[Worship] Daily Worship Thought - 22 January 1998

[Worship Quote <kgentes@praise.net>]

TITLE: Leading In Worship

Leadership is a topic that has been written about extensively in the
Christian church. Jesus had a precise definition of leadership, that
should be the pre-qualification for all who aspire to such a task.
     
     ...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.
     Matthew 20:26b

Christ knew that the church was susceptible to following the patterns of
the world, and gave that instruction so that we would have clarity about
leadership (for the full text see Matthew 20:25-28 ). The notion of
leadership in worship is not new. Since the time of David, assignments
for congregational, public celebration have been made to facilitate
worship (see 1 Chronicles 15:16 and Nehemiah 12:46 ).

For most of us, however, leadership in worship does not include playing
an instrument or singing in front of large groups of people. But all of
us can participate in worship leadership. The key is to take Jesus view
of leadership and to be a servant. King Jehoshaphat gave an example of
worship leadership that we can all gain insight from.
     
     Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people
     of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.
     2 Chronicles 20:18

In the context of the story in 2 Chronicles 20 , Jehoshaphat is about to
take Judah against the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites
who were coming to attack. Knowing that his army was severely
outnumbered ( 2 Chronicles 20:12 ), Jehoshaphat did what any great king
would do- he proclaimed a fast ( 2 Chronicles 20:3 ) and called out to
God ( 2 Chronicles 20:6-12 )! God was pleased that Jehoshaphat turned to
him, and the Lord replied immediately with a declaration that the battle
was his, and that the enemies would be defeated ( 2 Chronicles 20:15-17
).

In response to that, Jehoshaphat led the nation in worship by bowing
down. The people followed Jehoshaphat because they saw his example, not
because they were told to do something. Jehoshaphat was concerned first
with serving and worshipping God. In doing so, his act of servanthood
was a model for others to follow in worship. He was "leading worship" in
the truest sense of the phrase.

May we all lead worship, as we serve the Lord and allow our lives and
actions become examples for other worshippers.

The above scripture is Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International
Bible Society. All rights reserved.

The Daily Worship Thought was written and Copyright © 1998 by Kim
Anthony Gentes. Used by permission. The Daily Worship Thought complete
archives is found on the web, along with other worship resources, at the
worship resource center web site ( http://www.praise.net/worship/ ).
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