good worship leaders

I have a confession: I am probably the most musically ignorant person that has ever existed. I know nothing about it, and I have no ear for it whatsoever. Most of my friends can hear all these different things and dissect a song…I just listen to it and decide if I like it or not. When I was younger my mom would try to get me to learn how to play an instrument, but I would pick up a ball of some kind instead every time. I did try to play the trumpet in the 6th grade because a girl I had a crush on was in the band…that didn’t work out so well for me. By that I mean I got the girl, but not the trumpet…

So keep that in mind during the following statements. I think my friend Travis Wright, who is our worship leader at Midtown, is phenomenal. I am not talking about musical quality because, well, I simply don’t know about that–although from what I understand he is really good. What I am talking about is the important part of being a worship leader–what actually makes someone a worship leader and not only a “lead worshipper” that can sing well.

He is my definition of a good worship leader–someone who will lead by getting out of the way so people can worship Jesus. He practices humility, seeking out to live the Gospel every day, not just on Sundays in front of a crowd. It even goes down to the way he dresses. He wears nice, modest clothes–he is not up there with a low cut V-neck with chest hair hanging out, designer jeans and hair product spiking his fo-hawk, rocking out like Bon Jovi. With his demeanor on stage and even his clothes he strives not to bring attention to himself. One of my favorite qualities is his authenticity. What I mean by that is that being up on a stage doesn’t change him one bit. He’s not getting high off of popularity or goosebumps from attention, and I believe he worships the exact same when he is in the crowd and not up front. This past Sunday I realized that his wife is the exact same way. She sang a song so beautifully it almost hurt, but the thing that spurred me on towards worship the most was when I looked at her, I saw a girl who didn’t give a flip about being up on a stage. I watched her humbly sing her heart out to her King, and it was written on her face that where she was standing made no difference at all to her. She just wanted to worship.

I praise God for humble, Godly worship leaders that serve in our churches. I thank Him that He has blessed us with an incredible one at Midtown. I hope that as other churches seek out worship leaders, they will learn to look at people’s lives and motives with much more weight than how well they can sing or strum a guitar.

On a side note, you may not know this yet, but I know another incredible worship leader in the making. Just in case you’re wondering…his name is Jay Hendricks.