Seeing as how my dad is a pastor, I have been a part of the church for my entire life.  There are many things that can become old and boring on a Sunday morning after doing the same thing over and over for 16 years… such as listening to my dad for 40 minutes or “putting on a show” for some people who expect my actions to reflect my dad’s actions everywhere I go.  I had kind of let these facts rule over my whole church experience not too long ago.  I could not stand to go through the same routine all the time and I could not stand living under the microscope that pastor’s kids usually do.

After I realized that I was living for both myself, and the public eye, I wanted to change the way that I looked at the church.  One of the major things that I felt I needed to change was the way that I worshiped.  Worship was pretty much the only area that I had I had not tried to please others with.  It was my “rebellious area” so to speak.  It was my objection to purposely not sing, clap my hands or put forth any effort to worship in order to show others that I was not exactly like my dad.  It was a simple transformation.  I realized that my worship was to be just for God and no one else.  This simple fact has dramatically turned both my church and worship experience.

I am now driven to worship my God, solely as praise to him.  I have found that I have become a much stronger Christian through this process.  Although I have not completely stopped worrying about others thoughts of me might be, I have definitely started to live my life for God both in the church and out.

I think that many people of my generation are driven to worship for this very same reason.  They do not want to live their lives for other things but solely for their creator.  Most of us who are serious about worship do not want for our singing and praising to just mean something in church.  We want for our lives to be transformed through the worship that is strengthening in our relationship with God.

[SeanSid is a blogger and PK who writes at SeanSid.com]

A great help for me was the church choir, as it helped to mature my voice and give me a foundation for singing and worship. As I matured I was given occasional opportunities to sing on the “big church” worship team, or share a special song for a holiday service. I also was able to take part in our youth group worship team which was led by a passionate leader who excelled at encouraging the students to develop our gifts in courage. I was able to sit in with the team and learn the guitar by playing along unplugged, and as I got better I was able to play quarterly with the team when the youth group took over “big church” service.  By the time I was a junior in high school I was leading worship for the youth group and continually growing as a leader.

Although I had a great experience, I look back now and realize that there were ways that the church could have come alongside its young leaders even more. So often there is such a wide gap between the youth ministry and “big church”, one which is occasionally crossed, but is still left wide. I think that having the main service worship team come alongside and mentor the members of the youth worship team could have been a great way to bridge that gap, refine instruments, voices, and to teach what true worship is (as so many get worship confused with just an emotional feeling). It would have also helped the students to make an easier transition between high school and college when they stopped going to youth group and began active participation in “big church”.

Obviously, as leaders in the church we know that the next generation is what is going to be leading in the future, and God is calling us to be used by Him in their lives. In terms of worship, it is so important that we continue to actively give opportunities to teach our students how to humbly lead. As an adult and a worship leader, it has been an honor to work with students by giving vocal lessons, guitar classes, and mentoring one-on-one.  Our worship is not only done through music, but also by reaching out in love to others and it is my opinion as worship pastors and leaders it puts a smile on God’s face when we share what God has given us with those who are younger and struggling to figure out their purpose.