“Wow, that worship service was amazing.”

It’s a phrase we all hear, all the time. Whether you’re leaving the arena after a Jesus Culture concert or driving to the buffet after Sunday’s worship, we’ve all said it.

But what is it, I wonder, that constitutes “incredible” worship? Because you may be reading this article and thinking, “My church’s worship is far from great. Matter of fact, it’s terrible.”

Oftentimes, our judgement of a worship service comes down to how it makes us feel. If it was charged with emotion, we like it. If the band has it together, we like it. If it’s not so loud that our ear drums hurt, we like it. If they sang “Oceans”, we like it.

That’s also what scares me about our modern worship culture. We attend concerts, idolize artists, and chase experiences because of how they make us feel.

But it can leave us discontented with the local church God has called us to and distract us from asking the most important question of all.

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Corporate worship can have its awkward moments.

• Worship leaders can say “crap” instead of “clap”.
• Capos might be on the wrong fret.
• Nobody may know any of the songs
• The worship leader “talk” might not make any sense

(Of course, none of this has happened to me).

The more I lead, the more I realize that a good leader works hard to avoid awkwardness.

That’s why they are a leader. Good worship leaders minimize distraction, focus attention on Jesus, and get out of the way when that starts to happen.

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