When we lead others in worship, we are literally leading them to an encounter with or an opportunity for intimacy of relationship with Almighty God. To have an intimate relationship with God is to get to know Him - and to allow Him to get to know us. We basically lead people to a place of having the lies of this world confronted with the truth of who God is. This makes the act of worship - even in a corporate setting - a very potentially life-changing encounter every time we have the privilege of leading others. This is one of the greatest responsibilities I know in life. With worship comes a realization of God’s presence. With His presence we find His very nature. His nature is one of truth - and truth always has a way of bringing healing.
You will know the truth and the truth will, what? Of course we all readily know the answer. The truth will set us free according to John 8:32. What does this have to do with worship and its healing facets? In my case and from my perspective, everything. God’s Word is the truth. Jesus is called The Word of God (Rev. 19:13) and He called Himself the way the truth and the life (John 14:6). The importance of this? I do not have a relationship with a book - the Bible. I love the Word of God but I have a relationship with a real, living Savior who is THE truth!
What does it mean to know the truth? The word used for know in this instance is also used in Luke 1:34. When the angel came to Mary and told her she would bring forth a son, her reply was, “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” What did Mary mean here? She was saying she had not had an intimate relationship with a man. If that is the same word used in John 8:32, we can make the statement ‘You will have an intimate relationship with the Truth (Jesus), and the Truth (Jesus) will set you free!’ By intimacy with Jesus I need to explain what intimacy is. In the act of worship, we are presenting our hearts to Jesus and saying, “Here is my heart, Lord. Into-me-see.” In that same moment, Jesus is saying, “Here is my heart, child. Into-Me-see.” Complete honesty between us and the Lord.
What is the first step of Truth?
We often find no power in the words of John 8:32 because we never really get to the truth. Why is that? Because the first step of truth or toward truth is always our honesty. 1 John 1:9 says, ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’ King David, after he committed adultery and murder, made the following honest confession in Psalm 51:3-4, 17. ‘For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.’ Healing came to his repentant honest heart...because truth always leads to freedom.
In my own life I discovered that honesty is a part of brokenness - and brokenness leads to a place of healing. I would not have been healed of homosexuality had I not gotten honest that it was a problem. I had to agree with God that it was sin...that He had dealt with it through Jesus...that I was already forgiven...and that He wanted to give me a brand new identity. When I became honest, the walls of this particular bondage began to fall away from my heart and mind. The greatest fear I had was of being exposed...yet it was the very act of self-exposure that the Lord honored in my life. My greatest fear became my greatest blessing!
Truth leads to honesty. Honesty leads to intimacy. Intimacy leads to health and life. Intimacy simply means I turn to my Father and say to Him ‘Lord, into-me-see’ and at the same time, realize His heart is turned toward me and He is saying, ‘Son, into-Me-see’. Once I took that first step toward truth, healing instantly began to flood through my soul. This all happened for me in the context of a worship experience.
How do we get the sheep to the place of honesty? As a shepherd, I must walk there first. In other words, when I prepare to lead worship, I must be willing to honestly confess my need for God to those I lead. I never share the details of my sin because details can lead to fantasizing and vain imaginations. I have learned that if I share the attitude that led me to sin, others can feel at ease to confess the same attitudes. When we deal honestly with our own attitudes, others we lead - because we really are like sheep in a good way - are inclined to examine their own lives and follow in our footsteps. This can all be done through the songs we select, the words we use to express our hearts, and our very real moments of crying out to God in corporate settings. In that sense, we really are not worship leaders. We then become Lead Worshippers.
Because God so graciously ministers life to me through worship, I tend to use what ministers to me to minister to others. I have watched people who have been bound up in confusion over their sexual identity for decades suddenly fall on their faces in repentance during times of worship as they realize God’s intense love and mercy upon their lives. I have watched in amazement as men and women contemplating suicide confessed their great need and found hope to go on with life while being bathed in God’s presence during a time of worship. I have heard the loud praises of men who were once bound up in bitterness now rejoicing because they not only found God’s forgiveness during a time of worship but began to extend that same forgiveness to others - all in the context of worship.
Lead people to freedom and they will worship. Lead people in worship and healing will result. We must be willing to walk in honesty and to lead in honesty, no longer willing to play the religious games of wearing masks and performing for the approval of others. We must find the place of rest God offers each of us through finding our identity in Him. Even if you don’t know how to lead someone out of a particular sin pattern like sexual confusion, you can still lead them to freedom. How do I know? Because you already know the answer. The answer to any sin problem or identity issue is Jesus! Simply be willing to lead people toward Jesus and you will find God has given you the ability to help people overcome even the most challenging of habitual sin patterns.
Being a minister of healing through worship simply requires your own sincere honesty before God. Honesty leads to truth. Truth leads to freedom. Freedom leads to abundant life. Honesty is not a sign of weakness. I have found quite the contrary...like perhaps in my weakness He is strong (now where have I heard that before?). Being honest is not always easy. We must be willing to receive God’s grace to do so. And He offers His grace to us freely and readily. To be effective as a worship leader who truly desires to minister freedom to His flock, we must be willing to be honest with ourselves, with our God, and with those we lead.
Whether you wear the title of ‘worship leader’ or not, if you are a new creation in Christ you ARE a worship leader…whether you like it or not! As you live your life for Christ, your example of living a lifestyle of worship, makes you a worship leader! That may be in a pew on Sunday morning or it may be in the way you treat others at work. Just remember who and Whose you are…and just lead.
Dennis Jernigan