Paul Baloche has a great web site - www.leadworship.com. In one of his articles he comments on these common pitfalls in leading worship.
Worship leaders occupy a position that requires a great deal of sensitivity. Because of that, one of the most important skills to apply is prayerful self examination of our stage time to make sure that we don't use our talents in a gratuitous manner. In our struggle to walk that fine line, we have to remember that more isn't always better. Overuse of certain leading devices can sometimes be distracting to the people you hope to usher into a place of worship.
The Vegas Praise Worship Leader - Performanced based with over-the-top worship and musical virtuosity hitting every vocal pitch and key while the backup dancers shoot bottle rockets that whistle in tune and explode to spell G-O-D.
The Lost in Space Worship Leader - Always leads with eyes closed, lost in worship. That's usually a person who is attempting to personally connect with God, to really discern things in the Spirit, and they're trying, on a personal level, to focus their heart and mind on the Lord. It's important to realize that when we're leading worship we're more like waiters. It's not our turn to sit down and eat our dinner. We may worship, but we actually have a role at that moment, and our job is to wait on others. We have to be willing to give up a little bit of our overwhelming connection with God and connect with Him through serving His people.
The Sermonizer - The worship leader who needs to ad-lib share before after and even during the pauses of most songs. Worship leaders - let the pastor preach. Occasionally, you may want to set up the time of worship with a brief,(capital B), Brief Scripture or a thought that sets the tone for that first song. But, be very measured. A little goes a long way.
The Broken Record - Each song is a fifteen-minute worship extravaganza that repeats the verse, chorus, verse.... Do all things in moderation. It's not unspiritual to just do the song like the CD and then move on to the next one.
The Worship Aerobics Instructor - The worship leader who dictates standing, sitting, clapping, hugging, jumping, and relay races through the narthex during the service as if you were leading a production of Sweatin' to the Church's Oldies. This one has more to do with the attitude and teh language of respecting where people are at and gently, respectfully encouraging them into certain actions, but you can certainly overdo it.
Read More HERE.
wow. Great article! Thanks for sharing that! I love the "Lost in Space" section. What an amazing way of putting it: We are more like waiters. It isn't our turn to sit down and eat our dinner.
That hit home with my heart today.
Thanks!
And ya know where to find me when you want to chat! :-)
Posted by: Nathan Gaddis | April 08, 2008 at 02:52 PM