You worship leaders, oh you tricky, tricky worship leaders. Every now and then as we wind down a praise song, you’ll say something like, “After we repeat this chorus, be quiet for a moment and think about the words you’ve been singing. Just reflect quietly for a minute before we lift our voices back to God.” But I don’t know what “repeat this chorus” means because you always repeat things and change the lyrics and switch the pace up.
What I think “repeat this chorus” means is that we’re going to sing the chorus one more time. But maybe you’re not assigning any numerical value to the word “repeat.” Maybe you’re just using it as a verb that means, “Sing this until I feel like we’ve sung it enough times.”
So what inevitably happens is that when you finish the chorus, when your secret number of repeats is met, I continue to sing the chorus out loud when I am supposed to be quiet. And somehow, everyone sitting around me knew when you were going to stop singing, so my secret singing cover is blown. They’re all engaged in deep personal moments of quiet reflection while I am stuck yell singing, “STRENGTH WILL RISE AS WE WAIT UPON THE LORD!”
I can’t stop that from happening. I think to some degree you’ve got to have the freedom as a worship leader to take the song where the Lord brings it. But that doesn’t mean I can’t say something after my loud solo chorus that helps remove a little of the embarrassment.
3 things to say when you’re suddenly the only one singing:
1. “I love God more!”
Holiness is not a competitive sport, yet. But when you’re still singing and everyone else is praying you’ll probably feel a little like a sweaty Philistine. So say the opposite of that feeling. Just yell out, “I love God more!” and then throw your bulletin down like Eminem threw the mic down at the end of the movie 8 mile and walk out.
2. “Singing loudly is how I express quiet reflection!”
OK, everyone around you has bowed their heads down while you’re still singing. But you know what? You’ve got to be you. You’re unique. You’re not a follower. You’re blazing a new trail. Sure it’s a trail that in this particular case leads to embarrassment, but it’s a trail nonetheless.
3. “Holy Spirit, that was totally the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is such a mystery that maybe you ended up yell singing when you were supposed to be praying because the Holy Spirit was prompting you. Who is going to argue against you on that? Chances are you weren’t paying attention which is why you missed the cue to be quiet, but I’m just saying, it’s possible it was the Holy Spirit. (Please note: If it wasn’t, you’ve just thrown the Holy Spirit under the church bus and should start praying immediately.)
I hope these tips help you audience members out there this Sunday. And I hope it puts you worship leaders on notice. I’m listening and watching and clearly not above yelling, “I love God more” if you pull a “discreet repeat” on me.
