Early in my ministry, from 1966 to 1970, in addition to teaching school, I served as pastor of Pine Grove Baptist Church near Florien, Louisiana. During my time there, we used a variety of volunteer music leaders. Danielle served as our pianist.
One of our former music leaders, Carey Coburn, lived in a nearby community and often came back to visit with us, usually on Sunday nights. When Carey came back for a visit, it was considered good etiquette to invite him to lead the music. Since he enjoyed doing that, he always accepted the invitation.
One Sunday night, Carey led us in several hymns, and then announced that for our final hymn we would sing “Stand Up for Jesus.†What Carey didn’t know was that in that edition of the Baptist Hymnal there were two versions of “Stand Up for Jesus.†One was the older version, and the other was the newer version that had the same words but had a more militant tune. The only version that Carey knew was the older version, but he called out the number of the newer version. Danielle played the introduction to the newer version. Carey shot her a quizzical glance and then launched into a spirited rendition of the older version of “Stand Up for Jesus†while Danielle played the newer version. It produced an impossible clash. Carey wasn’t sure what was wrong, but he suspected that the pianist didn’t know how to play, and he evidently hated to stop and call attention to it. Danielle said that she thought that since Carey was the leader that he ought to be the one who stopped it. She didn’t want to embarrass him by stopping and calling attention to his error. The bottom line was that we sang three entire verses of the hymn like that.
I frankly didn’t know what to do. Since Carey was a guest, I would sing a little while with him. But since Danielle was my wife I felt an obligation to support her, and I would sing a little while with her. Most of the people were completely demoralized and quit singing after the first verse. The farther he went with the old version the more Carey began perspiring and turning red in the face. By the time we reached the end of the third verse, he was completely exhausted. After loudly declaring for three verses that we ought to “Stand Up for Jesus,†Carey collapsed on the front pew.
Standing up for Jesus in our world is a challenge. It’s like trying to sing one song when a different one is being played. The clash between the two is pronounced. Paul said that our only hope of winning this struggle is with the help of God. Paul said, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand†(Eph. 6:13).
Taking your stand for Christ may put you out of harmony with the world. In spite of the dissonance, I urge you today to “Stand Up for Jesus!â€
