Worship teams – What are you wearing?
“Now David was clothed in fine linen, as were all the Levites…David wore a linen Ephod…”
1 Chronicles 15:27-29
King David and his priests (in fact all priests throughout the Old Testament) had to wear the correct clothing to come before the Lord and lead God’s people in worship. I want to ask worship teams, what are you wearing? I’m not talking about physical clothes, but rather what “look of worship” are we portraying to the congregation as we lead?
“…a garment of praise”
Isaiah 61:3
Are you wearing garments of praise? The outward look of a worship leader is so important, as it is a responsible, leadership position. To be on a platform is to lead. So we must exemplify worship and “Life” at all times. Miserable worship teams, people hunched over expressing their grumpiness or lack of spiritual life should be swapped for a people that know how to “put on a garment of praise”. In other words, you might feel grumpy…but smile, sing, joy, praise, dance and start “looking the part”.
If you start looking the part, it will reach your heart! Sometimes you have to start doing it, BEFORE you feel it. It’s called “faith.”
Look at these biblical expressions of worship and praise, and ask yourself, do I portray these in my worship leading?
- Psalm 96:1 – Sing to the Lord
- Psalm 95:6 – Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker
- 1 Timothy 2:8 – Lift up holy hands in prayer
- Psalm 149:3 – Praise his name with dancing
- Psalm 47:1 – Clap your hands all you nations, shout to God with cries of joy
- Hebrews 5:7 – (Jesus prayed with) loud cries and tears
- Deuteronomy 9:18 – I fell prostrate before the Lord
- Php 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always!
We must make sure, as leaders of worship, that we “wear” worship like a garment around about us. Smile, bow, kneel, lift your hands, engage with God and have the look of a worshipper. You are there to lift others into worship – so minister to God, and at the same time, show others how to do it. Be expressive. Exaggerate the joy and the praise.
I realize when someone is concentrating on playing music, it’s easy to look sternly, in concentration, at the sheet music. The answer to that is to get more skilled, so the playing becomes more enjoyable…then you can also smile, worship and express praise while you play.
Finally, as leaders, it important to know how to put aside our personal difficulties, questions, struggles with team, sin or self, and put on a garment of worship as we lead. Put yourself to one side as you minister, and instead wear the garments of a worshipper in the house of God! If there are on-going issues, you can pick them up again afterwards and carry on dealing with your personal issues away from the platform.
But actually, if you do worship and praise by faith, you may just find those issues get sorted in God’s presence anyway. Win – win. 🙂