Keep It Real By Tim Hughes

How Do We Maintain Our Heart Values As A Worship Lead?

As a worship leader, the most important thing is your heart, your attitude and your values. There is the danger that if you’re doing a lot of upfront “stuff,” the upfront stuff becomes the focus, and the hidden life can be neglected. That’s a very dangerous thing.                                                                        

I think for leaders generally, it is so important to have those people in your life to whom you’re accountable, who can speak into the things that you do, and who can ask those tough questions. Personally, I’m so grateful for those friends who will sometimes ask me the hard questions, like “Tim, what’s your motivation?” They may say, “Tim, what you’re doing now – I’m not so sure that’s a such good thing.” It’s tough to take but it’s wonderful because it keeps you real and reminds you what it’s all about. Accountability helps you to focus on the important things – focus on God, and on maintaining your relationship with God. I’m a child of God first, and that’s the most important relationship to me. That’s the difference.  

How Can We Better Facilitate “Spirit-led” Worship                            

In our churches, we have too many song leaders and not enough worship leaders. I think the difference between the two is that a worship leader is trying to see what God’s doing, and follow that. A song leader just plows through the songs without thinking of much else. We’ve had times in our church recently where God’s intervened in a time of worship just poured out His Spirit and the whole meetings been “hijacked” by God! It’s absolutely amazing. We wish He’d do that more and more.  In those moments, God suddenly makes it clear what He wants to do among His people in that time of meeting together. That’s an exciting thing, but there is also a responsibility for the worship leader and the worship band. It is the responsibility to prepare themselves, to get their hearts ready, to get the songs that they’ve practiced and rehearsed ready. Then they’re ready to go for it in those powerful times, and to be open to what God wants to do. 

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