The question came to mind when I saw a Facebook that talked about it’s greAt worship team that really knows how to ‘lead’ people into the presence of God. The graphic could have been any group of attractive young people, dressed casualy and equipped with various musucal instruments, microphones, and great as they animatedly sung ‘something’. In other words, they looked like they were intwntionally entertaining the crowd (unseen innthe,photo).
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t have anything against Christian entertainment. Again, my question is “Who leads worship?”, or meybe even more appropriately, “Who ‘should’ be ‘leading’ worship?”
You see, I’m old enough to remember when people entering church didn’t spend the time before the service started catching up on all the chit chat they mssed during the week. Themtime before the services cemwas to start was spent quietly meditating, praying, or maybe bookmarking ahead of time the hyms called out in the morning bulletin. There might be an organ prelude in the air calling us to quiet reflection. By the time the service began many of us were already ‘tuned in’ to the Spirit of God.
If there was prayer and/or corporate confession of any sort, hearts were humbled before God and ‘cleansed’ in preparation for contunued worship. By the time the first hymn was announced, we,were ready to ‘sound off’ in praise to our God and King! There might have been a ‘song leader’, but the real ‘worship’ leader was the 3rd person of the Trinity!
Food for thought. Please share yours, but don’t just tell me I’m old. I know that already. 🙂
The Battle Cry 
The answer: God.
After that the next in the chain in command are church leaders.
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Good answer, Jim!
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In case you mght have read this and didn’t understnd where I was coming from (which is entirely possible), here’s a bit more to think about.
I stated that the Holy Spirit ought to be the principle worship leader. If the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and causes attutudes of worship to arise from within when we wre meditating on God’s word or meeting God in prayer (and he does), why are liiking for something outside of us to (a worship,team) ‘lead’ us into the presence of God?
If we have worship teams should they be needed or used to ‘chsnge’ gears from the secular (chit chat and such) to the spiritual? You might not have seen that, but I have. I see it every Sunday morning in a military chapel.
I also remember being on our small Parish Council and asking the lead Chaplain (with the support of other Council members)’ if we could call/ask folks entering the sanctuary to join us in quiet meditation and prayer a few minutes (5-10) before the start of the service. The Chaplain told me he wasn’t going to tell the congregation to ‘do’ something. I became so agitated at that spiritually gutless tesponse that I had to leave the meeting.
Anyway, my bride and I would in fact enter, sit quietly, and pray for the service.We still do.
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