The Problem With Young Worship Leaders...

By Jon Nicol

I see something in the young worship leaders I encounter. It's a youthful disconnect between them and the people they lead.

Do we chalk it up to naivety?

Or could it be the "twenty-something narcissism" that naturally flows out of the uber-late adolescence here in the West? (By the way, some experts now say that the end of adolescence doesn't arrive until the late 20s or even 30 now.)

I can see both the traits in my early worship leading days: I was naive and self-focused.

I was brought to reality when my senior pastor at that time said something that cut deep:

"It doesn't seem like you love the people of this church very much."

He was right. I invested in the music. In the sound system. In the songs. And the only investment I had made in the people of that church was to develop them to be better musicians. I treated them like "resources" and "assets."

Our people aren't assets. Or resources. They are not to be used or leveraged. They are to be loved and led as long as God has them in our sphere of influence. The more we love the people in our churches, the greater the influence we'll have with them. And the more influence we have with them, the better we can lead them.

On the far side of 35, I now get that. But 15 years ago when I was starting out, not a chance. I ran roughshod over people.

So do we ban young worship leaders from "big church" other than a youth service they lead twice a year?

No. We let them lead more.

Why?

More opportunities to grow. More teachable moments. More opportunities to speak truth into their lives.

The biggest problem with young worship leaders isn't their age. It's us GenX/Boomer worship leaders who aren't mentoring in them.

Question - What are some ways that you invest in the younger generation of worship leaders and musicians?

October 29, 2012