So what happens when we think we don’t have the right people in place to raise up?  It’s time to ask some questions:

• Are you praying?  If you aren’t praying for a person to train and raise up, chances are that God’s not going to give you one.  It’s possible that He would, but much more likely that He will if you ask Him.
• Are you looking?  Or are you just saying “There’s no one available” when you haven’t even looked?
• Are you asking?  It’s very likely that your pastor or another ministry leader would know of someone with the gifts and abilities you’re looking for.  Ask them!
• Are you equipping?  Surely you already have several volunteers involved in your music and worship ministry.  Have you been training all along, with the intention of raising up someone out of that group?

In summary, the best way to avoid burnout in your ministry is to let go of our selfishness and our fear, learn how to train and equip, and pray, look, and ask if there is anyone available to raise up.  Once that person (or persons) is found, the burnout we would face from trying to do everything ourselves will go away, and a new leader will emerge.

This week we’ll finish looking at some reasons why we might be afraid to raise up new worship leaders, which eventually causes us to burn ourselves out.

One of the reason that we don’t want to raise up new worship leaders is that we don’t know how.  This is a very valid reason with some potentially easy solutions:

• First of all, learn how.  This might seem obvious, but many times we rely on our own talent to get us through things.  Because we rely on our own talent, we don’t know how to teach and train others.  It is our responsiblity to continuously learn and train ourselves.  I believe the most important training we could ever go through is that of learning how to equip others.
• Recognize that you might not have the gift of teaching.  The Bible is clear that certain gifts are given to certain people.  Perhaps you can play and instrument, sing, and lead worship really well but you have no idea how to teach others how to do it.  Find people who do.  Find music teachers within your church or even within your community.  Find people that can teach you how to be a better leader, and let those people teach your volunteers as well.
• Make time to teach.  So often in the world of church music we are constantly rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing.  Schedule some time for teaching.  Come up with a monthly workshop time to teach your volunteers.  If that is too often, do it quarterly, or even twice a year.  Make time to teach.

Tomorrow we’ll look at what happens when we think we don’t have the right people in which to pass on leadership.

So, we want to raise up new worship leaders and avoid burning ourselves out, but we’re deathly afraid of what might happen when we “let go of the reins.”

The first problem is that we really shouldn’t have been holding the reins in the first place. When we place our own control of a ministry over God’s leading of it, we are really creating an idol out of our own ministry. A certain amount of control is good (making sure that the ministry is Biblical; having control of who is involved in the ministry, so that lifestyle is consistent with the ministry, etc.), but when we refuse to step down from leading worship for a Sunday and let someone else do it because we want things “perfect,” we are bowing to the control idol.

Instead of thinking, what if this goes wrong, or what if that goes wrong, have you thought of these what ifs?

• What if the young teen who plays guitar is allowed a chance to lead worship in youth group or a small group, and eventually becomes a dedicated, God-honoring, worship leader, devoting his life to training, teaching and leading others?
• What if the classical guitarist who has been seen as playing an old-fashioned style is allowed to use his talent to play one of the most beautiful musical intros heard in quite some time? (I know the author of the post definitely didn’t see the guitar player in that way, but I’ve always wondered what to do with classical guitar in contemporary worship, have you?)
• What if the young lady with not much formal vocal training is mentored, trained and given the opportunity to be a vocalist on the worship team? Will she be able to one day glorify God by be involved in recording vocals for worship CD’s?

You get the point, hopefully. So often we’re wrapped up in the negative what ifs that we don’t even think about the possibility that the what ifs could be absolutely positive. In fact, they could change a life for God’s glory.

So, how do we deal with the fact that we are by nature selfish and don’t want to relinquish the recognition that comes from being a worship leader?

First, let’s recognize that certain recognition is okay, but not in the way you might think.  Instead of wanting to be recognized for what you can do, or how you can lead, be recognized for who you are:

• You are one who has been purchased by the price of Jesus’ blood on the cross.
• You are one in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.
• You are part of a holy nation, chosen by God for His own posession, a royal priest and king. (See 1 Peter 2)
• You are no longer dead in your sins, but alive in Christ.
• You are one who is becoming more and more like Jesus every day.

When we begin to recognize who we are (especially after realizing who we once were), we realize that we we do doesn’t matter nearly as much.  The things we do are only in gratitude to who we are.  Once we realize this concept, our selfishness for recognition goes away because we realized that everything we do is to promote the One who made us who we are.  In this way, we are willing to share ministry.

So, how do we deal with fear?  More on that later today.

Burnout.  That’s a word that is heard far too often in ministry.  I believe it’s a word that should and can be eliminated with the right steps.  I believe that the most important step is to equip and raise up people to be able to do the same work that you have been doing.  This way, more people share the workload, the work goes on if you disappear, and the work isn’t centered around you but around the ministry.

Unfortunately, there are several reasons why we’re afraid or unwilling to take this steps.  Today we’ll deal with the reasons:

• We’re selfish.  Let’s face it.  In every one of us there is a part that wants recognition.  Even a pastor I know said that he deals with wanting to be recognized very often.  How do we deal with this?
• We’re afraid.  What will happen if I’m not in control of this ministry?  What happens if the person I’m trying to raise up fails miserably?  What if….?  How do we get rid of the what if’s?
• We don’t know how.  We may think we are “leaders,” but the only leading we’re really doing is getting people to follow us.  We’re neglecting to teach, train, equip and get people to lead after us.  Leaders create leaders, not followers.
• We don’t have the right people in which to pass on leadership.  This one is tricky.  It seems like it’s beyond our control.  But have we prayed to God to bring us the right person?

I’ve dealt with all of these reasons in my own life and it’s just recently that God has been leading me through other leaders to do things differently.  As Paul is writing to Timothy in his second letter addressed to the young pastor, he says this,

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Paul is passing on the mantle to Timothy to pass on to those he ministers to.  Moses passed on the mantle to Joshua.  Elijah to Elisha.  Jesus to the disciples.  That is what we’re to do as well.  We’ll spend the rest of the week answering the questions of why we don’t want to do this, dealing with why we need to, how to change our attitudes, and how to practically do these things.