I am not a worship leader. I am a Christian.

Most weekends in our church, for a number of years now, I find my service to Christ and His Church being outworked by leading people in worship. But that is not who I am. It is simply what I’m doing in this season.

I’m a huge believer in the truth that the power of what is seen and what we do is entrenched in the strength of the unseen and who we are. It cannot be understated that our functionality in the Church as worship leaders, musicians, artists, dancers, film makers, technical teams, etc… is contingent first on our functionality as Christians.

The power of what is seen and what we do is entrenched in the strength of the unseen and who we are.

I was reminded of this again today as I did my daily Bible reading (thank you Robert Fergusson for the plan). How many times have I prayed the prayer from Isaiah 6:8,

“Here am I. Send me!”

It’s such a glamorous prayer to pray! It comes with a sense of adventure and anticipation for this romantic, idealistic odyssey to unfold. One snap of the great celestial finger and my ordinary life becomes extraordinary!! Oh, to be sent by God!

(yes, I’m using hyperbole)

Preceding this prayer in Isaiah 6, I believe we see a key to the daily discipline of discipleship that is so important for the success of our Christian lives. What happened before Isaiah uttered those words?

He saw God and responded to what he saw.

He then heard God and responded to what he heard.

“Here am I. Send me!”

Why, through various seasons of my life, have I prayed those words without then following through or seeing apparent impact? Why does it seem to be the same for so many others?

Perhaps it’s because without a relentless daily pursuit, through the daily discipline of discipleship, to see God as He is, hear His voice, and respond accordingly, my prayers lack the grounding that sees them become reality.

On the latest Young and Free EP is a song that we’ve been singing in our youth ministry and church called ‘Pursue‘, written by Hannah Hobbs and Aodhan King. The lyrics of the chorus have become for me (and I’m sure for many others too), a commitment to discipleship — the tireless, single-minded pursuit of following Christ.

Now until forever
Jesus I surrender
Show me what I don’t know
More of You
I’m desperate for Your presence
Longing to be with You
Lead me to a new place
More of You

As creative teams, let’s never forget that we are Christians first.

When what we do week in week out flows from the strength of living daily as disciples of Christ, I believe that we’ll see immense longevity and fruit come from everything that we do.

Brad Kohring
(Hillsong Queensland Creative Oversight)