As worship leaders, our central aim should be to proclaim Christ and Him crucified when we gather each week. Our goal should not be to make much of ourselves (our songwriting, singing, musicianship, preaching or any other kind of service). We don’t gather to preach ourselves. We are not mighty to save. We are not the hope of any man. We are not the Christ. But we are called to point others to Him and His salvation, as we boldly proclaim the marvelous things He has done from generation to generation.
God’s Word is the seed we’ve been entrusted to sow each week into the hearts of all who gather in our churches. We must be faithful to freely scatter the seeds of God’s Word in our worship gatherings. It’s not for us to be concerned with the composition of the heart “soils” that have gathered to worship. We are called to sow and trust God to produce an abundance of fruit for the glory of His name. Just like the farmer in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower who freely scattered seed abroad, we sow in all types of soil (Luke 8). As we faithfully proclaim God’s Word in our gatherings, we affirm our trust in His strength to produce a great harvest of righteousness.
God is calling us to make a countercultural commitment to His Word. We shouldn’t water it down, even if we fear some people will not “get it.” The people gathered to worship are not irrelevant, but neither are they sovereign. God’s Word must determine the message of our gatherings instead of people’s responsiveness (or lack thereof).
God’s manner of ministering the gospel is through servants who are faithful to proclaim His Word. As shepherds of your congregations, you will lead best when you’re most like a servant. Don’t try to be the show. We are pointers, not the point! Let this declaration of John the Baptizer be one of your chief confessions of faith: “I am not the Christ!”
The message we proclaim is that Jesus Christ is Lord! He has authority over our lives so we don’t proclaim ourselves but Christ crucified. With every gathering of your church, aim to make light shine through your verbal proclamation of the Truth, because the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. But as we’re faithful to proclaim God’s salvation in our gatherings (as we freely scatter the seeds of His Word), some people will behold the glorious Christ and believe. His sheep, who hear His voice, will “cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest” (Luke 8:15).
This post was inspired by a sermon titled “Faithful to Proclaim” recently preached by Kevin DeYoung at WorshipGod 2013, a conference hosted by Sovereign Grace Ministries