Career Advice for the Christian Musician

1.Strive for Christ-likeness
Our number one goal should be the same as that of all other Christians: Christ-likeness. Our calling and ambition should happen in the context of leading a Christian life. Our calling and ambition should not contradict basic Christian principles. Our ambition and our idea of calling should not deafen us to the Lord’s voice and God's desires for our whole life and development as His children. In John 8:28-29, Jesus said, "I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." None of us can boast of such a constant close dependence on God, but we can strive to make pleasing Him our number one goal. His will for our lives may be very different from our ambitions and plans. It may include things that we do not consider to be part of our realm. However, the best place to be is wherever the all-knowing, all-loving God wants us.

2. Do Your Best and Be Flexible
We can see these two principles in the life of Joseph of Nazareth. Matthew 1:9 tells us what Joseph did after he learned that Mary was with child. "Because Joseph was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly." Here Joseph was doing the best he could, and he was doing it out of righteousness and mercy. Matthew continues, "After he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, be not afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." This response took a huge amount of flexibility and adjustment for Joseph, but he was perfectly obedient to all that the angel had said. These and other choices that Joseph had to make may not have fit in with his ideas and plans for being a carpenter, a husband, or a father; but he was flexible and did what the Lord asked. When submitting to God’s plan means being more flexible than we might want to be , we should remember what the Lord said in Jeremiah 29:11. "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

3. Get Rid of the Sacred/Secular Split
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving." - Colossians 3:23-24 Every area of life belongs to the always-present Creator. We should engage in all our thoughts, our conversations, our relationships, and our work as service to Him. Perhaps our lives and work fall flat or seem pointless at times because we forget to do all we do as unto the Lord. Colossians continues with more advice on how to live more continually for God and with an awareness of His presence: "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."