I read a really good article in Worship Leader Magazine (we still remember magazines right?) this week by Gordon MacDonald called “The Heart of the Matter”. The subtitle was, “ Seeing the Church as the most precious thing in the sight of God, and leading worship accordingly.” The positive thing I took away from the article was the author’s advice to think about what’s going on in the heads of your listeners based on the different generations present in the congregation. Basically me as a 33 year old worship leader, should also take into consideration what’s on the minds of twenty something’s, people in there 40’s 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and yes even teenagers; and let that play into the mix of your song selection, your prayers, and your speaking. This resonated with me because last week, the elections were so heavy on everyone’s mind that, when I put my set together with that in mind it became a very powerful time of corporate worship through this union and connection with the Holy Spirit.

There is one passage of this article that I don’t know if I totally agree with or maybe it is accurate in some churches but I’d like to aspire to something better. Here’s the excerpt;

“In the sanctuary, there is a worship-leading pastor who brings him into the presence of God much like a tour guide might bring tourists into the presence of a natural wonder. That’s what you do. That’s your call. That’s your responsibility.”

Obviously, you need to read the whole article to put this back into context but here’s my issue. I don’t want to be a tour guide. I get that I can’t lead people to someplace I’ve never been but I’d hope that our church isn’t made up of tourists? Maybe a few, but there’s got to be some locals too that have seen this wonder before right? I understand what the author is trying to say, but I feel it’s an incomplete metaphor. I’ve been thinking about this for a couple days, trying to replace it with a better example. Maybe a school teacher, choir director? What do you think is a good metaphor to what a worship leader should be like?