Check out this Q&A with Voddie Baucham. A friend of mine showed me this after we talked about the need for worship leaders to have an actual theology of worship. Some would say that Pastor Voddie is extreme in his views. Personally, I think he may be onto something with his take on the role of the worship leader and his assessment of worship leaders in the American church today.
Q. Why do you place so much emphasis on Who leads worship at the events in which you participate?
A. I have a very high view of the role of the worship leader. I view leading worship as a sort of pastoral responsibility to which one must be called, and for which one must be equipped. Unfortunately, we live in a time when every kid who knows five chords and ten songs thinks God has called him or her to be a worship leader. Hence, there is a flood of young, inexperienced, untrained, and often biblically illiterate worship leaders who have done nothing more than learn the top songs off of a few worship CD’s. This is a travesty!
These guys go on to steal songs from men and women whom God has anointed and gifted to write songs, and use them to make CD’s of their own. All of this is done in the name of having “product” to sell on the road, or to promote ones self as a worship leader. Imagine John Mayer going into the studio and saying, “forget the hard work of producing an original album, lets just take the top ten songs from last year and put them all on my new CD this year.” That would be unthinkable! Nevertheless, that is what is happening every day with so-called worship leaders in this current generation; and they think that paying someone a few cents per copy makes it ok. I would rather not be a party to that.
I also do not think it is a good idea to work with people with whom I do not share a ministry philosophy, or theology of worship. I do not think that a worship leader and a preacher should just be thrown into the mix together because they are both “good at what they do,” and they both “love God.” That’s like putting a wishbone quarterback on a run-n-shoot team and expecting him to do well because he has great athletic ability!
A good voice and a love for God is not the sum total of a worship leader’s qualifications. Nor is it the ability to “move a crowd.” There is the question of the depth of one’s theology and how that depth is communicated in the songs one chooses to use, and how one chooses to use them. There is the ability to choose songs that are appropriate for the given audience and occasion. There is the ability to sense where God is leading and moving during a service, or a series of services (I.e. choosing response songs that suit the manner in which God is calling people to respond to what they’ve heard).
These are just a few things that must be taken into consideration. Unfortunately, they rarely enter into the decision of whom one will invite to lead worship. Often, the only questions asked are, “does he do the songs our people like?” and “does he sing well?” That is the type of shallow, carnal approach to ministry I try to avoid.
I would love to hear your thoughts. Would you say his view is extreme? Do you think worship leaders should be called to this standard?
5 comments
Comment by Ruth on January 29, 2009 at 11:39 AM
I totally agree. A worship leader needs theological depth in order to write or choose songs that have words which are worth putting into the mouths of the people. And the worship leader must be unified in theology and vision with the pastor in order to lead the people in the same direction.
Comment by Betsy Andersen on January 30, 2009 at 2:09 PM
I also totally agree. If we truly mean when we say "worship is not just singing songs" than we must insist that worship leaders are not just about the music. Music is a vehicle...a tool perhaps, but the Holy Spirit is wielding the power, and we should be way more interested in the ability to connect with the Holy Spirit than the ability to connect with the music. Otherwise it becomes about the connection to the music instead of the connection to the Holy Spirit! Worship leading is not primarily about leading a band, but leading people into the presence of God.
Comment by Anonymous on January 31, 2009 at 12:22 PM
I would have to say that while I agree with Voddie, we always need to leave room for people to grow. I think that worship leaders need to continually be challenged to grow in their musical ability and their spiritual formation, as well as their theological foundation.
I like that he mentioned the requirement of calling. Too often the guy that can sing and play guitar becomes the worship leader based on those qualifications alone. Giving someone that level of authority can prove dangerous, especially if it only is - for that person - simply leading a song time.
I guess it's not a real clear answer for me. I have seen pastors offer internships to emerging pastors, but haven't seen that happen to the same degree with worship leaders. So I think that this also serves as a challenge for worship leaders to not only broaden their theological base, but to take other emerging worship leaders on the journey with them.
Comment by Kate-y on February 26, 2009 at 11:32 AM
I completely agree with Voddie, and I think his views may be "extreme" because not many other Christians agree with him.
I am wrestling with this issue in the midst of youth ministry, and my particular situation may be a little unique, but I think it illustrates the point clearly. I am a single young woman on youth staff and (not in a prideful way) am the only one with true worship though music formal experience. In past years I was a part of a worship ministry led by a highly qualified lead worshiper, and I learned so much about worship through music from him! He led us not only through the songs and musical structure, but through the theology behind lyrics, prayers, Scripture reading, etc.
Now I am in a position of having authority--who I JOYFULLY submit to--but does not possess the "call" to be a worship leader. He's a fine preacher and gifted shepherd, but lacks musical insight. He does allow almost any student in youth group to join the worship team, and their ability to play 5 chords and 10 songs totally effects the overall response (or lack thereof) from the group of worshipers. Without a proper, biblical theological basis for worship of God--the living, triune, creator God--through music, it IS just empty lyric and melody.
Comment by Unknown on April 23, 2013 at 9:00 PM
I agree with Pastor Voddie, but I will say that the issue is deeper than that. Just as there is a "sleepiness" of deception that has fallen over the church at large when it comes to a general lack of support of family and the mentorship of fathers to be the leaders of their family, there is a similar deception at work in the church today when it comes to the type of songs that are being played. And some are written by well-meaning musicians and groups who are versed in their theology. But I firmly believe we must aim higher - to write songs that magnify who God is, not just say over and over in many different ways how we are broken and kneel at the cross.....it gets to be about our broken-ness and we come away without having sung any deep theological truth about the God we love. We are to love God with all our heart, strength and minds, so I conclude our worship must contain elements of all these - our heart where we engage a true expression of our love of God and what He has done for us - our strength where we say we will obey, we will endure - our minds where we simply magnify who He is, like we see when we sing a great hymn such as "Holy, Holy, Holy".
Thanks for joining us and sharing your thoughts.