Last night was an interesting experience for me in being lead in worship. I was able to see Hillsong United at Willow Creek Church, and of course came in with high expectations. It was the third time I’ve been able to see these great worship leaders, but was met with a different experience than before. As they started the night off with classic united tunes, Break Free and Take It All, I found myself not entering into worship, but analyzing the differing musical parts, drum tones and unique apparel choices the band had made. I started thinking about the sections of the song that were coming up and if the keys were sitting in the mix right. Basically, I was distracted by so many of the things I become aware of when I’m leading worship, and was having a hard time engaging in worship. I told myself, “This is your night off – just let yourself be lead.”

I’ll just be real and honest.

I’ve found that as someone who is engulfed in a culture of worship, I can sometimes have a hard time just worshipping. I listen to “worship music” during the week, spend my time reading worship blogs and making set lists for worship services. I learn and practice new worship songs, and then swap ideas with my worship leader friends. However when its time for someone else to lead me in worship, I can be easily distracted by all that is going on. Is this just me, or do other fellow worshippers experience this? Have we become so focused on the culture of worship christians have created that we can lose focus of “just worshipping?”

I will not offer a solution or conclusion to the thought in this post, but I will sit on it and open up the topic for feedback.

btw
The night with United was a wonderful one, and the message they brought was great. They used some wonderful elements of video that added to the worship experience, and most importantly, they challenged the crowd to make the night more than an experience and to take the message of love to the world. wonderful night of worship.