C; is the next note F? Which verse am I in? A minor; make sure to look up at everyone. G; don’t lose your place. Keep the tempo so everyone stays together. C; build the energy here, and look up! Is everyone following OK? Make sure to breathe before this long phrase. F; don’t speed up here. A minor; lead everyone through to the end . . . Sound familiar? This is a window into my stream of consciousness when I’m leading musical worship for our congregation. As I coach myself, I’m motivated by a desire to shepherd our congregation into sincere and heartfelt praise to the Lord. If you’re a worship leader, I’m sure you’ve had a similar train of thought. Then, when the service is over and you finally slow down, do you wonder whether you’ve sincerely praised the Lord yourself? With all a worship leader has to think about, he’s not always able to meditate on what he’s singing like a typical congregation member. At times when I’ve reflected on this, shame and despair have followed. I’ve felt like an imposter, like a hypocritical leader going through the motions while I encourage everyone else to praise Jesus genuinely. If you’ve experienced this introspective shame, be encouraged: Leading worship is worship. This truth should both give you confidence as you lead and encourage you to check your heart. Vital Service In corporate worship, we join the company of God’s people in lifting our adoration and actions in praise to God. Congregation members do this when they sing from the pews. Worship leaders do this when they prayerfully and skillfully lead God’s people in praise. With all a worship leader has to think about, he’s not always able to meditate on what he’s singing like a typical congregation member. In Numbers 28:9–10 and 1 Chronicles 9:32, we see that in Israel, the priests and Levites were given specific tasks to perform on the Sabbath to facilitate corporate worship. The Sabbath was to be a day of rest, yet they worked without incurring guilt (Matt. 12:5) because God assigned their tasks. The priests properly worshiped the Lord through their service, though it looked different from what the typical Israelite was called to do on the Sabbath. Worship leader, the same is true for you. Your planning, rehearsal, and faithful musicianship—playing as well as you’re able—during worship is a vital service to your local church. Your service is worship (Rom. 12:1). Without the flow of thought I rehearsed above, my congregation wouldn’t know what to do next. They need a faithful musician to lead them, and such leadership takes real-time intentionality and focus (1 Chron. 16:4–7). Playing the next chord at the right moment as you sing the correct lyrics is faithful worship. As Bob Kauflin puts it, Is it possible to effectively lead people in worship, give musical cues, play the right chords, and still worship God? Absolutely. Assuming I have sufficient skill, do I have to sacrifice my worship of God in order to facilitate the worship of others? No. The only thing I have to sacrifice is my narrow understanding of what worship is. Worship isn’t just about what’s happening between me and God—it concerns us and God. As I help people extol God’s greatness through song, I’m contributing to praise for God. As I give a well-timed verbal cue, notice how people are responding, or communicate with the band, I’m wanting people to see and celebrate the supreme worth of God. That’s leading worship. The same is true for those in charge of sound and visuals. Keeping an ear on the audio, or ensuring the correct lyrics are displayed on the screen, requires intention and focus. That will sometimes take your mind away from the words you’re singing and what they mean. But your focus as you serve the congregation is worship. This is also true for preachers, children’s ministry workers, and anyone else whose service during worship takes conscious intentionality. Even moms and dads busy helping their children read song lyrics or finding Bible passages are worshiping as they help their little ones participate. I didn’t understand this truth for several years, and it took more for me to accept it. But it’s true, and if you’re a church musician or technician, I pray you’ll receive it. Mirror, Not Spotlight There’s an exception. If our musicianship isn’t done for the praise of God’s greatness and glory, it isn’t worship—at least not worship of God. For this reason, we need regular heart checks to ensure our service is rightly directed. Because playing music requires skill, and because musicians are in front of the congregation every Sunday, we’re often tempted to see leading as a performance. But Sunday worship differs from a recital or concert. At a recital, the focus is on the musician; he’s there to put his musical skill on display. By contrast, Sunday musicianship should take God’s people’s focus off you and point them to the Lord. Your goal should be to play well enough not to detract from that aim, to show the congregation with your musicianship how amazing God is, to focus their eyes on his perfection and the beauty expressed in the truths they sing about him. We must check our hearts to ensure we’re mirrors reflecting the Lord to our congregations, not spotlights pointing at ourselves. Sunday musicianship should take God’s people’s focus off you and point them to the Lord. I praise God for the musicians I serve with who have this heart posture. I praise him for all who love to serve the Lord with the musical gifts he’s given them. I praise God for those gifts and the way they’re used. As a church musician, I rejoice when I can join with the congregation in genuine, heartfelt praise. But I’ve learned to recognize that when my mind is more focused on playing the music than on lifting my heart, it’s worship too.