“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” – Psalm 119:97
Becoming a More Disciplined Worship Leader
A few years ago, I was meeting with my pastor and he asked about some ways I’d like to grow in the coming year. I honestly admitted that I wished I could be more consistent in reading God’s Word.
He responded with a loving, yet direct exhortation: “You need to be more disciplined.”
He was right. I was convicted. He handed me a book called Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Don Whitney, and I began a journey to become a more disciplined worship leader for God’s glory.
I had been a Christian for over a decade and serving in full-time worship ministry for five years, and yet, I had always struggled to consistently read God’s Word. I loved the Lord Jesus and His church, but my Bible reading was lacking and I had never actually read through the entire Bible. In Whitney’s book I caught a vision for the importance of spending quality time in God’s Word–not just reading it, but meditating on it. As Jesus says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). We need the daily, soul-strengthening nourishment that comes from God’s Holy Word.
The Heart of the Matter
A part of being in church ministry is honest self-evaluation. How are your daily devotion times? How often do you spend time in God’s Word? Our leadership on stage must be an overflow of our personal, private time in God’s Holy Word.
John 15 is a sobering reminder that we must abide in Christ and bear fruit, lest we be cut off and thrown into the fire. You’ve probably heard the adage, “If the root is good, the fruit is good.” We will be known by our fruit. The faithful worship leader knows God because he has spent hours in His Word. We should never tire of the treasures found in the Scriptures. May we be diligent students of God’s Word!
Practical Considerations
So, how do you go about growing in the discipline of regular Bible reading? Here are a few practical next steps you can take:
Make a Plan
Step one is to find a good Bible reading plan and to stick to it. Don’t wait until you’re in the mood to read the Bible; decide what you’re going to read, then find a Bible plan to help you stay consistent. My encouragement to worship leaders is to make it a habit to read the entire Bible, preferably within a year or two. My favorite Bible reading plan is the M’Cheyne Bible Reading plan, which I print out and tape inside the back cover of my Bible. This plan covers four chapters a day from different books of the Old and New Testaments, which keeps readers from losing steam halfway through Leviticus!
Find a Time and a Place
Part of being a more disciplined student of God’s Word is setting aside a time and a place to read it. For me, it’s early in the morning before my children wake up. I like to rise early, pour a cup of coffee, sit down at the dining room table, and read through my Bible reading plan. Until it becomes a habit, you might have to add it to your calendar and commit to making it a priority!
Use a Physical Bible
I used to primarily read the Scriptures using my phone or an iPad. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this practice, I find my focus is much better when I use a physical copy of the Bible. My advice is to purchase a great study Bible, like the ESV Study Bible, or maybe a nice, premium Bible you can pass down to your kids someday. The point is, do your best to reduce distractions as you read God’s Word. Pray as you read that the Lord would reveal His truth to you and the Holy Spirit would work in your heart to apply what you’re reading.
How the Word Shapes Worship Leaders
Practically speaking, how well we know our Bibles has a profound impact on our Sunday morning gatherings, as well as our own leadership. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The truth is, whether you realize it or not, the songs you lead on Sunday morning teach your congregation about God’s attributes and character. Worship leaders aren’t just musicians; we’re theologians too. And the songs we sing can either promote the truth of God’s Word or distract from it. Do you know your Bible well enough to determine whether what you’re singing is theologically sound? Leaders will be held accountable for how they have handled God’s Word, as Paul exhorts Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).
Conclusion
Fellow worship leader, disciplined Scripture reading isn’t about ticking off a box on our reading plans; it’s about communing with our Triune God day by day. We were created to worship our Creator God and to know Him more. God graciously reveals Himself to us in His Word, and John 1:14 says that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” We study God’s Word because it is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). The Word serves as a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path (Ps. 119:105). Worship leader, spend time with the Lord daily in His Word, and let His Word shape you into the leader He has called you to be. May the Lord bless you as you faithfully serve your congregation.