The views expressed in this article are of the author only and do not necessarily represent those of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God
Bob Kauflin
Crossway (2008). 303 pp.
Bob Kauflin is the Director of Sovereign Grace Music and also currently serves on the pastoral staff of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. For years Kauflin has been lending his veteran voice to discussing all things worship related over at his blog, www.worshipmatters.com. This excellent and helpful volume is divided into four sections. After establishing the profile of a faithful worship leader in the first section, Kauflin turns his attention to a theology of worship in Part Two. Here Kauflin works out an extended definition of the faithful worship leader’s task as one who “magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, skillfully combining God’s Word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the Gospel, to cherish God’s presence, and to live for God’s glory.” Not a bad definition at all. The third section of the book digs into “healthy tensions” local churches face in the actual mechanics of leading worship. Part Four concludes with some wise reflection on the worship leader’s relationships—from church, to worship team, to senior pastor.
In profiling the right kind of leader, Kauflin asserts that the worship leader’s greatest challenge is “what you yourself bring to the platform each and every Sunday. Your heart” (p. 21). We can lead others in worship and still be worshipping something else in our hearts. Kauflin’s practical wisdom and years of experience are evident in his candid discussions about skill and musical gifting. Moses “didn’t pass around a sign up list” when he began the construction of the tabernacle (p. 34), and yet even the greatest of skillsets needs to be kept in its proper place. Music is able to affect our emotions and make us more receptive to a song’s lyrics, but it can also be used to make shallow lyrics sound deep (p. 95). Kauflin’s two chapters on music (12 and 13), along with his chapter on worship planning, (23) are packed with wisdom for worship leaders and their teams—offering creative rehearsal tips, along with advice about team dynamics and even handling song suggestions.
From his own experience, Kauflin is driven to conclude that worship leaders “rarely read theology books” (p. 29). This is probably why his volume is as thick on doctrine as it is praxis. Kauflin’s theology is rich, even if distinctly Reformed and Complementarian (which some readers will appreciate more than others). While he does add a charismatic (or “continuationist”) flourish here and there—particularly in chapters on God’s presence (10), the Holy Spirit (16) and expressiveness in worship (21)—his encouragements are biblically grounded, theologically measured and carefully stated. Things do get a bit confusing when Kauflin challenges the very notion of a “worship leader” in Scripture (p. 51), noting that “the term worship leader didn’t exist” before 1980. He later tells us that “the pastor is the worship leader” (p. 54). But these minor oddities give way to his compelling passion, which is to see authentic worship driven by a right knowledge of God. He calls on worship leaders everywhere to resist the chronic tendency to “favor devotion over doctrine” (p.168). Instead, this order “needs to be reversed, without losing either” (p. 168).
Great theological balance is evident in Kauflin’s discussion about divine presence. For instance, while God may choose to “localize” a sense of his presence in our worship experiences as we are made “more aware of it,” God is never more or less present (p. 139). Kauflin’s theologically capable explanation of transcendence and immanence are a good antidote toward curbing some of the overly casual trends in modern worship. To his credit, he refrains from taking direct pot-shots at the seeker-sensitive movement. Yet it’s clear that Kauflin’s understanding of worship is driven by a robust ecclesiology. He sees worship as activity designed “for the people of God joined together in a specific locality through the blood of his Son and the power of his Spirit” (p. 201). Congregations need to receive a balanced theology from their worship singing, and toward this end Kauflin suggests the “twenty-year rule.” If someone was born in your church and grew up singing your songs over the course of twenty years, he asks, “how well would they know God?” (p. 119).
Chapter 15, “To Proclaim the Gospel,” is the real theological heartbeat of the book. Here Kauflin pictures the cross as the place where “perfect judgment and perfect mercy kissed” (p. 134). Our songs of gratefulness for the Gospel, furthermore, are a key way that Christianity distinguishes itself from other faiths. Kauflin draws our attention to the heavenly throne room in Revelation 5, where the Lamb is worshiped as “worthy” for being slain. Kauflin observes: “It seems that heaven itself never moves on from the cross” (p. 77).
Worship Matters is the first of two volumes, and it targets the worship leader. A second volume (True Worshipers: Seeking What Matters to God [Crossway, 2015]) is geared to congregants. While I agree that the main audience is indeed worship leaders and pastors, it’s clear that worship team members, lay leaders, and even younger seminarians could greatly benefit from this work. Given the growing popularity of educational degrees in worship ministry, Worship Matters might even be considered as a possible college or seminary text. Kauflin’s style is smooth and easy to read, and his ample Scripture and subject indices at the end, along with a brief annotated bibliography, are just added bonuses. Perhaps a more detailed table of contents would increase the appeal and accessibility of this volume. Even if one does not share all of Kauflin’s theological particulars or completely resonate with his definition of worship, I cannot imagine any worship leader or pastor not being helped, challenged and encouraged by the insights, solid principles, and poignant reminders contained in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed Kauflin’s work, and would heartily recommend it as a top-tier resource for growing in our understanding of the church’s worship.
Jason A. Nicholls (PhD, University of Marquette) is the Lead Pastor at Redeemer Missionary Church in South Bend, Indiana. He is a member of the St. John Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
