Spirit
Led Worship
JOEL ENGLE
So
often, as time goes by, worship leaders get impatient to
see the hand of God move people in a worship environment.
Because music can be a powerful force in worship, we can
very easily slip into modes of manipulation. We have to
constantly remind ourselves that we are mere facilitators
of the Holy Spirit and not allow our flesh to get in the
way. I see this behavior especially in younger worship leaders
who try to keep the momentum of experience moving from week
to week and event to event. We have to remember that every
single person is at a different place in their spiritual
journey and some have not yet begun their journey with Christ.
The flesh has a desire to overpower others for selfish gain
and the worship leader WILL be tempted to use that power
for all of the wrong reasons. That is why is it soooo important
for every one of us to be empowered and dependent upon the
Holy Spirit of God every single time we begin to minister
in His name.
We
must understand that our first job as a minister is to “get
out of the way” and allow the Spirit of Christ full
control of our lives. Galations 5:16 "Walk in the Spirit
and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh".
The only way to protect the authenticity of a worship experience
is to walk in the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit
as we lead. There are techniques of communication and musical
"tricks of the trade" that can be good at times,
but if they are of the flesh they will "profit nothing".
The Holy Spirit knows what each heart needs and is quite
able to effectively minister accordingly. Ephesians 5:18
says "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery
(party lifestyle). But, be filled with the Spirit."
We are filled with the Spirit at the point of salvation
but whether we allow Him to control our lives on a consistent
basis is up to us.
Each worship event should be different from the next due
to the different needs of each particular audience. We have
to be very careful to not have false predispositions of
what we think God should do in a worship service. What is
the role of the Holy Spirit in worship? Every worship leader
should be quite aware of what this role of God's Spirit
is in the life of the believer.
The Holy Spirit is a Comforter
I would say there has never been a worship service where
hurting people did not attend. Many times I was the one
who was hurting even as I led the worship! Yet, through
Christ, we have great comfort from Him in His precious Holy
Spirit! John 16:7 "And I will pray to the Father, and
He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with
you forever." There are many different transliterations
of the original word for the Holy Spirit: Counselor, Helper
and Advocate. The actual Greek word for the Holy Spirit
is "Paraclete" and means Comforter. And oh, what
a Comforter He is to us! Through our trials and our moments
of grief or defeat, the Holy Spirit comes to us and reminds
us of "how wide and long and high and deep is the love
of Christ".
We
are loved by God himself. Even when we stray from intimacy
from Christ, he is a faithful friend who patiently abides
with us in our times of weakness. How can a worship leader
minister effectively if he or she is ignorant of such a
great Comforter as the Holy Spirit? As we lead, we must
allow the Spirit of God to use us to tell of the great love
that the Father has for His children. If we are not sure
of God's love for us as ministers, how can we convey it
to those under our care? There are many believers who feel
alienated from God because of sin or guilt. The Holy Spirit
comes and says to us, "Child, your sins have been paid
for by the Lord Jesus Christ! Now you can draw near to me
in full confidence of my love for you." Too often,
I am sad to say, that my own lack of understanding of the
grace of God has brought condemnation on God's most beloved
children. May it never be again! The Holy Spirit of God
is a Comforter to His children not a condemner. May God
use all of us to unchain the throngs of people who have
been lied to by the enemy of God! May all of us find our
comfort in Him!
The
Holy Spirit is the Truth
John 4:23 "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship
Him in spirit and truth." The Holy Spirit is God! He
is just as much a part of the Trinity as the Father and
the Son. He is the truth and anyone who desires worship
must worship through Him! He alone inspired the Scriptures
and He is our Guide to understanding the heart of the Father.
In John 14:17 Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of
Truth. He will guide us in the truth of God's Word and in
leading people into the Truth of the Gospel of Christ. Many
times the work of the Spirit of Truth may go beyond our
comfort level and our past experiences, but He will never
go beyond the truth! The problem usually is that we are
not as well-aquainted with the truth as we think we are!
