Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God

by Bob Kauflin

Regardless of what we think or feel, there is no authentic worship of God without a right knowledge of God.

doctrine and theology rank fairly low on the popularity scale these days. But biblical worship is impossible without them.

Theology literally means “the study of God.”

He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He has had wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up in the third heaven, and had heard things unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He has written a major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! Spurgeon then reminds us, “He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves he has no brains of his own.”1

But being moved emotionally is different from being changed spiritually.

God wants our speech to be sound, gracious, truthful, and edifying,1 no matter where we are or whom we’re with. That includes the way we speak to our spouse, our children, our team, our pastor, and anyone else we happen to be talking to.

It’s like looking up at the stars. To the naked eye they appear like tiny pinpoints of light, barely visible against the black backdrop. Twinkling dots suspended in vast darkness. We can walk outside and barely notice them. But when we look through a high-powered telescope, we’re awestruck by what they really are: massive spheres of raging fire, millions of times larger than the earth, brighter than our human eyes can bear. The stars haven’t changed. Our vision has. Our great privilege as worship leaders is to help people see through the eyes of faith how great God has actually revealed himself to be. He doesn’t change. We do.

Most people haven’t spent much time considering their need for a mediator in their relationship with God. That’s because we grossly under-estimate the gravity and offensiveness of our sin in light of God’s infinite majesty, holiness, and justice.

If we help people focus on what God did two thousand years ago rather than twenty minutes ago, they’ll consistently find their hearts ravished by his amazing love.

“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” George Orwell

One of the most important aspects of biblical worship we desperately need to recover today is a passionate, scripturally informed exaltation of Jesus Christ and his redemptive work.

Every time we step up to lead our congregation, we should present a clear picture of “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

What do you place more trust in—God’s power or your performance? Do you toss up generic prayers like, “God, please bless our time today”? Or do you pray specifically, asking the Spirit to reveal Christ to everyone gathered, to help the congregation sing with understanding, and to bring forth fruit in people’s lives?

Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, had strong opinions about music and wasn’t afraid to express them. In an introduction to a sixteenth-century collection of chorale motets, he wrote that anyone who didn’t appreciate the beauty of these multipart pieces and view them as a gift from God “must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.”1

Halfhearted praise is an oxymoron.

C. J. Mahaney points out that legalism makes us think we can “achieve forgiveness from God and justification before God through obedience to God.”3

“Objectively, what brings us into the presence of God is the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” He warns that if we start thinking it’s our worship activities that bring God’s presence near, “it will not be long before we think of such worship as being meritorious, or efficacious, or the like.”1

It’s important to realize that many spontaneous moments in public are the fruit of consistent preparation in private. As I study God’s Word in my personal devotions, I’ll be more prone to remember it in public. Praying over the lyrics before a meeting prepares me for listening more carefully as I’m leading the church.

With deep respect for those who’ve gone before us, in our church we attempt to follow three principles for ordering our services: 1. Do what God clearly commands. 2. Don’t do what God clearly forbids. 3. Use scriptural wisdom for everything else.

May our meetings and churches be places where God is truly worshiped in spirit and truth, where people exalt God without having to choose sides, and where the glory of Jesus Christ is clearly seen in all we do.

“edification and worship are different sides of the same coin.”

A basic standard to achieve is playing well enough that I won’t distract those I’m seeking to serve. It means I might play fewer notes so people can hear the words. It means sacrificing my ideas of musical “excellence” to make the truth more musically accessible to my congregation. It means I might not play at all, so the congregation can hear their own voices clearly ringing out in praise to God.

as Donald Whitney explains: When a football team wins the national championship, it gets more glory if the game is shown to millions throughout the country than if no one but you were to see it individually on closed-circuit TV. . . . Public glory obviously brings more glory than does private glory. Likewise, God gets more glory when you worship him with the church than when you worship him alone.3

It forces us to rub shoulders with those who are unlike us, maybe those we don’t even like, and to recognize our need for mercy at the foot of the cross—together.

Often at the end of a time of singing I’ll pray that the realities we’ve been declaring will be proclaimed in our daily lives. I might ask God to help us remember that he doesn’t change when we’re in the middle of trials. He’s just as worthy of worship when our car breaks down as when we meet on Sunday morning. I’ll often pray that God will bring to mind the gospel truths we’ve been celebrating as we go through our week.

God has given the pastor, not the worship leader, the ultimate responsibility for the direction of the church. That includes the musical portions of the meeting. When we’re at odds, Scripture is clear: I’m the one who needs to submit.

Specific observations are the most helpful. Simply telling your worship leader, “It didn’t feel like the Holy Spirit” is so vague it’s completely useless. “The second song could have been faster” is more helpful than “Worship really didn’t get off the ground this morning.” It’s better to say, “I thought you shouldn’t have said anything after the third song” than “You talk way too much.” Also, pointing out patterns is better than criticizing every single mistake you noticed.