The other night I was invited to a home Bible study with some people from Bethany Christian Services and our local food bank. As we started to sing a few praise songs I could not help but notice the woman to my left. She was an older woman who was somewhat hard of hearing. As she began to sing she was almost a second or two off from everyone else and way off key. At first it kind of threw me off but as I looked at her and saw the smile on her face as she sang to God it really touched me. She did not need to be on key and she did not need to be in perfect timing with everyone. She just needed to make a joyful noise unto God.

This made me think back to my days with YWAM and our outreach to the Cook Islands. Our missionary team did a lot of dramas and singing. While most of the team were very good singers, I had a voice that made people cringe. The team leader got so frustrated with me that he actually asked me to just lip-sync while the rest of the group sang. I quietly obliged. However, it really made me sad, especially when we sang praise songs.

I think sometimes Christians can focus on all the wrong things. It almost seems like a competition at church to see who is the best dressed or the coolest. Everything we do needs to be perfect and polished over to hide the imperfections. We act like everything is wonderful because we don't want anyone to know we might be going though hard times. There is the old saying that "Christians kill their wounded," and I have to say that statement is true all too often.

I see kids trying so hard to convince everyone that everything is ok when they are hurting inside and ready to explode. They don't want their parents or youth pastor to know that they have struggles with sin, because they think that would mean they aren't a good Christian. Instead of seeking help and support they turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, abortion and suicide to be able to cope with their problems.

This is especially true with young girls who get pregnant out of wedlock. It seems that once this happens everyone sees them as a leper, and parents tell their kids not to hang out with "that pregnant girl." I can't tell you how many times I have talked to kids whose parents forced them into abortion to avoid having to face society and the church because they "failed as parents." I have seen pastors take their daughters into abortion clinics because they are more concerned about losing their church than the welfare of their daughter and grandchild.

I know that as a father with daughters I am going to have to face some of these problems in the future. While I try to teach my children about chastity, respecting themselves, and pray for them, I know that they will sin. They may not get pregnant or do drugs but they will face tough times and struggle, as all humans do. I pray that in those days I will have the courage to embrace my children and love them, no matter what the situation.

We have to remember that without Christ we are all filthy with sin. The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves clean. We can only turn to Christ and be cleansed by His blood. It is Him who makes us clean and Him alone.

No matter what we are going through we can go to Christ, confess our sins, and He is faithful to forgive us. He comforts us when we are broken and loves us when we are unlovable. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Whey then can't we treat others like this? Why is it when our brothers and sisters in Christ are hurting and struggling we look down on them and act as if we are better than them? Do we not remember that without Christ, we are all filthy?

When a young woman sins and gets pregnant, should we treat her like a leper or a disease? If we do, then we are just going to push her further down the path towards abortion. Is her sin somehow so bad that we can't imagine loving her and being there for her to help her find forgiveness and comfort with Christ?

If you have the best voice in the world and sing to God while the person next to you has the worse voice ever and also sings to God, both of you are making a joyful noise unto the Lord and God hears both of your voices as beautiful. He takes delight in his children singing praises to Him and does not care if their voice is off key.

If we can all come to God equally with all of our imperfections, then should we not be able to come to each other and seek love from God's people, no matter what we are struggling with? We must stop killing our own wounded and love them, because in all reality we are all wounded without Christ. Maybe then we can put all of our defenses down and throw away all of our cover-ups, truly seek God, and make a joyful noise to Him without caring what anyone thinks.

Psalm 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing

For Christ I stand,

Bryan Kemper