Before sin entered the world, worship was unbroken in its aim and purity. After sin infected every corner of creation, worship did not cease, it turned in on itself. We worship created things rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25-26), but even our ‘right worship,’ is not something we can produce by our own force of will. Right worship is our response to God’s revelation of Himself. Worship begins with God, but it also must be mediated by God because sin cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. From the beginning of history, and throughout Scripture we see that God has always made provision for His people to return to Him. Killing an animal to cover the nakedness of our first parents, instituting the priesthood, and the temple and sacrificial system were all temporary shadows of what was to come.
This, in part, is why priest to worship leader is not a fair comparison. For lack of a specific job description found in Scripture, people will often point to priests of the Old Testament as some of the first worship leaders - leading the right worship of God through sacrifice. But what we know living on this side of the cross, Jesus is the Great High Priest to whom all priests and sacrifices have always been but an arrow. Jesus is the one who continues forever, is able to save to the uttermost, lives to make intercession, is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted in the heavens, has no need to offer sacrifice for his own sin because he is without sin, and has offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sin (Hebrews 7:24-27).
People do not mediate the presence of God to man, because there is One mediator between God and men: the God man, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5). But what we see in Revelation that God has made all of His people priests - small arrows of God’s provision who can intercede for others:
“…To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6
So while worship leaders are not modern-day priests, the people of God do make up a priesthood of all believers.
This is why I will often encourage our people - do not just stand silently, do not just close your eyes, do not just stare directly at the screen - instead, sing out, look around, sing for your brothers and sisters around the room, hold their stories of joy and sorrow in your mind as you declare the truths of God’s Word to God and to one another.
In this way, we remind one another how the Lord daily bears us up, but also are used as priests to bear up one another (Psalm 68:19).