1. 15% will go with you…anywhere, anytime! Yes, 15% of your congregation/audience is always enthusiastic, ready and willing to follow your leadership regardless of how good, prepared, or qualified you are.
2. 15% will typically stay where they are. Let’s face it, there are always people who would rather be somewhere else, regardless of if it’s church or not! These people can be pretty resistant to your leadership, and will usually check out early. (It’s NOT PERSONAL, at least not most of the time.)
3. 70% are up for grabs and want a leader! That’s right, THE BULK of the congregation is usually open and willing to engage, but they need YOU TO LEAD THEM on the journey. You have a window of time with these people and you have to maximize it!
4. Guess what? YOU CAN BE THAT LEADER! - If you’ve been given the position of leadership for a given time, then you are the man or woman for the job! Don’t waste time second guessing yourself -- no one has it all together. Instead, take the reigns, apply this 15/15/70 rule, and use it to help you identify where people are so you can bring them along. People want a shepherd!
5. Be active, vocal and purposeful with your encouragement - Pastor your people. Be appreciative of the supportive worshippers, engage them and make eye contact. Then as you pastor the 70% that are learning a lifestyle of worship, encouraging them as you worship, bringing them into the moment, giving small exhortations and explanations if the Spirit starts to go somewhere (ex. Peter in Acts 2). You will automatically get your supportive 15% and you will get a higher percentage of the rest of the congregation as well. That typically resistant 15% might even warm up and come along before you know it!
SPECIAL NOTE:
Don’t be discouraged with the (15%) group that won’t come along or get lazy with the (15%) group that ALWAYS comes along and forget about those other guys (THE 70%)! Give everyone their due weight and allow God to sharpen your skills of communication, compassion and humor as you lead the 15/15/70.
HOT TIP! (The See Saw) As worship leaders, most of us tend to focus on either the 15% who love to worship because they make us feel good as leaders, or the 15% that won’t engage and send off an intimidating “vibe”. DON’T BASE WHAT YOU ARE DOING ON EITHER GROUP. Get your direction from God and your pastor first. Then get a sense of where the people are, so you can meet them there. Lastly, lead them where you have been directed to go!
The Worship Toolbox and its sixty-second “smart” chapter format, rapid learning system, is the first comprehensive, all-encompassing, one stop resource of guidance, tools, and references, on the subject of worship and the Christian music industry, of its kind. You’ll find more than 300 - sixty-second smart chapters, over 75 categories, covering essential and hot topics on leading, stage, teams, tech and more.
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