Are Worship Leaders Forgotten?

Have we as church members forgotten the worship leaders? This thought came to me the other night while I was reading in my bible. No specific scripture tied me to this thought, but I was spending time with the Lord, and that always makes me pause to see if he is trying to tell me something. In and out of church, we always hear, "pray for your pastors", and we 100% should, I am not here to argue that. But do we forget the people who help usher in the spirit each time we get together? I know I am guilty of not covering them in prayer regularly, and I cannot understand why. We see them every week on the platform, they aren't strangers to us, and many times they are our friends. We KNOW them, but do we forget them? Do we forget that there are many times they are under attack just to get to church? Satan doesn't want them there, why would he? Why would Satan want individuals to use their God-given talents for the purpose of glorifying God? He wouldn't. And yet they come, sometimes broken themselves, to walk in obedience to what the Lord has called them to do. Let's be honest here, we have all been there. The music was a little off, someone didn't sound as good as they normally do, they weren't as in sync as they usually are, and instead of asking ourselves why, we pass a little bit of judgement on the fact that it didn't sound or feel like we wanted it to. And unknowingly to us, the worship leader's marriage is having issues, they have a sick kid, they are battling depression or other demons, and a lot of times, we have not cared enough to know. Of course, people will say, "well not all people are like you." Yea, well a lot of people are, and they just don't want others to know that instead of praying for someone they judged them for not appealing to us. And we forget. We forget that their calling, was never about pleasing us, it was about obedience to God. Scripture tells us “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” – Luke 6:37

So, as we sit in church service each week of this year, I implore us all to not forget those who are walking out their obedience, even in times when obedience feels more like a chore than a privilege. Let us cover our worship leaders in prayer and have a little more compassion for when service does not go exactly as we thought. If God put a calling on someone's life, who are we to judge if it is pleasing to him?

Lord, please forgive me for the times when I passed judgement on anyone walking out their calling in obedience to you. Please bless all worship leaders who are obediently welcoming you into the church each week. And I pray that if anyone's flesh rises up to judge someone before praying for them, you remind us that, each person's calling looks different, but they are all still about you and your glory. Amen.