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I had just been presented with yet another list of my shortcomings as a worship leader when I drove home, brutally discouraged, and extremely confused. The house was empty, no one was home, and I knew I was in bad shape. What in the world had just happened? How in the world could I keep this ministry thing going?

In that moment of despair, it was almost as if God screamed at me: “Open the Bible to James chapter 1”.

And so I did. And I read:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
(James 1:2-12 ESV)

And just like that, God taught me some crucial lessons.

First, trials are good for me. They’re good for me because they drive me to have greater faith in Jesus. They grow me up – not in self-confidence – but in Christ-confidence. So I can persevere through discouraging trials and tests, because they have a purpose, which is to cause me to throw myself on Jesus even more. This increases my effectiveness in ministry by about 1,000%.

Second, God will give me wisdom. God doesn’t offer a fast-pass, a short cut, or a detour around turbulence. But he promises wisdom when I ask in faith, and he will guide me through, as a God who gives generously. So I can continue to walk ahead, even when it’s actually quite miserable, because I am not on my own. This is not all riding on my shoulders, my giftedness, my leadership prowess, and my navigational skills. I am following my Captain, my Lord, my King, my Ruler, my Guardian, and my Defender. I will not survive in ministry because I am good at it. I will survive in ministry because God is good at it, and he tells me what to do so he can use me.

Third, humility is the quality that will result in ministry longevity. Pride will inevitably lead to a withering of my fruit. It’s an unavoidable result of pride that can’t be ignored. But through disappointment, trials, tests, and even humiliation, God is keeping the soil of my heart more fertile, and more aware of its need for God. So, as counter-intuitive as it is, I can be grateful to God when he humbles me, however and whenever he chooses. It must mean I need it.

Finally, I have to keep the big picture in mind. My ultimate home is not a plum ministry position. My ultimate home is heaven. And until I am home, I will experience times of encouragement, and times of discouragement. I will be presented with affirmation, and I will be presented with lists of my shortcomings. And through it all, my faith is in Jesus, my wisdom comes from him and his word, and my job is to exalt him whether I’m comfortable or not. One day I will receive the crown of life, and on that day, and not a day sooner, all discouragement will cease.

When I first began to lead worship, my overwhelming feeling when standing on stage was one of panic. Is everything going to fall apart? Is everyone staring at me? I broke a string! How do I play that chord again? How do I turn the page on my music stand and still hold onto my guitar pick and still strum when I’m supposed to strum so the whole band doesn’t stop playing?

Eventually I gained enough confidence and got enough experience that my beginner’s anxiety wore off. What came next was an overdose of intensity. THIS is the set that is going to BRING DOWN THE FIRES OF REVIVAL. Or THIS SONG has to be EPIC. Or I am going to MAKE these people WORSHIP no matter HOW LONG IT TAKES! The harder I strummed, the higher I sang, and the louder I hollered, the better the worship. Or so I thought.

Over the last 13 years, as I’ve had the privilege of leading one or more worship services every weekend, I’ve learned that my fears are ungrounded and my intensity is overrated.

Because fundamentally, the panic of a rookie worship leader and the overzealous intensity of an experienced worship leader both have the root: and it’s insecurity.

Insecurity whispers in the worship leader’s ear: this is all on you! And when you’re a rookie, that freaks you out. But when you’re more experienced, that puffs up your ego. You actually believe it is all on you. And that you can make the worship soar to glorious heights of heavenly awesomeness.

But the whisper of insecurity is a lie. It’s a tremendous lie. To rookie and experienced worship leaders alike. The success of worship isn’t all on us. It isn’t all on us at all. We have no reason to panic, and no grounds for pride.

Worship is God-initiated, and God-oriented. Worship leaders are placed where they’re placed by God himself, and he’s working through them, in them, around them, in spite of them, and for them, every minute of every song. And this is the God honest truth that helps a worship leader finally realize he or she can just relax and be themselves.

And that’s where sincerity comes from. From a deep-seated confidence that God initiates worship by shining “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). And he receives all worship and glory to himself, for “…from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Romans 11:36).

When I remember those truths: I can enjoy worship with my congregation, choir, worship team, singers, and instrumentalists so much more. We don’t need to panic over making every detail perfect, lest we chase the Holy Spirit out of the room. And we don’t boast in our excellence as if God is impressed and therefore likes us more than the church down the street.

Relax and be yourself, worship leader. Use your gifts, sing with your voice, and join together with your people, to glorify God together. You don’t need to worry and you don’t need to wear yourself out. Thank God!

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to post a few interviews with worship leader friends of mine, who serve in different kinds of churches around the country, in different denominations, and with different approaches.

But they’re all humble servants who have been faithfully pointing their congregations to Jesus for a while now, and I’d love for you to get to know them too.

Today, I introduce you to Todd Wright. Todd is a worship leader in Texas, and is also a really good song writer. One of the songs he co-wrote, “Hallelujah For the Cross” has become fairly well-known over the last year (especially since Newsboys covered it). So, now he’s a pretty big deal and his pick-up truck is full of Grammys. (Just kidding. He doesn’t drive a pick-up truck.)

