I was listening again this morning to my favorite song writer and worship leader, Dave Bilbrough. Every time I hear him sing this song, "I've Found A Home," it brings tears to my eyes. In the turbulent circumstances of this world, it is so comforting to know that our home is in Him and nothing can touch us there.
(This recording was done at our "Living In Heaven's Embrace Conference" last year.)
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What do you mean by 'worship leader' that's not a term that I thought I would hear you use?
ReplyDeleteHuh? I don't understand your question or your comment. A worship leader is one who is empowered by Christ to lead us in corporate worship.Corporate worship is when people worship Him in synch together.
ReplyDeleteI never realized that we needed someone to 'lead' us into worship. I thought the definition of worship was Romans 12:1, not a song service? Maybe I need clarification.
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ReplyDeleteSusan, sounds like you've had some fairly lame experiences that somebody labeled "worship" :) We can worship as an individual or we can worship as a group (corporately). Worship is certainly not a song service. It can involve prayer, praise, proclamation (wow, I'm gettin' on a preacher's alliteration role here:) or other "actions" done together in unified veneration of our God. The value of a leader (assuming of course that he/she himself is being led by God's Spirit)is that he/she guides the group in a way that it acts together in harmony with the Spirit's leading. In heaven, we will all worship together in a spontaneous expression but down here, as far as I've seen, a human "leader" in a group is still good much of the time.
ReplyDeleteNow..having said all that, :) my use of the phrase "worship leader" was only intended to be understood in the sense of the common use of the word. Just curious...what would you call a guy like Dave Bilbrough or Matt Redmond, etc... guys who stand up in front of the group and set the pace for the rest of us in praising and worshiping God?
My definition of worship is still Romans 12:1. I don't know of any scriptures that speak to anyone 'leading' a group in the new covenant. Is the Spirit himself not able to lead people in harmony? Is a man necessary for this to happen? I'm not sure I believe in 'corporate' worship, and again I repeat myself getting back to the Romans definition of worship.
ReplyDeleteI would call those men you mentioned singers/song leaders.
Just a note, I've read all your books, and love your 101 lies told in church. I've never found anything that I disagree with you on, except this. Always open to learn..........
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ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure if you got my other comment or not, so I'm repeating what I can remember.
ReplyDeleteI would call those people song leaders. It seems to me, with the Holy Spirit in each person, He would be capable of orchestrating. Maybe this is just a pet peeve of mine, but I balk at the term, and think Romans 12:1 worship is much more practical, everyday things.
Susan, I've known "song leaders" too. They lead people to sing songs. I've also known "worship leaders." They are used by the Holy Spirit to encourage and direct a group of people in unified worship. You are correct that the Holy Spirit can orchestrate people's behavior in worship, but He can do that THROUGH another person too. Using your logic, I would say that there is no need for Christian authors, singers, Bible teachers, counselors or even people who say an encouraging word that helps us spiritually. The Holy Spirit COULD do all those things without people, but He chooses to use people - people through whom He works to minister to the body of Christ. I love Romans 12:1 too, but I don't think that verse exclude the potential for the Spirit using other people to help us, whether it's in the area of worship, prayer, evangelism, understanding the Bible or anything else related to the Christian life. My view is that Christianity isn't an isolated experience but rather functions best in community where each member of the body serves others as the Holy Spirit uses our respective gifts.
ReplyDeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteThanks for talking with me about this subject. I remembered that I have a book by Frank Viola called Pagan Christianity. If you look at the chapter on Ministers of Music, Frank expresses what I have tried to communicate much better than I can say it.
Looking forward to your 101 lies coming out in print.
I did read that book and while I agreed with some of it, I didn't agree with other parts of it. I don't believe that just because pagans did something that it is automatically wrong for Christians to do it. But that's another discussion for another day.... :) Enjoyed the dialog with you.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you.