Ministry realization: I haven’t lead musical worship in almost a decade, but I don’t think I can stop leading worship. Not necessarily musical worship anymore, but worship.
Spiritual director asked why I still do ministry, and today I realized at the core of it, I love that moment when humans are surprised by God’s presence and articulate what they have witnessed with awe and gratitude back to God… and really, isn’t that worship leading?
It’s at the core of my pastoral ministry, of my strategic coaching, my preaching, my prayer ministry… whereas I used to scoff at the insecure worship leader I was in high school, maybe there is a redeemable shard of that teenage worship leader still inside of me.
But I also wonder if that’s what makes ministry so hard in this season- going to people, communities and places that haven’t experienced the surprising presence for years (or ever), and convincing them that the hope of His presence is so available if we just ask…
…it’s so hard when I encourage, they ask, they wait, and the presence doesn’t show up. And if I’m honest these last 4-5 years have been filled with moments where the presence hasn’t shown up how I wanted it to… it’s no longer convincing me but I’m needing to be convinced again
But that over zealous off-tune off-beat teenage worship leader also taught me to keep singing the truths that I don’t experience until my soul can finally see those realities- Worship isn’t just about responding to what you haven’t seen, it’s prophetically calling out how the world should be if God were real… It’s not just pointing back to experienced Kingdom reality, but fighting to see the Kingdom where it’s hard to see it. I’m learning again how much I need that teenage worship leader not just for ministry but myself.
And that teenage worship leader inside of me won’t let me stop fighting… so I suppose I’ll keep fighting.
The Digital Self-Representation of Daniel Lui 