Feed my sheep

(I wrote this last week - and forgot to press send… better late than never)

Have You ever sat down at a restaurant and found nothing you liked on the menu? Hungry as you are, you don’t really want to order anything. And if restaurants are nearby, you may get up and try one of them, because the one you are in won’t do.

With a church on every corner, people will find one that resonates with their personality. Now, before you get all pious and say - people should not come to church to be served but to serve. I agree - after they have found the church that suits them. There is a reason you go to the church you go to. And if that church’s culture and liturgy weren’t your cup of tea - you would probably move on in search of one that is.

Anyway - that's not even the point of this… lol.

As worship leaders, it's easy to think our job is about music—to lean into and lead the worship songs we love. But we don’t really lead ‘songs’ - we lead people.

When we forget this, we risk leading songs that don't connect with the congregation or help them express their worship to the Lord corporately.
Where It's tempting to sing what we love or what's popular on YouTube, but we're called to serve the people in front of us, to help them minister to the Lord.

We can be so focused on creating a fire pit on stage when we should be focused on building a forest fire in the congregation - Bob Sorge.

What resonates with your congregation? What songs do they love? What themes and musical styles do they connect with?

There is a fear of ‘pandering’ or manipulating the people by leading songs they love. That’s ridiculous. We are here to serve them and help them worship.

We don’t test a congregation by singing songs that don't connect to see if they will “worship anyway”. Imagine a Chef serving a meal that you didn’t order or don’t like to see if you are “really, truly, hungry”.

That’s not the test. The only one who can test them is the Holy Spirit, who does not test them but loves them and draws them into a maturing love for Jesus.

Certain songs or styles of music will help a congregation express themselves - and that will differ from church to church, denomination to denomination. Knowing and leaning into your people’s preferences isn't manipulation; it's serving them. Manipulation has more to do with our intent than what well-known songs we sing.

I want the people who choose to come to the church I lead worship at to expect a corporate encounter. I want them to sing songs that help them express themselves to Him and ultimately encounter His presence in an unmistakable way. I want to pick the songs that help them do that while also finding creative expression in there.

Fortunately, there are enough songs that both I and the congregation love. Sometimes, though, I don’t pay enough attention to what they love, and I default my song selection to what I feel or am currently listening to.

Let’s build our worship sets for our congregations - the people in front of us.
In the same way, we would (hopefully) choose different songs for a service at a retirement home than for a youth conference. We aim to meet them where they are and help them participate eagerly and freely.

Serve them with music that unites and encourages their worship.

Who is “them”? The people in front of you.

Like Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep” - Maybe He wants us to be more than a shepherd of people. Maybe we are also called to be their Chef.