I don’t know about you, but even having been a singer all my life, I sometimes think of male singers as trendy little guys in skinny jeans, or hipsters with an oxymoronically-named man bun.
I have sung bass in choirs with all the manliest bearded men: big, strong, tattooed Marine veterans and tough guys of every stripe. I’ve sung alongside former college football players, farmers, cowboys, and oilfield workers, the sort of gentlemen no one calls “guys.” These are MEN.
But too many men today are afraid to sing well, hesitant to belt out songs of worship for fear of being perceived as “artsy,” or sensitive or less-manly.
But not singing is the devil’s goal.
He uses all this manly vs unmanly confusion to kill the worship of men.
Jesus was a real man. A man of tremendous courage. A man of grit. A man who faced torture with boldness. And Jesus was a singer, a worshiper. And so were all 12 disciples. Peter, Andrew, John—men of courage and guts.
After the Last Supper, “they sang hymns and went out to the Mount of Olives” Matthew 26:30. Think of it: Jesus chose to sing on the most difficult night of His life, the night when He would sweat drops of blood. Facing that–He found time and energy to sing.
These heroic men were singers.
Men who love Jesus are commanded to sing to Him. It is repeated throughout the Bible: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord” Psalm 100:1. “Come before His presence with singing” Psalm 100:2.
Billy Graham said, “Ours is a singing faith.”
It’s true. Never let anyone (even a fancy-haired worship leader in skinny jeans) make you think singing is not manly. Men who love God are commanded to belt the music out with the powerful, deeper-pitched instrument that God made just for men.
Jesus was a manly singer. Be like Jesus.
P.S. Check out this US Navy men’s chorale performing the Naval Hymn before the Bush family here in Houston at St. Martin’s Episcopal–the cathedral where President and Mrs. Bush’s funerals were later held.
Read Psalm 100.
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