to understand what inspired some of
the songs we sing.
Worship
to me also means responding to the love of God. The
woman who had lived a sinful life as recorded in Luke
7 worshipped the Lord because she had a revelation
of the depth of God’s love. While she did, the
chief host, the pharisee, merely observed. Sometimes
we don’t respond or we respond badly because
we are unaware of what God is doing. I love the song,
I praise you
I
praise you, I praise you,
Oh
Lord, I praise you, I praise You Oh Lord
In
my life, I see what You’re doing
One
more time
I
lift my hands in praise of Your name
I
lift my hands in praise of your name
I
don’t know who wrote this wonderful song. The
hook in that song for me is the line,
I see what you’re doing. It means I am not
unaware of what you are doing. Rather than observe
the things that have not yet come to pass in my life,
I thank God for what He is doing right now. Truth
is, He is done a lot.
More
than ever, I understand that its important to respond
rightly. Once, my wife called one morning and said
to me “I just called to say I love you”
Because of my previous trend of thought, I was caught
off guard and I responded “Em, okay thank you”.
My wife hung up and instantly, I came to my senses
and I knew she must have been terribly disappointed.
God expects us to respond rightly. An example is how
Jesus expected the other nine lepers to come back
and give him thanks. Could we say that His expectation
was cut off? It was because the people He blessed
did not respond rightly. (to
be continued)
Wale
heads Fountain of Praise Music. He is a songwriter,
worship leader and an assistant pastor in his church,
RCCG, Jubilee Christian Centre. He can be reached
at
info@fopmusic.com
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