When I moved to Nashville I was fully aware of the level of talent that I would encounter. I was hired as the worship pastor of a fairly large church in the area and quickly realized that the church was full of talent. Some of the musicians were touring pros and studio session players. It was intimidating to lead such great players and singers.
I'll never forget the Sunday when a very famous singer and his family visited our church. This was not just some singer, this was the best of the best in the christian music scene. I remember the thoughts running through my head as I was leading worship. Thoughts like "You sound horrible!" . . . "You can't sing!" . . . "What are you even doing on that platform?"
Now, I know these were attacks from the enemy and I quickly shut it down. I had a job to do. People needed to be led into worship and that can't happen from a place of insecurity. So, I dug in and did my best to just focus on the joy of the Lord and get through the worship set. It all went fine and the Lord showed up. Whew! But what a challenge that was in the face of such talent. The famous singer and his family stayed and became part of the church and even stated that they loved the authentic worship environment. Even after all the years of leading worship I still deal with insecureties.
Can you relate to those feelings of inadequacy? Have you ever heard that voice ringing through your head and usually at the worst time possible? I think that all of us in worship ministry deal with these feelings. It's like what we do becomes who we are. Does that make sense? Right or wrong, our talents become a part of our identity. It just happens. It's a continual battle, and can be an all consuming road block to what God wants to do in us and through us.
Let's think about the word IDENTITY. The definition of the word identity is "The fact of being who or what a person or thing is." We could sum up our identity with so many attributes that make us who we are, but the fact of the matter is that our identity is found in who God says we are. Only He can define what we are, and the Bible says that He calls us His treasured possession. In fact, it says that He has chosen us to be His treasured possession that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light. This is such a freeing thought for me, and I hope you feel the same.
Our identity is not in how much talent we possess or how many compliments we receive after a Sunday service. It’s not in what we sound like or even what we look like. It’s not in how hard we've worked on a project or how much practice we've put into our craft. Our identity is in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. We are invaluable to Jesus! This means that we artists in the church don’t need to carry all the unneeded pressure we often put on ourselves. We are the Lord's treasured possession and we can rest on that truth. May this truth bring you comfort and empower you to lead with the talents God gave you. He qualified and chose you. Now go and live as a treasured possession, declaring the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His wonderful light.
Deuteronomy 14:2 (NIV)
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
