Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your lord”.
This may seem more topical — more suited to my other blog, Thinking Out Loud, than this one — but I think it’s something that’s often on the minds of people who write the songs and/or lead us in worship each week, and since it’s is our Sunday Worship column…
This was written by Chuck Girard in 2012, just after his original group Love Song received a Gospel Music Hall of Fame (GMHOF) award the night before. I’ve edited some of the introduction, so click the link if you wish to read this in full…
The Difference Between Honor and Glory
…Back in the early days at Calvary Chapel, it was common practice to not applaud musical artists after they had performed a song. This stemmed from the idea that we did not want to “rob God of his glory”. Instead the whole audience would lift the pointing finger upwards as unto the Lord, making what we called the “one-way sign, and that was the expression of appreciation to the artist, ascribing the credit to God. This was horrible for the artist. You just finished a rocking song with a big ending, and it would be greeted with silence, with all the people pointing their fingers heavenward.
I actually produced the very first Maranatha album. It was called the “Everlasting Living Jesus Music Concert”. I was not given producers credit, because I was told that would be giving the glory to man, not God. (They changed the policy on the next album, and Pete Jacobs did get credit as a producer.) This thinking would probably be considered old-fashioned today, but did reflect the humble values of the early days of the 70s and the Jesus movement.
It took a while but these incidents and life situations began to show me that there was a difference between giving honor to man and glory to God. I honor Billy Graham, but I give the glory for his ministry to God. If I were able to deliver that sentiment personally, I believe Billy Graham to be a man of God enough to receive my honor, and give that honor to the Lord for his glory.
But that still differs from charts, bad reviews and top 10 lists. I suppose we can be practical, and just say it’s a way to measure the business of music for purposes of being more efficient in promotion and distribution. I’m sure these arguments have been made and have some validity. It has undoubtedly been argued that these are “necessary evils”, collateral damage, the cost of doing business. But when measured against the purity and simplicity of the gospel, it seems very trivial in the light of the sacrifices made by the apostles in Jesus’ time. And all the saints and martyrs to come after them, who gave property, family, citizenship, and even lives to further the cause of the gospel. Which brings me around to land on a point here.
The event last night was wonderfully produced. It was professional and not too flashy, the perfect tone for the event.. The organizers were wonderful people who only wanted to show us the respect and honor they felt was due. Several of the inductees were personal friends, so I know their lives, and how deserving they are. The event was very spiritual, it truly honored Christ. Dallas Holm gave an acceptance speech which in all my years I have never heard anyone so succinctly articulate the motives, commitment and intent of most every Christian artist I know. If there was a top 10 for acceptance speeches, his would be #1 in my book.
But I’m sure there are many deserving artists out there who will never be recognized. After all, it is largely a human endeavor and the process is fraught with error. As with most award shows and such, it is often more about fame than achievement. After all, people don’t vote for that of which they are unaware. But we as a human species delight in “seeing who will win”, it’s in our DNA. So these kinds of events will probably never go away.
But still, what really matters is the heavenly Hall of Fame. Whether or not such a thing would actually be a way that God would honor the greatest of His servants, if it did exist, we would probably be very surprised to see who might be on it and how they would be ranked. “#25, Billy Graham, #15, the apostle Paul, #3 Mildred Jones” Wait a minute, Mildred Jones? Who is she? God might say, “Mildred, because you prayed without ceasing, fasted once a month, and continued to lift up Billy Graham in intercession, you are #3”. Silly? Probably. But you get my point. The real treasure is in Heaven. The real rewards will not be determined by outward achievement alone but by inner qualities, integrity, truthfulness, obedience. At the end of the day, what do we have that God did not give us?…
…I pray that we will all be in Heaven’s Hall of Fame someday and hear the most amazing words we will probably ever hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your lord”.
The songs of the early CCM era — which later birthed today’s modern worship movement — were mostly evangelistic, not vertical worship. This has always been one of my favorites.
Later, Chuck Girard’s music would move in a much more worship-centered direction. This song is one of my favorites from that era.
Christianity 201 