I feel like a hypocrite standing up singing when my life is such a mess! Have you ever had that thought before? We all have our “junk” that we carry. We all have struggles. And yes, we all fail. We are a mess.
However, none of us musicians, believers in Jesus Christ, washed with His precious blood and redeemed can stand to say that we are living perfect lives and are worthy of being a minister of the Gospel through music. Our lives are big messes, but praise God, through the work of His Holy Spirit, our lives are beautiful messes and are sanctified for His purposes.
So, does it make you a hypocrite when you stand to sing in the midst of the mess? No! What a powerful witness to the faithfulness of God for one of His children to stand and sing His praises in the midst of a mess.
Now I want to clarify something. If you are living in disobedience to God’s Word and you are walking down a path that you shouldn’t be on, you shouldn’t stand in front of a congregation to sing. Leadership in a church and ministering through music comes with responsibility. If you say you believe it and if you’re singing that you believe it, you should be living it.
With that said, the enemy wants to constantly make us feel unworthy and wants us to carry guilt. Why? Because he wants us to be ineffective for the Kingdom. I love the old hymn that says, “Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me.” There’s nothing in us that makes us worthy, but praise God, we can sing from a heart that’s forgiven!
If you’re struggling with feeling like a hypocrite when you sing because of the “junk” in your life, run to the Lord. Confess to Him your feelings. Ask Him to show you if there’s sin in your life that needs to be dealt with, and ask Him to help you to stand and honor Him in the midst of the mess. 1 John 1:8-9 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Let’s sing for the Lord out of the true condition of our heart – a heart “without one plea but that the blood of Jesus was shed for me,” with nothing false or surface, nothing like the Pharisees who worshipped for show and no pretense of perfection. Humbly acknowledge your failures and sing from a heart that’s forgiven, set free and held in His hands – a beautiful mess.