Every worship leader knows that when you take your worship leader entrance exam, you have to be brushed up on your worship lingo. Sure, any old body can tell people to stand up and sing, and pray when the songs are over… but what about those super spiritual phrases in between stanzas? That stuff doesn’t write itself…
Before today, you may have just thought your worship leader was speaking some new form of Christianese, or that there was a book in the Old Testament full of phrases they are supposed to say. If only it were that simple.
For the first time in history, I’d like to shed some light on the language of the worship leader. Let’s begin.
1. “Sing it out”
Interpretation: I seriously can’t hear you at all this morning… Are there typos in the slides? This is not a special solo or anything… (so basically the worship equivalent of asking for more cowbell.)
Worship language of origin (WLO): Tomlinese; Copywrite: sometime around the “Holy Is The Lord” era.
2. “From your heart!”
Interpretation: This part of the song is powerful… better bring out the chest thumping, hand raising, and/or the double hand lifting.
WLO: Houstonese; Copywrite: “Mighty To Save” era.
3. “Give God a clap offering”
Interpretation: No, this will not be deducted from your tithe. However, it’s really going to help me transition from G to B flat.
WLO: Zschechian; Copywrite: Circa “Shout To The Lord”
4. “Close your eyes and focus on what you’re singing”
Interpretation: Just busted a string. Nobody look, I’m going to pull out a spare while you sing this chorus a cappella.
WLO: Johnsonese; Copywrite: Circa “Love Came Down”
5. “Make a joyful noise”
Interpretation: Time to get loud! This set is almost over and we’ve got decibal records to break, people.
WLO: Crowderian; Copywrite: Circa “Our Love Is Loud”
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Now that you’ve had a chance to learn the basics, let’s see what you’ve got… Are there any worship leader phrases that you now realize have special meaning? Take a second and share your knowledge with the rest of us in the comments…
Thanks to Stephen Haggerty for sharing this humorous post with TWC! He “writes he calls ‘humor’ on thebeardedidealist.com.
He also writes about spirituality through the eyes of a young Worship Leader.” Originally published at http://thebeardedidealist.com/2012/12/worship-leader-language.html. Republished with permission.
