I was raised in a Christian home where we prayed at every meal and bedtime, attended church Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Wednesdays. I am a student of the Bible and have worked as a full-time church musician for over 30 years. I have a Master of Divinity degree and am an ordained minister.
I love God. I am a believer in the salvific power of God’s son, Jesus, and a proponent of the power of prayer. So what does it say when I am introduced to someone and am immediately turned off by their overt, zealous Christian language? Am I being overly sensitive? Or is it possible to thread the needle of holiness without crossing over to socially offensive, “unrelatable” territory? If so, how do we begin to walk down that road?
As music leaders in the church, we are charged with sharing the gift of holiness and God’s grace with our choirs and the congregations we serve. We do this by being transparent and genuine with our faith. This includes a willingness to think and speak theologically about ordinary events. It also includes being honest about our successes and failures in life and our search for God.
Holiness is a call and a gift offered to all members of God’s family. It can be discovered every day in ordinary life events. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 implores us to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I believe this is where the heart of holiness resides. When we are in a persistent search for God and God’s work in the world around us, we are on the holiness trail. When we offer all that we do and are to the glory of God, we are pursuing the path of righteousness. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, we read: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” When we wash dishes, when we speak to our neighbors, when we disagree with our spouse, and when we are going about our daily work—these are all opportunities to discern God’s holiness. When we play with our children, when we go to concerts, and when we go to the grocery store, these are openings to discover the Divine.
Each of these, and a thousand other opportunities like them, give each of us a glimpse of glory, an insight into the eternal, and offer us the privilege of discovering life, meaning, joy, and the fullness of an abundant life in the call to God’s holiness. When we can rejoice and be glad in the simple and mundane, we are on the prayerful path.
We each find holiness in the gifts God has given to us. My hope when all is said and done is that, despite my shortcomings and failures, my pursuit of holiness will encourage others in their journey, and my insufficiencies will not be a stumbling block for others. In so doing, God’s holiness strengthens our communities and our relationships.
Physician and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., is thought to have coined the phrase “You’re so heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good.” There’s an old Johnny Cash song based on this titled “No Earthly Good” from his 1977 album The Rambler that could be informative:
No Earthly Good
Come heed me, my brothers, come heed, one and all
Don’t brag about standing or you’ll surely fall
You’re shining your light and shine it you should
But you’re so heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good
If you’re holding heaven, then spread it around
There’s hungry hands reaching up here from the ground
Move over and share the high ground where you stood
So heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good
The gospel ain’t gospel until it is spread
But how can you share it where you’ve got your head
There’s hands that reach out for a hand if you would
So heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good
The last thing I want to be is so heavenly minded I’m no earthly good. The first thing I want to be is a holy child of God. Blessings to each of you reading this today as you seek to develop holiness in your life and then share that gift with your choir and the congregation.
