Be the Holy Spirit for Your Congregation

Song Leader • Worship Leader • Lead Worshiper. I have heard many ways of describing the person who leads the congregation in corporate musical worship of God. The different names for this same person have morphed over the years as times have changed and as various people have tried to inject their personal viewpoint into the mix of what we call this person. But most of these titles have linguistically described a person who is directing the congregation—giving the congregation an idea of what's going on and what is expected, keeping the myriad people together on key, in tempo, and focused on the same concept.

But all things should be done decently and in order.
   —1 Corinthians 14:40

But recently a new term has surfaced that bothers me tremendously—Worship Facilitator. This title, which appears to have risen out of the Emergent Church community, seems presumptuous to the point of blasphemy. We cannot know the hearts of the folks who are using this term, but it seems to me that it springs out of false humility—a desire to try to convince people that this person is not up in front of everyone because he wants the attention or wants to be in the spotlight.

The problem with the term Worship Facilitator is found in the etymology of that term. Although facilitator has come to be known as a person who leads a meeting—who makes the meeting run smoothly (makes the meeting facile), the etymology of this term shows that a facilitator is someone who supplies the faculties to the recipient of his facilitating to allow that person to accomplish the task at hand. In the case of meetings, this is a perfectly acceptable title for the leader. But in the case of worship, the only person capable of facilitating worship in the hearts and minds of the congregants is the Holy Spirit.

We must guard ourselves as we strive to invent new terms and redefine meanings that we do not open those around us to misunderstandings that can cause serious theological trouble in the coming years. In an effort to be "relevant" and to empower those around them, I believe many people have bought into this term—thinking that it will make them seem less like a superior and more like just one of the people having a general conversation. The problem with this viewpoint is that it ignores the fact that a large group of people needs a leader to lead them—not a so-called "facilitator" trying to do something that can be done by only God Himself.