This is a guest post by David Santistevan. He is a worship leader, young adult pastor, and blogger. You can read his blog and follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
As worship leaders, we want to lead and get out of the way.
We want to point to Jesus and then disappear.
Once the congregation is caught up in the majesty of God, we can simply watch Him work and watch God's people respond. It's such a beautiful thing.
But just in case that's not your goal, here are some tips for distracting your congregation. They won't know what is going on, have a hard time worshiping and probably leave frustrated. Sound good?
Here we go:
1. Don't worship - not by any means. It's OK to sing but make sure you keep it on the surface. Don't humble yourself and actually worship. Leave that to the people. Just rock it out, look good, and focus on yourself.
2. Make your music extremely complex - I'm talking random time signatures, 8 minute guitar solos, synchronized band dancing - you name it, do it. When the congregation starts to clap, switch time signatures or end the song. Keep them guessing. The goal here is to blur the line between worship being about God and it being about how awesome your band is.
3. Just stand there - distracting through your out-of-this-world rock-star poses is one thing, but the other option is just standing there. Sort of like you hate what you're doing and want everyone to hate it as well. Don't smile, don't look around, just move your body parts enough to play that instrument you have. Boredom is key here.
4. Don't rehearse - another great option is to never rehearse. I like to call it "following the Spirit". Make a lot of mistakes as a band. Don't craft a set-list that flows. People won't be able to worship because they'll be waiting for the train wreck to happen. And a glorious train wreck it shall be!
5. Never stop playing - for the musicians out there, NEVER stop playing your instrument. Matter of fact, look for the strangest times to play. While the pastor is doing an altar call, work on your bass solos. While the pastor is praying for people to receive Christ, do your electric guitar exercises. Even during songs, keep your musicality as busy and distracting as humanly possible.
6. Keep it moving - never pause for reflection or spontaneous worship. Keep your set-list moving from song to song to song. This keeps people from learning how to worship on their own. It's more of a concert feel where you can live out your rock-star fantasies. Keep their eyes on you and keep that train rolling!
7. Detune your harmonies - this is actually something you can rehearse. Either get a really bad singer, or train your singers to sing a little flat or a little sharp. Not too much, but just enough to make it really awkward and uneasy for everyone.
8. Pick difficult keys - not everyone can sing like you. It needs to be your goal to show people that. Show them your range. The best way to do this is to sing songs with verses so low that no one can sing and choruses so high that no one can sing. Then they're simply watching you belt it out. If you've never been able to do American Idol, this is your chance.
I hope you sensed the irony in this post. Do what it says and you'll probably lose your job. Do the opposite, and you may just have powerful God experiences in worship.
What are some other ways our worship teams can be distracting?
