Chapter 14 - ...Thereby Motivating The Gathered Church...

"My Example:  If I'm magnifying the greatness of God in Jesus Christ, I'm in the best place to motivate others to join me.  They'll see it on my face, hear it in my voice, and observe it in my physical expression."  (p.123)

This was a good reminder to me that as we lead worship through music, we aren't leading only through what we sing, play, or say,  we are also leading (and perhaps to an equal extent) through our expressions.  Do we smile while we lead, or are we just straight faced?  Does it look like we are enjoying praising our God, or do we just stand motionless with our feet glued to the floor and our eyes glued to our music? 

I know for myself it's really easy to forget about this part.  I get caught up in little distractions and forget that I need to be doing more than just playing the music right and singing my part right.  I need to be fully involved in what we are saying and singing to God and listening for His response as well.  If I keep my focus on God, where it should be, then it doesn't take any work at all for that to show through to other people.  It can be anything from smiling, to clapping, raising my hands, closing my eyes, tapping (or stomping) to the beat, and the list could go on and on.  Now, I'm not saying by any means that we should be forcing ourselves to do these things and fake that we are worshiping, nor am I saying that these things are necessary for someone to be able to worship.  What I am saying is that when we do keep our focus on God while we are singing and playing, these physical expressions can be a natural way of showing what we are feeling in our hearts.  And when others see these authentic expressions that overflow from our heart, it can help encourage them to worship also.  So lets keep in mind that our physical expressions (even if it's as simple as smiling) can be as much a part of leading worship as playing and singing the music well.  This ties nicely into Kauflin's reminder to us at the end of the chapter that on a Sunday morning we are not just a bunch of individuals seeking our own personal experience with God apart from everyone else, but instead we are His body corporately worshiping God together.