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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Bob Kauflin
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November 14 - November 29, 2023
The great hymn-writer Isaac Watts once wrote: The Great God values not the service of men, if the heart be not in it: The Lord sees and judges the heart; he has no regard to outward forms of worship, if there be no inward adoration, if no devout affection be employed therein. It is therefore a matter of infinite importance, to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God.
The study of doctrine isn’t opposed to studying the Bible; it is studying the Bible. It’s how we find out what God is like, what he wants us to believe, how he wants us to worship him. So that means we need to be reading. We need to be studying. Because we’ll be learning about God for the rest of our lives.
Spurgeon then reminds us, “He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves he has no brains of his own.”
But being moved emotionally is different from being changed spiritually. Music affects and helps us in many ways, but it doesn’t replace truth about God. Music can never by itself help us understand the meaning of God’s self-existence, the nature of the Incarnation, or Christ’s substitutionary atonement. Nor can an instrumental solo tell us how music functions in worshiping God. For that, we need to read our Bibles. And to know what the Bible says, we need theology. Good theology. Good theology helps us keep music in its proper place. We learn that music isn’t an end in itself but rather a
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If our doctrine is accurate but our hearts are cold toward God himself, our corporate worship will be true but lifeless. Or if we express fervent love for God but present vague, inaccurate, or incomplete ideas of him to those we’re leading, our worship will be emotional but misleading—and possibly idolatrous. Neither option brings God glory.
John Piper calls the right balance “undistracting excellence.”2 It’s a proficiency that doesn’t draw attention to itself but rather points away from itself.
Being a leader inevitably involves disappointing people. Someone will eventually misunderstand or criticize our decisions. But our goal is pleasing God, not trying to make everyone happy. Our goal is to serve the church with our gift of leadership.
God wants our conduct to be an example to others. If the way we live doesn’t back up what we proclaim on Sunday morning, we’re not only deceiving the church—we’re misrepresenting the God we claim to be worshiping.
I don’t ever want people who see me lead worship publicly to be surprised by the way I live privately. It’s not my songs that define my worship; it’s my life. So if your marriage is struggling, if your children are rebelling, if you’re viewing pornography, if you’re easily angered, if your speech is foul, or if you’re engaged in a pattern of sin I haven’t mentioned yet, get help now. If no one is aware of your sin, start by confessing it to those who can help you. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
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If you were born after 1980, you probably don’t remember when the term worship leader didn’t exist. But that designation really didn’t emerge until the early 1970s.
the most important worship leader is Jesus. He reveals God to us and through his perfect sacrifice provided the only way into the Father’s presence (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 10:19–22). We can’t do what only Jesus does. But in a culture infatuated with musical experience and expression, worship leaders can be erroneously expected to lead us into God’s presence, usher in the presence of God, or in some way make God show up. People can start to think of us as “musical high priests” who bring God near through sheer musical skill, or as it’s often called, anointing.
Third, the term worship leader can be misunderstood. It can communicate that the only time we worship God is when a musician is leading us. Or that worship is the same as singing. Or that God commands us to have worship leaders.
That’s what D. A. Carson suggests: I would abolish forever the notion of a “worship leader.” If you want to have a “song leader” who leads part of the worship, just as the preacher leads part of the worship, that’s fine. But to call the person a “worship leader” takes away the idea that by preaching, teaching, listening to and devouring the word of God, and applying it to our lives, we are somehow not worshiping God.3
A faithful worship leader magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by skillfully combining God’s Word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the gospel, to cherish God’s presence, and to live for God’s glory.
But the worship industry isn’t the standard God has given us to deter-mine our effectiveness. His Word is. And if we don’t understand that distinction we could miss God’s unique plan for our lives.
But sometimes an individual’s popularity shows us the effects of indwell-ing sin and how in these last days people with “itching ears” will flock to leaders who “suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3). Reaching the top of a best-seller list or music chart is no guarantee that someone actually has something worth saying or hearing. It may prove just the opposite.
Technology becomes crucial and governing rather than secondary and serving. We can certainly learn from concert settings. They show us how sounds, lights, images, and music can be used for emotional impact or to focus attention. Concerts are intended to be intense, emotional, and multisensory. But on Sunday mornings we’re not trying to emotionally stimulate people or provide a moving experience regardless of the source. I once heard a woman describe how Bono and U2 taught her more about worship than any Sunday morning worship leader. That’s an alarming statement. Our goal as worship leaders is
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All I know is that something affected them. My job is to make sure I provide the opportunity for them to be affected by the right things. And that means being faithful to draw people’s attention to the God we’re there to worship.
Every criticism provides a fresh opportunity to examine our motives and actions and to respond as those who have received amazing mercy through the cross.
That’s why the books I typically find most profit-able for leading worship aren’t daily devotionals that bring God down to my level, but theology books that stretch my understanding of God. Knowing God by J. I. Packer, Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem, Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer, and The Pleasures of God by John Piper are a few of many I’d recommend.4
John Piper writes. “Where feelings for God are dead, worship is dead.”
Simply rehearsing our problems isn’t worshiping God; recalling his character in the midst of them is.
