I know it sounds crazy but I feel like the first church I worked at got shafted.  Let me explain.  I began working in my first full time music ministry position in 2001.  I was fresh out of college….and I mean FRESH out of college.  I had graduated at the end of May and began working there in latter June.  I came in FULL of ideas and had intentions of saving the world one worship song at a time.  I had this “Look out world–here I come!!” mentality that proved to be about as faulty as some of these cheap products you purchase off of those random late night infomercials.  I had just finished college and had a $40k piece of paper to prove it.  I had read the books, passed my tests, and had prepared for this moment.  I was READY!  Ummmm, no….not really.  You see, while I had tons of ‘book smarts’ I was HEAVILY lacking in the ‘street smarts’ department.  Everything I had done up to that point had been under the umbrella and covering of someone else.  I had been given a safe bubble to experiment and learn so as to gain some practical knowledge.  While this ‘bubble’ was a blessing it also turned out to be a little bit of a curse as it provided me with a small amount of pseudo-confidence.  If I were to compare a mistake made in my bubble to one made in the real world it would be like a gentle pat on the hand vs. a punch to the face.  HUGE difference!  While I had the best intentions I was still really lacking in the common sense department.  We all know books can only teach you so much.  Truth be told, that church taught me more than I ever taught them.  While I’m grateful for that fact I felt a little bad about it too.  Experience tends to be the better teacher as we have a chance to learn from our mistakes.  Experience seems a bit more hurtful and riddled with greater consequences but you learn faster.  Let’s face it, you don’t really learn a valuable lesson UNTIL you make a mistake.  

Early in ministry I felt like everything had to be perfect……sing the perfect songs, have the congregation respond in the perfect way, the band and vocals had to be TIGHT!  There was NO room for mistakes!!!!!  Did that ever happen?!?  Ha!  Not even close.  What was I thinking?!?  Good grief!  I still shudder when I think of that guy.  What an idiot!!  Well, maybe not a complete idiot–after all, he DID have good intentions while functioning under false assumptions.  I had this crazy idea in my head that God expected perfection.  WRONG!!  Not once in the Bible is that ever mentioned.  Keep in mind, God isn’t looking for perfect, only willing.  If He expected perfection before we could ever be used for His kingdom, guess what?!?  It would never happen.  We’re human.  We will screw up.  I know it sounds crude but it’s a fact.  Even the best of saints will make a mistake here or there.  We are flawed/broken.  Here’s my announcement to you today…..You WILL screw up…….You WILL make mistakes………You are NOT as smart as you think you are…….You DON’T always have the right answers…….You will NEVER achieve perfection.  Now that I have decimated your self esteem and scarred you for life lets bring this thing in for a landing.   

I firmly believe we should strive for excellence in everything we put our hands to.  It is my opinion what we do (our work ethic and so forth) reflects the God we claim to serve.  While I realize we will never do everything perfectly I do believe we need to give our best in completing whatever task is at hand.  There is a HUGE difference between doing things with excellence and striving for perfection.  Learn from your mistakes and attempt to do better the second time around.  But NEVER allow the devil to trick you into thinking your best isn’t good enough.  He is not your judge.  The Almighty King of Kings is.  Do your best to better yourself for kingdom work, not recognition.  1 Corinthians 10:31 reminds us, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”  I heard the following statement recently and it hit home……..”Quit majoring in the minors.”  In other words, stop giving those menial things in your life recognition.  Give focus to those things that matter.  Not sure what the important things are?!?  Ask God for clarification!  In reference to ‘perfection’–in the words of the most recently famed cartoon character, Queen Elsa, from Frozen….”Let it go….LET IT GO!!”  (Yeah, you’ll be singing that one in your head all day long now, LOL!!  You’re welcome!!).  Don’t forget, He’s not looking for perfect, just willing!