A look at Praise & Worship

Over the past few days I've been trying to come to terms to what worshipping God really was. Also dominating my thoughts was "what takes to be worship leader?" After allot of thinking and debating, some more thinking, and more debating, I'm still forming my opinion but I'm going to share a few things with you, which you might already know or already thought about and hopefully something you haven't.
Lets think about what makes a human. He has a Physical part, his body and all five senses. He has a emotional part, which concerns its self with feelings, and he has a Spiritual part, which God gave unto him. Well which one of these three deals with worshipping? look at John 4:24 which says " God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." Pretty self describing there so I think we know what part of a human must use when worshipping.
The reason to why I started thinking about this was because I was unsure in myself in being labeled a worship leader. It was nothing but the term itself, "worship leader" that made me uneasy. After much toiling I am now of mind to say that there is no such thing as a "worship leader" and anyone was calls themselves that are nothing more but misguided. The term "Worship leader(s)" is used much to frequently and in our Church and in our Youth Group. Why? When taken in context, "worship leader" is saying that you are the median between the people who worship God and God himself. That you provide the example of worshipping God and if you follow the worship leaders example you in turn are worshipping God.
Quite a few things are wrong with that. Again read John 4:24 up top which says "and they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. "Worship leaders" are merely setting the mood, and that in NO WAY a "Worship leader". So, what are they doing up there playing music and singing? Some might not see it this way yet but its entertainment.
WHAT!? ENTERTAINMENT!? YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!? Well yes, it is. Why? (A simple word brings so much). When you deal with anything that's mixed with emotions that make you feel good or make you consider, you are entertained (check Websters if you don't believe). The singers, guitar players, and drummers up there are setting the mood. This mood is not of spirit but of emotion. John 4:24 mentions nothing of emotions when worshipping God, only spirit and truth.
These "entertainers" ( I know its hard to think about it that way...) can not do ANYTHING to help you worship. They can relay a message from a song that another human made about God to you, and maybe you might take something out of it, and its the duty of the entertainers not to distort that message, but this is not worshipping. This is really learning and sharing.
One of the literal meanings of worship that was shared with me this last week was "To lay completely down in front of God and lick like a dog, his feet." This of course is described physically, but take it into text of it being spiritually. One word, wow.
Now I think that you can become emotional and physical when worshipping, but these two things can not lead you to worship. Its all has to do with that humans spirit. If that humans spirit chooses to worship, it will. It can become distracted like everything.
The peoples purpose up there playing should not be up there to merely entertain. Entertainment is a mere effect to what their doing. They are appealing to the emotions of the people, to get them hyped up about God, to get them in the mood to worship God, but if you have to be in a mood to worship God (a mood is an emotion) then a emotion can lead you to worship. WRONG again.
THEN WHY ARE YOU UP THERE PLAYING AND SINGING?! Now that's a great question. You can say we are up there as a testimonial. To show people what God has done for us through song. When I see it like this, we are not entertainers though we entertain, we are not worship leaders because that's an oxymoron, we are mere servants proclaiming the greatness of the Almighty through the gifts he has blessed us with.
Worship is so personal, like prayer, which I think should be done between you and God. I think that when "worship" is in a group, it can become corrupt and not serve its purpose. I'm not saying that you can worship God in a group, but people can become mislead through a simple little word... leader.
Yours in Christ
Tim
of course... I might be wrong... what do I know... I'm just 17...

To Tim, on the idea of leadership...
Dear Tim,
I was a little taken aback when I read your E-mail on Worship Leading. It seems to me, though, that you are on the right track with rejecting the idea that worship leaders are entertainers. I strongly disagree, however, with the statement that anyone who uses the term "worship leader" is misguided. That would be like saying that anyone who uses the term "Pastor," or "Teacher" is misguided. It is the worship leader's job to organize, to oversee, and to guide the part of the service that pertains to him. It might be argued, though, that "worship leader" as a title is a little broad. If you think about it, every aspect of the service is a form of worship: acknowledging God in his majesty and humbling ourselves before him. A better term is "music minister." A music minister's job is to facilitate that aspect of worship that is musical. The music minister, presumably, has studied music and the way in which people respond in worship to certain types of songs. The minister is sensitive to the leading of the spirit, and is prepared to respond to that leading. Most importantly, the music minister worships. Here is the difference between a musician and a minister. The Bible teaches that leaders should be appointed. Not everyone knows how to worship, just like not everyone knows the Bible from cover to cover when they come to church. People need to learn, and be led.

