The most important dynamic of your setlist isn’t your songs.

It’s more about the fire in your heart, the anticipation in showing up, the wide eyed wonder of your gaze, and bringing others along to do the same.

But there’s a way to craft your setlist that will distract or engage the room.

When crafting a worship set, you want to frame an experience that will stick with people long after the worship service is over. It’s not just about emotional highs, cool music, and happy sing-a-longs.

We’re after God’s heart, right?

We want to experience His very near, very real presence.

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“It’s not that you shouldn’t lead worship.

It’s just that your passion to lead others has overwhelmed the necessity of leading yourself.

The best worship leaders are those who are in tune with the Holy Spirit – so engaged in the Person of Christ – that they help others to be vulnerable. They lead with an honest, open heart – freeing others to surrender all.”

When I first wrote that, I was preaching to myself. I felt God challenging me to step up my leadership.

I mean, how could I lead a room in worship if I was unwilling to lead myself?

Lead myself in worship – that’s something we don’t think about right?

But when your personal times with God drift to few and far between, when you’re more excited for the things of this world, and when your passion revolves around the spread of your own name and influence, something needs to change.

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“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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I crave the real thing.

I don’t know about you, but I want the manifest presence of God in my home, life, and church – not just manufactured, emotional experiences with great songs.

Of course, I am not opposed to production. I love it. I love a creative, well-rehearsed band. I love the pursuit of ever-expanding creativity.

In the context of worship, I believe it’s important for creatives to explore how their art can help to inspire and serve and help people see more of God’s glory. I’m all about that.

But I’m also all about dialing back. I’ve had a few conversations with some leaders in the worship community who agree.

Sometimes we need to simplify to see where our heart is.

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