Worth Reading

Bob Kauflin has an interesting post on “worshiptainment“. It is a response to a question from a guy who has to lead a worship time in a setting with many lost students. Here is an exerpt.
I really like number 2 and 5.

How is that accomplished in your setting? Here are a few recommendations:

1. Take time to explain to the students what your goals are for this time. Don’t beat around the bush. You don’t have to “trick” them into following Jesus. They’ll be more affected by our honesty than our not-so-subtle manipulation.
2. Sing songs that clearly and plainly talk about what God has done for us in Christ, that extol God’s Word, works, and worthiness. Preach the Gospel in song. (In Christ Alone is one example.)
3. Use short AND long songs. Using only short songs minimizes truth, while using only long songs may challenge their attention spans.
4. Use both fast and slow songs. But let truth determine which ones you use, not tempo.
5. Sing more songs that teach or proclaim objective truth than songs that only express our love for the Lord. There’s a place for using both, but don’t’ spend 30 minutes leading non-Christians in singing “Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down…” and “I love you, Lord.”
6. Don’t be afraid to speak between songs, explaining what they mean. Illustrate from your own life how these truths have affected you.
7. Keep the students standing in one place. If they don’t know the Savior, dancing is only a reflection of their desire to get up and move, not an overflow of the joy they’ve found in Christ.
8. Don’t use a song the students know simply because it’s familiar. Truth outlasts tunes.
9. When possible, have students share how God has changed them or used the truth in certain songs to affect them.