Bob Kauflin Quotes & Sayings

Worship matters. It matters to God because he is the one ultimately worthy of all worship. It matters to us because worshiping God is the reason for which we were created. And it matters to every worship leader, because we have no greater privilege than leading others to encounter the greatness of God. That's why it's so important to think carefully about what we do and why we do it. — Bob Kauflin

Whatever standards others might use to judge our ministry, God is concerned that we be faithful. — Bob Kauflin

Good theologians are increasingly humbled and amazed by the God they study. — Bob Kauflin

How do I know what I love the most? By looking at my life outside of Sunday morning. What do I enjoy the most? What do I spend the most time doing? Where does my mind drift to when I don't have anything to do? What am I passionate about? What do I spend my money on? What makes me angry when I don't get it? What do I feel depressed without? What do I fear losing the most? Our answers to those questions will lead us straight to the God or gods we love and worship. — Bob Kauflin

A faithful worship leader magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by skillfully combining God's Word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the gospel, to cherish God's presence, and to live for God's glory. — Bob Kauflin

While God can work through us in spite of our mistakes, incompetence, and lack of preparation, he commends skill and uses it for his glory. — Bob Kauflin

I was striving to gain the approval of those whose approval was of no eternal significance. I'd failed to see that the only approval that matters--God's--is impossible to earn but is offered as a gift through the gospel. — Bob Kauflin

We attempt to worship God apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. We trust in our own wisdom, plans, creativity, and skill. We forget that worship of the triune God includes the Holy Spirit. — Bob Kauflin

Remember, God can use us, but he doesn't need us. — Bob Kauflin

None of us can claim credit for our abilities. — Bob Kauflin

Trying to lead worship without electrical power can be a humbling experience. Trying to lead without spiritual power is far more serious. But normally not as obvious. — Bob Kauflin

And when it becomes a matter of infinite importance to us, we're beginning to grasp the heart of leading worship. — Bob Kauflin

While it's simplistic to say that worship is love, it's a fact that what we love most will determine what we genuinely worship. — Bob Kauflin

Your greatest challenge is what you yourself bring to the platform each and every Sunday. — Bob Kauflin

God isn't looking for something brilliant; he's looking for something broken. — Bob Kauflin

And remember, the goal of practice isn't doing something until you get it right. It's doing it until you can't get it wrong. — Bob Kauflin

But if we could grasp God completely, he wouldn't be much of a god. We should anticipate that our minds will be stretched to their limits as we seek to take in God's revelation of himself and his universe. — Bob Kauflin

raise the affections of my hearers as high as I possibly can, provided they are affected with nothing but truth, and with affections that are not disagreeable to the nature of what they are affected with."1 — Bob Kauflin

Faithful leadership doesn't always result in being commended, applauded, or appreciated. — Bob Kauflin

Want to know what heaven is going to be like? Go to church. — Bob Kauflin

Gary smiled. "If you were really hopeless, you'd stop trusting in yourself and what you can do and start trusting in what Jesus accomplished for you at the cross. — Bob Kauflin

In Music Through the Eyes of Faith, Harold Best defines excellence as "the process of becoming better than I once was. — Bob Kauflin

Worship is about what we love. What we live for. It's about who we are before God. — Bob Kauflin

But we can't love anything in the right way unless we love God more. — Bob Kauflin

Leading people to praise God involves energy, intentionality, and thoughtfulness. — Bob Kauflin

God wants us to realize that the point of our practice isn't to receive the praise of others. It's to bring him glory. — Bob Kauflin

Every church or individual Christian who claims to be Spirit-led must be Word-fed. If we want to know more of the Spirit's power in our lives, we would be wise to fill ourselves with the riches of his — Bob Kauflin

Skill Doesn't Make Worship More Acceptable before God While God values skill, he doesn't accept our worship on the basis of it. Even if I can play the most complex chord progressions, write better songs than Matt Redman, or play a song flawlessly, I still need the atoning work of the Savior to perfect my offering of worship (1 Peter 2:5). — Bob Kauflin

Ultimately, the fruit of faithful leadership is knowing we've pleased the audience of One. — Bob Kauflin

We're helping people connect with the purpose for which they were created--to glorify the living God we're pointing their hearts toward the Sovereign One who is greater than their trials and kinder than they could ever imagine. We get to display the matchless Savior who died in our place, conquering sin, death, and hell in the process. — Bob Kauflin

Good theology helps us keep music in its proper place. We learn that music isn't an end in itself but rather a means of expressing the worship already present in our hearts through the new life we've received in Jesus Christ. — Bob Kauflin

Our great privilege as worship leaders is to help people see through the eyes of faith how great God has actually revealed himself to be. He doesn't change. We do. — Bob Kauflin

But being moved emotionally is different from being changed spiritually. — Bob Kauflin

A divine perspective on skill will both motivate us to develop skill and protect us from exalting it. — Bob Kauflin

The better (i.e., the more accurately) we know God through his Word, the more genuine our worship will be. In fact, the moment we veer from what is true about God, we're engaging in idolatry. Regardless of what we think or feel, there is no authentic worship of God without a right knowledge of God. — Bob Kauflin

A worshiping community is made up of individuals whose lives are centered around the Savior they worship together each week. A worshiping community expects to encounter God's presence not only on Sunday morning but every day. A worshiping community recognizes that passionate times of singing God's praise flow from and lead to passionate lives lived for the glory of Jesus Christ. — Bob Kauflin