By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.  I Corinthians 3:10-15

When we approach worship on Sunday, I believe that we should give God our very best. This idea goes all the way back to my childhood when I was taught that I should always look my best on Sunday, not for show, but because of the idea that if I am going to worship God, then I need to present myself to Him wearing the very best that I have.  If the best that I have is a new pair of jeans, OK, that’s what I wear. But I always wear my best. This idea may seem a bit superficial, and if the motive that drives us to dress up on Sunday becomes anything other than presenting ourselves to God, then it is quite superficial. If we wear the new suit or the new dress to be “seen by men” then we have our reward as soon as the new threads receive the compliment. The principle is the same as the one Jesus describes in Luke 18:9-14. In this passage Jesus told the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee and drew some clear lines of distinction between the two when it came to their public praying. The Pharisee, prayed to be heard by men. Being heard by men was his reward. He had no eternal reward. The publican, or tax collector, went home justified or made right with God, because the attitude of his heart was one of humility. The motivation for his prayer was not one of seeking to be heard by men, but only one of seeking to be heard by a forgiving and loving God.

This same principle applies to all that we do in  our corporate worship times when it comes to the music of worship. I must admit that I, like every other living, breathing musician, have an ego. All musicians do, whether they will admit it or not. The problem with ego comes into play in regard to worship leadership when and if we do what we do for the accolades of men, or even for the personal “high” that we get from making music that just sounds good. You see, the motive behind what we are doing is perhaps the most important factor in determining whether God receives the glory that is due unto his name. (I Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 29:2, Psalm 96:8 ) It’s not performance for the sake of performance that counts when we enter into a sanctuary to worship our Holy God. It is giving to God the glory due unto His name that counts. Does that mean we don’t strive for excellence in all that we do? Absolutely not! Our God is a God of excellence and he does deserve our very best offering, but not so that we receive any glory. The glory all belongs to him. We need to be very careful that our language when speaking of what we do in worship reflects the true intent of our heart, our motive: that we do it for Him. If there is any other motive, then God does not get the glory and we have become much less than lead worshipers, perhaps even much less than worship leaders.

Remember, worship is not the servant of our music. Our corporate worship times are not to become times of entertainment. The motive cannot be that we use our corporate worship times to give talented individuals an opportunity to be heard. No, worship is not the servant of our music, rather, our music is the servant of worship. A servant seeks the pleasure of his master. As long as the motive for our singing or playing music in worship is to serve the purpose of helping others and ourselves to meet God, and to seek the pleasure of God, then our motive is pure.

Pure motives behind our music mean that we are building with costly stones, gold or silver. Those works will stand the test of the refiner’s fire. Having the wrong motives behind what we do is like using wood, hay or straw to build upon the foundation that is laid in Christ. Those works will be burned up when they pass through the refiner’s fire. There will be no reward.

Here is the tricky part of all of this. Motives lie  hidden in in the depths of our hearts. I can’t judge anyone else’s motives, nor can you.  Only God can do that, and in due time He will. I Corinthians 4:5 says, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”

In all that we do as musicians in the church, let us remember to sing or play with the heart of a servant; with one motivation for what we do…the pleasure of our master, our Holy God, and His one and only Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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