We measure the work of God against our own experience and
world-view and find comfort within those "safe"
parameters. We have a tendency to try to predict what God
is going to do within our flesh-bound, carnal reasoning.
Although the Spirit of God is foreign to confusion (1 Cor
14:33), He is also a stranger to boredom!
The
Holy Spirit teaches us the truth of heaven, He unravels
the mysteries of eternity, and He reveals the nature of
God to us via the Word of God. As worship leaders, we should
be well-equipped in the Word of God, so the Holy Spirit
can use us to teach others who God really is! More often
than not, worship leaders are stereotyped as great musicians
who have nothing to say. That wave of thought is reinforced
when we say things that have no Scriptural basis and are
not in tandem with the Holy Spirit. Matthew 10:19-20 tells
us that the Holy Spirit will speak through us to others!
Wow! What a privilege it is to be a servant of the Most
High God--that He would speak His holy words through us!
Because He is the truth, we should be very careful to walk
in the truth so that we never lead someone down the path
of falsehood. Far too many worship leaders are not concerned
with the Truth! We must dig into God's Word and ask the
Holy Spirit to reveal Himself and give us understanding
from heaven.
You
cannot understand the Bible with mere human reasoning. 1
Cor 2:10 "..The Spirit searches all things, even the
deep things of God." We can't go deep without the help
of the Helper, our Great Teacher the Holy Spirit of God.
1Cor 2:13 goes on to say "This is what we speak, not
in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by
the Spirit, EXPRESSING SPIRITUAL TRUTHS IN SPIRITUAL WORDS."
We have got to get into the business of expressing spiritual
truths as worship leaders.
The Holy Spirit as our Power Source
As mere humans, we have no spiritual power. Jesus said in
John 3:6, "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit
gives birth to spirit." Nothing spiritual can ever
be accomplished on our own power or volition. We are in
desperate need of a higher power to give us spiritual power.
In Acts 1:8, Jesus once again said to all of His disciples,
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you; and you WILL BE my witnesses..."
There
are many worship leaders who lead energetically and with
great effort, yet there is no display of God's mighty power
working in lives. To do the works of the Spirit, we must
have the Holy Spirit working in us. Then we will do more
than just witness with our music, we WILL BE witnesses for
Christ with resurrection power flowing from our lives. Anybody
can point to Jesus, but only the Holy Spirit can point to
Jesus with spiritual power! Many times I have tried to convict
people on my own accord to love God and hate sin. Even with
a sincere, misguided heart my efforts failed miserably.
Why? Because apart from God's power I am helpless.
Jesus
said concerning the convicting power of the Holy Spirit;
"When He comes, he will convict the world of guilt
in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment"(John
16:8). When we allow the Holy Spirit to move through us
as worship leaders, He will convict the lost of sin and
lead them to Christ. I have seen many people come to Christ
in the middle of a worship set, because the Holy Spirit
was moving in power.
How
do we know if the Holy Spirit is moving in power in our
lives? What are those characteristics? Galations 5:22 "The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
Love can not be manufactured. Joy is not an expression of
momentary emotion, it is a heavenly gift of which this earth
knows nothing. We all have tried to manufacture the handprints
of the Spirit and we have all come up empty. So often I
think we exchange true power for cheap, lifeless stimulation.
I do not what to stimulate people, I want to see supernatural
power consume their very lives! That kind of transformation
does not come from reason or market-driven ministry, but
from the Holy Spirit of God. The power to heal hearts and
bodies, families and the lost is found in the mighty movements
of God on High.
Prayer
Oh Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth, teach us how to walk
in Your power through Your Holy Spirit! Comfort the afflicted
and afflict the comfortable today, oh Righteous King. Raise
up a generation of worshipers for Your glory and honor who
run from the dark clouds of self-righteousness and hide
within the shadow of Your wings. Help us to lead people
to Your freedom and Your liberty through our most loved
Savior, the Risen Lamb, Jesus Christ. Sing, speak and lead
through us for Your name. Amen.
