Worship Training #1: Draw Others to Jesus

In order to lead worship effectively, we need to understand one of our most fundamental roles as worship leaders: to draw people to the glory and grace of God as seen in the person of Jesus so they can respond in worship.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

One of the biggest potential struggles a worship team might face is drawing more attention to themselves rather than drawing attention to God. To overcome this, you have to be intentional about drawing people to Jesus. Here are four things we need to understand.

Jesus Is The Focus

The book of Colossians makes it clear that Jesus is central in the course of human history as well as in our lives in a very personal way:

Colossians 1:15-17 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

Clearly, Jesus is to be glorified and exalted above all other names for his might, power, and majesty. Unfortunately, as imperfect humans, one of the deepest parts of our sinful nature is the natural inclination toward pride. If we’re not careful and intentional, leading worship can become about our own glory rather than God’s. John the baptist understood this very well. People were attempting to give honor and glory to John instead of Jesus, so John made it very clear that it wasn’t about him.

John 3:30 He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less.

This is the attitude every worship leader must adopt. Every time we make it about ourselves, we take the attention off of God and put it on ourselves. It is wise to be vigilant with your teams and in your personal life to make sure you guard your heart against pride and give the glory to God because he alone is worthy of worship and nothing else deserves that praise. Therefore, one of the primary roles of worship leading is to get the attention off of ourselves as quickly as possible and onto God, for he alone is worthy of all worship!

It’s also important to note that pride prevents us from doing what we are meant to do on this earth: enjoy relationship with God, glorify him, and lead others into that same relationship. We desire to build up the body of believers but to also reach those who do not yet have a relationship with God by drawing them to the person of Jesus and showing them what he has accomplished through the work of the cross. By focusing on the person of Jesus and showing God’s love to the world through his life and death, we can help as many people as possible to pursue God.

Worship Is A Response To God

Isaiah 25:1 O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.

When people encounter the truth of who God really is and what he is like through seeing the person of Jesus, it evokes a desire from deep within to worship him. Our goal as worship leaders is to see people respond with all of who they are in worship. Once again, one of the primary ways we do this is to get the attention off of ourselves as quickly as possible and onto God. As worship team members, we must encourage people to respond to God’s truth with all of their being (Deut. 6:5).

God has done and will continue to do many great things in and through our lives. Our response to God should always be to give him the honor and praise he deserves. When we see God for who he is, we can’t help but respond in heartfelt worship with all of our lives.  

Cultivate A Welcoming Environment

Cultivating a welcoming environment is a critical component of drawing people to Jesus and helping them to pursue God. There are many ways to do this, but the first and most important component to cultivating a welcoming environment is showing people God’s love.

John 13:35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

Aside from modeling to others what it looks like to love one another, one of the most loving things we can do for others is to put our agendas and preferences aside for the sake of drawing them to Jesus and the cross. The cross is the place where visitors can most readily see the grace and love of God. In doing so,  it is imperative to create a welcoming space where people can pursue God without distractions or feeling singled out. We want people to have their view of God unclouded by confusing and oftentimes unattractive elements of Christian culture that Christians oftentimes don’t stop twice to think about. In other words, it can become more about the members of a church than those who don’t know Jesus. This is not what God desires!

Our worship services are a great opportunity to reach guests who very likely do not know God yet, so we need to make sure we’re making the most of the opportunity, being gracious and likable in our interactions with them. A good way to gauge how you are coming across as a leader on stage  is to put yourself in a visitor’s shoes, and ask the question: “how would I see this if I were a visitor”? As you do this, remind yourself to make lasting positive impact upon them by being aware of your countenance and reflecting joy as you serve God through being on a worship team. You are in one of the most visible roles of leadership at your church. As you do these things, remember Paul’s words of encouragement when creating an environment that will be encouraging to others:

Colossians 4:4-6 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

Minimize Potential Confusion

As you put yourself in the shoes of a guest and look for ways to show them God’s love, another important thing you can do is to avoid elements that might cause confusion in their pursuit of God.

1 Corinthians 14:9 If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.

Paul goes on to encourage the church to refrain from activities that will be confusing to the seeker, and to do everything in order and with self-control. Sometimes what is normal for Christians can appear very abnormal for a guest. For a worship leader, avoiding confusing service elements might mean avoiding being overly expressive or emotional in worship, forcing the congregation to interact in certain ways, or making the congregation feel bad if they don’t participate.

All these things can be discouraging to a guest, let alone the regular church attender. Remember, as Jesus said, the things of the spirit will have the expression of an easy yoke and a light burden. Therefore, we don’t want to impose any sort of man-made expectations on others based on our own preferences in worship but rather, demonstrate the same attitude that God has toward us: grace, acceptance, patience, and love. If our services are unintelligible, confusing, strange, or needlessly offensive, then guests are missing out on seeing the love of God because of all the distractions around them. Sadly, this could cloud their vision of who Jesus is and his desire to lead them into a relationship with the Father.

In order to help others pursue God to the maximum extent, we should do everything we can to make sure our worship services are responding to the truth of who God is, drawing people to Jesus — not ourselves, and making everything as understandable as possible to those investigating God. In doing so, we are actively embracing the role of what it means to be a diligent, effective, and fruitful worship leader.