In the thirty-plus years I’ve been involved in leading congregational worship, I have never found a truth that more consistently, powerfully, or rightly calls forth the passionate praises of God’s people than this: Christ died for our sins to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
When we approach God through Christ, “we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him” (Ephesians 3:12). For centuries prior to the coming of Christ, the high priest represented God’s people once a year as he entered the Holy of Holies to make atonement for their sins. The holiest man from the holiest tribe offered the holiest sacrifice in the holiest place for the holiest people on earth. To attempt to draw near to God in any other way or by any other means would result in certain death (Leviticus 16:2).
Worship itself cannot lead us into God’s presence. Only Jesus himself can bring us into God’s presence, and he has done it through a single sacrifice that will never be repeated—only joyfully recounted and trusted in.
All our offerings are humbled by the work of Christ because they would be unacceptable to God without him. All our offerings are exalted because when they are joined to the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, God accepts them as though his own Son were offering them. Nothing against skill, practice, complexity, nuance, musicianship, or sincerity, but only the finished work of Christ makes our offerings of worship acceptable in God’s eyes.
It’s not the excellence of our offering that makes our worship acceptable but the excellence of Christ.
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.
It seems that heaven itself never moves on from the cross. As Jim Elliff points out, “One is taken aback by the emphasis upon the Cross in Revelation. Heaven does not ‘get over’ the cross, as if there are better things to think about, heaven is not only Christ-centered, but cross-centered, and quite blaring about it.”8
Frederick Leahy cautions us: There is an error to avoid, the danger of seeing the loving obedience of Christ as primarily and exclusively for the sake of man, when, in fact, it was primarily out of love for God that he accepted the cross (Hebrews 10:7). . . . This is a truth too often overlooked, and it in no way detracts from the wonder that Christ loves each one of his people with all of his love.
The cross sets us free from misguided self-love to passionately love the One who redeemed us.
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.
Therefore, one of our primary thoughts as we plan a Sunday meeting should be: Will our time together cause people’s view of, trust in, and desire for God’s glory in Christ and him crucified to increase? For a worship leader’s preparation, focus, and evaluation, no question is more important.
Trying to lead worship without electrical power can be a humbling experience. Trying to lead without spiritual power is far more serious. But normally not as obvious.
How much do you pray? Do you pray for his guidance before you start planning for Sunday? 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?
Whatever you believe about the continuation of prophecy for today, this passage at least implies that the Holy Spirit at times works in ways that are more spontaneous and dramatic in their effect. Do we expect him to work in such ways? Do we allow any room for him to do so?
Our churches can’t be Spirit-led unless they’re Word-fed. A church that’s dependent on the Spirit’s power in its worship will be committed to the study, proclamation, and application of God’s Word in its personal and congregational worship. The Word and the Spirit were never meant to be separated. In fact, God’s Spirit is the one who inspired God’s Word.
Probably no one exemplified God-pleasing worship more than David, the sweet psalmist of Israel. He was a skilled musician and a man of pro-found emotion. But when it came to worshiping God, it was his words, not his music, that God chose to preserve for us in Scripture.
Given the biblical history, God’s commands, and the immeasurable benefits we receive from Word-centered worship, it’s worth asking why worship today is so often focused on sensory experiences, inward feelings, and subjective encounters. True worship is always a response to God’s Word. John Stott has said that to worship God is “to ‘Glory in his holy name’ (Psalm 105:3), that is, to revel adoringly in who he is in his revealed character.” Then he adds: God must speak to us before we have any liberty to speak to him. He must disclose to us who he is before we can offer him what we are in
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Too often we can be tempted to choose songs because of the music rather than the theological content. We need to realize that when words are combined with music we can be deceived. Music can make shallow lyrics sound deep. A great rhythm section can make drivel sound profound and make you want to sing it again. That’s why I typically read the lyrics before listening to a CD or playing a song from a songbook. If the words on the page are theologically shallow or vague, music won’t add anything. It will only give the illusion that the words are actually substantive.
I try to avoid “worshipful” sounding verses that don’t impact me personally, like, “Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!” (Psalm 9:11). In other words, don’t use the Bible as filler. People should understand why we’re reading a particular Scripture at any given moment.
music helps us express our unity in the gospel.
At times I’ve chosen not to do a well-known song because I thought the music was more impacting than the lyrics. The catchiness factor surpassed the weightiness factor. I’m tempted to list some of those songs here, but that’s really a decision you have to make yourself. When in doubt, leave it out.
God delights in strong emotions that are a response to revealed realities.
But when we don’t major on objective truth, our songs can quickly drift into emotionalism and self-absorption. We start to worship our own experiences. Again, that doesn’t mean all our songs need to be theological treatises. But if our primary criteria for using a song has to do with whether it’s popular or enjoyable to sing, we’re going to have a hard time persuading anyone that truth matters more than music.
the sound of the musicians shouldn’t dominate or overpower the congregation. In the New Testament the predominant sound throughout the meeting is the singing of the congregation. They are the real worship team.
The word selah appears frequently in the Psalms. Many scholars think it refers to a musical interlude for meditation or reflection. While that can’t be proven, there are numerous passages where God commends instrumental music to praise him (for example, Psalm 33:3; 71:22; 150:3–5).
Musical variety communicates God’s heart for all generations, cultures, and races. We don’t use different music because we want to keep everyone happy or because we’re aiming for a “blended” service. It’s the gospel that blends us together, not music.
want to discourage the impression that we have to warm up to worship.
Another helpful progression model is Exalt, Encounter, and Respond. We exalt God’s greatness at the start, encounter him in our hearts and minds, then respond in appropriate ways.
