The God ordained burden of Worship Leading - Part 1

For Part 2 of this post click here
If this post was encouraging you should check out Justin's post on "Leading prayerfully"

Though leading worship can be fun, exciting, and has some ‘perks,’ at the end of the day worship leading is a burden, and leading people period is a burden. But the key to note is that it is a “God ordained and God orchestrated burden.” All people, no matter what their calling will bear this burden in some way, shape, or form. This burden of leadership is given to help us cultivate greater humility and love in our hearts and anyone who has been leading a worship team for a little while has hopefully tapped into the fact that this burden is a God-given gift!

11 For we who live are always delivered to death (of our flesh) for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 17 For this light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:11, 17).

God’s plan for my life is that I would be fashioned and formed into His likeness. Because my natural human inclination is to run in the complete and total opposite direction of this, He hedges me in with many things to help me! One of the things he hedges many of us in with is by giving us people to lead. Leadership is one of the fences that God has built in order to gently guide them into greater depths of love and humility. As worship leaders we are leading people on a weekly, bi-weekly, and sometimes daily basis.

Ultimately leadership brings us into a greater dependence upon Him and thus a greater love for Him because when I don't feel ‘spiritually or emotionally sound’ leading my worship team let alone a room full of people is one of the last things I want to do. Yet in this place I have no other option but to stop, pray, and commune with Him.

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth (Mt. 5:3, 5). 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca (weeping), they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion (Ps. 84:5-7).

Leading my team demands me to do the second commandment every single day, which leaves me no other option but to do the first commandment! It’s almost as if God has tricked me. He knows that by giving me people to lead it will force me to do the first commandment and love Him.

36 “…which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Mt. 22:36-39)

© 2011 Justin Rizzo