3. You Can Perform and Lead Worship
Go ahead and pick your jaw up off the floor.
Listen. If that word gives you the shakes, then call it playing skillfully. Call it playing to Jesus. Call it whatever it is you want to call it to make yourself feel better. But for the love of all things holy … IF YOU DON’T WANT PEOPLE LOOKING AT YOU THEN PLAY THE WORSHIP SET FROM YOUR IPHONE.
But if they ARE going to look at you, and they are, then smile, have fun, and they will have fun with you.
I sprint around the stage when I lead worship. I jump. I dance. I lift my hands. I laugh. Not the Kim Walker, more like the Will Smith. I drop to my knees. I do lots on stage. And guess what? I do them as I AUTHENTICALLY WORSHIP JESUS CHRIST.
So either I’m the exception, or doing all of the above does not equal rock star or prima donna.
Let me tell you what it equals …
It equals a worship leader named Carlos Whittaker who is a hot mess of a human being, who almost lost his wife and kids to selfish decisions, who was so far away from Christ that the slightest glimpse of His Glorious Face propels me into a state of joy so intense and overwhelming that I can’t NOT do all that.
It’s not a show. It’s SHOWING my overwhelming gratitude to the mercy storm He has bathed me in.
4. Let’s Stop Dissecting Each Other and Start Celebrating Each Other.
I have a Catholic worship leader friend who leads in a church where THEY LIGHT THE BAND FROM BEHIND SO YOU CAN’T SEE THEIR FACES. He does an amazing job and is an anointed worship leader.
I have a worship leader friend who leads in a robe and swings his right hand in various cadences directing the congregation in hymns written in 1955. He does an amazing job and he is an anointed worship leader.
I have a worship leader friend who leads on a keyboard and does not smile once the entire worship set. She does an amazing job and is an anointed worship leader.
You see, God has not created ONE STYLE of worship. What a freaking boring God that would be. He has created a beautiful bride who uses a variety of styles and types of people to usher a variety of types of people to see His face clearly on a daily basis.
I’m sure I’ve misspelled a few things and not explained some things eloquently enough, but I’m on a flight on my way to Vegas where I’ll be leading worship at a church with my face on a big screen and my free wifi on this plane is about to cut out.