JB: Hi Todd! Tell us a little about yourself and your family
TW: I’m Todd Wright. My wife, Kristen and I have been married for 18 years. We’ve got two kids, Jonah (14) and Finley (10.) I’m the worship pastor at Bethel Bible Church in Tyler, Texas. (We have three campuses total. I am at what’s known as the “South” campus.) This September 1 will by my 8-year anniversary at Bethel. I can’t believe it’s been eight years already! They’ve flown by. When I came to Bethel, Kristen and I were very committed to staying at the church for the long haul. That’s not to say God won’t ever move me, but I believe worship leaders should think long and hard about where they land. I honestly believe that a worship leader who stays faithful over years and years is helpful to the church at large.

This week at my church we’re hosting our annual “Genesis Arts Camp“, and our campus is crawling with 300 kids, an army of counselors, lots of volunteers, a handful of pirates, and one very elusive whale.

The theme this year is “Searching for Treasure” and we’re teaching the kids the good news of Ephesians 1:3 and 7. The ESV version says:

(Eph. 1:3): Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places… (1:7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…

And here’s a paraphrased version for the sake of a camp theme song that I wrote we’re learning and singing every day:

Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 and 7
Says God has blessed us with ALL the blessings of heaven!

So… let us give thanks and dance and celebrate
To the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
For by Jesus’ blood…

We are set free (Woo Hoo! Woo Hoo!)
Our sins are forgiven (Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!)
How great is the grace (How great is the grace)
Is the grace of God

Yesterday it was up to me to explain (in 4 minutes) what exactly being blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” or being blessed “with all the blessings of heaven” (my paraphrase) means.

Because, at first glance, this is one of those statements that makes you say “huh”? I’m blessed with every spiritual blessing? In the heavenly places? What does that mean?

I explained that it’s a lot like getting an Advent calendar.

An Advent calendar comes loaded with all the blessings inside all the drawers. Some of them you can open, and some you have to wait to open. You’ve been given all the blessings. They’re yours. But you’ll receive them when it’s time.

In Christ, we are blessed with a cosmic “Advent calendar”, containing every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Some of the blessings we receive right now. The forgiveness of our sins, for example. But some of the other blessings, like no more sickness in heaven, or the grace to love and care for my grandchildren some day when I’m 74 years old, I won’t receive until it’s time.

We’re all like pirates. We search for earthly treasure, expecting it to satisfy, but it never does. We always want more, whether it’s that elusive whale (named Waldo) or the treasure at the bottom of the sea.

But God adopts us as his children in Christ, and supplies every need “according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

God’s given you a fully loaded Advent calendar. You’ve been blessed with all the blessings of heaven. As we say at Genesis Arts Camp, “woo hoo! woo hoo!”

We’ve been working hard at my church this summer to open our choir up to anyone and everyone who would like to give it a try.

I LOVE choirs in worship, and my church has a long history of a vibrant choir helping leading music on Sundays. And while I’m not a choir director (thankfully God has brought me an amazing right-hand man to lead our choir, Andrew Cote) I’m committed to trying to to help our choir go against the trend in white Protestant churches that sees choirs rapidly disappearing.

So we made some fun/silly videos this summer to make it clear to our congregation that we really meant what we were saying: we wanted anyone with a love to worship God, regardless of their training, experience, or musical background, to come join this community.

The first one was just me and my oldest daughter, Megan, and was a bit more serious/substantive:

The second one was just plain silly. A beautiful composition by our esteemed choir director himself:

Next, I was joined again by Andrew Cote and Kirsten Boyd (Worship and Arts Associate) for another beautiful composition. And a cameo by MaryAnne, our resident dancer:

Next, I roped my three daughters into the recruitment effort:

Andrew “First Take” Cote made the next week’s plea:

And finally, I was joined by a beary special guest:

In addition to these videos, we made an effort every week of reaching out to everyone we could, and inviting them to give the choir a try. We prayed a lot too. And we chose choir anthems across of spectrum of genres, but with an intentional bend towards congregational songs, that we could repeat as a congregation in subsequent weeks. This way, the choir was actually teaching our church new songs, and then when we would do those songs again, the choir had interesting parts to sing, which just further added to and enhanced our worship.

And I’m very happy to report that our choir actually GREW this summer, and added many new voices of people who had never participated before. Praise the Lord!

But more than numerical growth – the morale of the choir grew, the level of joy and laughter was irresistible, and the energy coming from the choir on Sunday mornings was electric. Ultimately, no amount of videos or marketing or recruitment can produce that kind of spiritual unity and joy. Only God can. So I’m grateful to God for a great summer for our choir at Truro.

We’re looking forward to the Fall, and are as committed as ever to working (and praying) for the growth, health, and worship leading effectiveness of our choir. Here is our “choir card” for the coming ministry year:

As you can imagine, this kind of growth and change in a ministry always brings its challenges, so please pray that God continues to bless and grow this community for his glory in the months and years to come.