Bryon

Byron, Maybe I wasn't as clear as I wanted to be with the last e-mail. Let me share with you some quotes:
Matt 15:8-9 These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, their teachings are but rules taught by men.
This has to do with the wrong way to worship. Anyone can sing physical) but it is the spirit that worships.
Phil. 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision (meaning believers) we who worship by the spirit of God who glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.
Put NO confidence in the flesh and the spirit of God that leads us to worship.
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you brothers in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices Holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.
I totally disagree with you that saying "worship leaders" are misguided is to say "Pastor" or "teacher" is misguided. Man can not lead the spirit to worship, its the spirit of God that leads us. Read this:

Matt 23:8-12
Don't ever let anyone call you 'Rabbi', for you have only one teacher, and all of you are on the same level as brothers and sisters. And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father', for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don't let anyone call you 'Master', for there is only one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
This is such a powerful message No earthly man deserves the title teacher because there is only the One that is! (so I ask, when we use the term "teacher" is it misleading?)
I think with both our opinions, we consider worship to be two different things. To me, true worship is when you are alone with only the spirit of God. Your spirit becomes so overcome, you can barely move and your spirit cries out for Him. This overcomes your emotions and your physical nature. To me, that's worship.
So anything less then that is not worship, but more of praise.
James 5: 13 : Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? let him sing songs of praise.
Happy (Happiness) is an emotion. An emotion in which you should sing songs of praise with. With this, the purpose of the music minister is to lead in songs of praise!
You said "A music minister's job is to facilitate that aspect of worship that is musical", This is not an aspect of worship, but of praise.
Think about this for a second, we have long invitations at our church for people to come and pray or announce there commitment to Christ or whatever. Is it RIGHT to have LONG invitations spanning 20- sometimes 40 minutes?! If the spirit of God was in you, how long would it take to go down that aisle to announce your trust in the Lord, or your conviction to announce your recommitment? I think if the Spirit of God was in You, you'll be up there in a heartbeat!
But with long invitations, your emotions come in and begin to make you feel guilty and convicted. This is your emotions not the Spirit of God. I'm pretty sure God does not want your emotions to convict you simply because your emotions are forever changing... convicted one day, satisfied the next. But the Spirit of God does not change, and wants your spirit to worship and make such decisions.
You also say that "The minister is sensitive to the leading of the spirit and is prepared to respond to that leading," Therefore your saying that men leads men to worship God. But no man can lead a mans spirit to worship! Again its the Spirit of God that leads.
You are right when saying that not everyone knows how to worship, but in essence your saying that if what the music minister is doing is worship, then I follow the music minister, then I am worshipping. This is not learning to worship, but only mocking a praise. To learn to worship is to dig deep in the word of God and let him guide you. Fellow bothers and sisters in Christ should help you and share there ideas of worship with you, but not guide or lead you. That is reserved for the One, the Christ.
Of course there is a need for leaders of a church, but these are mere servants of God, following Gods will. In my eyes, I think of a church as being a school of God. A place to learn about him and study and grow as a Christian. A place to fellowship with other Christians on there journey with Christ. And also a place where you CAN worship, and SHOULD praise God.
In one of your final statements you say that "most importantly, the music minister worships". Is he really worshipping or is he praising? I feel that worship is SO MUCH MORE THAN A SONG!!
But his job Is worthwhile for the important reason of leading praise. Its glorifying , through song, the Creator and of course that's important!
Songs are extremely powerful. They can bring on a full range of emotions and I think Gods spirit can work through songs, but its not the worship leader... its GOD.
Hey, just my opinion...
Tim

hey everyone! y'all haven't heard from me much but i have been reading all of your emails. everything y'all are saying is REALLY making me think about all of these things... and I'm continually praying that God shows me more on worship. Tim- i am having a little trouble seeing the fine line between worship and praise. I TOTALLY see your point that they are both more than just a song- it's ALL about worshipping and praising with your spirit, heart, soul, mind- EVERYTHING within you! as a result of true worship and praise, people will express themselves differently- some kneel, some lift their hands, some close their eyes- but that is all a result! and then all those emotions of peace and joy- those are real- but they are a result. and then the whole worship leader thing. i can see how that can sound as though it's saying that a man leads others into worship which is impossible. But if that is how one saw the word, the term would be very bad. I always saw it as someone who glorifies God by worshipping Him in song... nothing more... they can't force someone else to worship. BUT by them worshipping, non-believers can see that they are missing out on something. and I don't know about you, but sometimes i feel so encouraged to see fellow believers worshipping in song and most importantly with their life. it's a good example to me and God uses that to make me want to worship Him too. not that they led me to worship, but God just used their example to lead me to worship. please be totally honest with me about what you think! ~God bless you guys and it's really nice to hear what all of y'all think. please pray for me in religion class- i need a dose or two of courage b/c I normally have trouble sharing things when it doesn't flow with the majority but I know that I wouldn't be doing God's will if I refrained from sharing His Truth.
Jess

These are all but a FEW emails. Hopefully they will get you to THINK! That's what we need in our Churches today, people who use there minds and dig into the scripture. Yours in Christ, TiM