WORSHIP MATTERS - A BOOK REVIEW

There is a niche in Entertainment Business that has a unique and meaningful twist to what most consider entertainment: Leading people in worshiping God through music. Some hesitate to call it either entertainment or business, but it's all there...working with being on stage, sound, lighting, managing teams, organizing a set, lyric presentation software, even money (payment). I think worship leading falls into the entertainment business category. The band Third Day is a good example. They mostly do concerts where people are looking for a professional musical experience.

However, there are distinctions that make this niche different. Instead of seeking fame to promote themselves, the performers are seeking to promote God and draw people closer to Him. To look a little closer into Worship Leading, this blog post will review Bob Kauflin's book called Worship Matters.

I agree with worship leader Matt Redman’s comments on the back of book, "Bob loves God, values theology, and cares about people.  This mix is found throughout this wonderful and helpful book." The book is divided into four sections which I will touch on.

• Part I – The Leader
• Part II – The Task
• Part III – Healthy Tensions
• Part IV – Right Relationships

In Part I on The Leader, Kauflin says a leader is anyone in front of others who is influencing them (singers, readers, drummers, etc.).  I like how Kauflin describes many of the little things that consume us as leaders:  what people think, attitudes, musicians not showing up, and even technical things going wrong.  However, the most important thing is giving worth to God.  Worship matters to God because He is the one ultimately worthy of all worship.  Worship matters to us because we were created to worship God.  It also matters to leaders because it is one of the greatest privileges to lead others to encounter the greatness of God. Over four chapters, Kauflin identifies four important aspects of leaders

• My Heart:  What Do I Love?
• My Mind:  What Do I Believe?
• My Hands:  What Do I Practice?
• My Life:  What Do I Model?

These questions are a good way to check your passions, motives, lifestyle, and character. This is something everyone in the Entertainment Business should do.

In Part II, Kauflin covers The Task of worship leading.  He beautifully gives a working definition of the purpose in worship leading with the following sentence:

A faithful worship leader
magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ
through the power of the Holy Spirit
by skillfully combining God’s Word with music,
thereby motivating the gathered church
to proclaim the gospel,
to cherish God’s presence,
and to live for God’s glory.

There is a wealth of practical and helpful insights in this section going into detail about what the focus is for worship leaders.

Part III explores the process of putting together a worship service and the Healthy Tensions that are a part of that process. He looks at nine critical areas that must be embraced and kept in balance. Issues like Head & Heart, Internal & External, Vertical & Horizontal, and Planned & Spontaneous. These are seemingly opposites that need to be emphasized and balanced to be effective.

Finally, Part IV describes how important it is to have Good Relationships in worship ministry:  Right relationships with the church (the people you see every week in your congregation), with your team (musicians, technicians, ushers, etc.), and with your pastor (or pastors if you have more than one pastor you work with). Since God is all about relationships, it follows that we should be all about relationships too. The program is important, our theology is important, but relationships matter most.

When it comes to our relationship with God, worship matters! He wants our love. I'm sure He must really enjoy it when we come together to worship Him with singing and praise. Many bands like Third Day, Casting Crowns, Tenth Avenue North, and Big Daddy Weave, do concerts with the emphasis of leading the people to worship God. Churches are doing this too, of course, but some are leaning heavily on the entertainment emphasis with fantastic lights and projections. I think this is good. What do you think?

Worship leading is a part of Entertainment Business and shares many helpful aspects. Kauflin has brought to the table, in his helpful and educational book, how the element of worship brings a unique distinction to this special musical and cultural genre.