Discernment

(Continued from yesterday)

Q. I am very concerned about the extradition protests in Hong Kong. I watched video clips sent by friends from both sides – protesters as well as police supporters. It appears both sides are showing only what reinforce their position, ignoring anything that shows their opposition might be right, at least partially, and not the evil monster they portrait them to be. It seems each side is both right and wrong at the same time. What should we do?

A. Yes, we are entering an age of massive deception, when both sides of a political issue won’t hesitate to use lies to rally people to their side. If you examine video clips posted by either side, you can see that both are spreading a lot of fake news. Some think “seeing is believing”. Really? Have you watched the “Lion King” trailer? It’s very realistic, but completely computer-generated. Artificial Intelligence have fooled many people. Many have watched Trump or Obama videos thinking how they could say something like that on camera, not realizing that the videos have been “photoshopped”. Others are true footage, but of another unrelated incident taken out of context. Some stories do not have authentic sources including names, time, and place that can be verified. How can we respond in these turbulent times?

In what ways do people lie to us? Although any deviation from the truth is, by definition, a lie, and there are countless ways you can deviate, lies fall into three main categories. Using the oath when we give a sworn testimony as the reference point, a lie can be anything that is NOT:

• The truth – any deviation from what happened; twisting the facts;
• The whole truth –hiding or subtracting certain parts, even though what’s disclosed is true. For example, protesters point out the loopholes in the proposed extradition legislation, but hide who their own backers are and their motives;
• Nothing but the truth – they may divulge all aspects of the case, but add elements that are designed to raise doubts, cause confusion, and mislead the audience. The easiest way to con people is to mix truth with error.

What is the antidote? I believe what’s needed is discernment, a distinguishing, clear discrimination, and judging of right from wrong. The word appears many times in the NASB:

• Verb “discern” – 17 times in 16 verses; “discerned” – 2 times in 2 verses;
• Noun “discernment” – 11 times in 11 verses;
• Adjective “discerning” – 10 times in 10 verses.

I won’t cite them all here, but the key teachings are:

• 1 Kings 3:9, 11 So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” … God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice,
• 1 Kings 4:29 Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore.
• Job 12:20 “He deprives the trusted ones of speech and takes away the discernment of the elders.
• Ps 119:66 Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments.
• Prov 2:3, 5 For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; …  Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
  And discover the knowledge of God.
• Prov 28:7 He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.
• Ezk 44:23 Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
• Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

We learn the following about discernment:

• Why? – Discernment is important because with it we distinguish between good and evil, understand justice, tell the difference between the holy and the profane, the unclean and the clean. Without it we will be deceived 100% of the time.
• What? – Discernment consists of a breadth of mind (perspective) and knowledge (depth). You cannot discern if you are narrow minded, or if you are superficial and can’t learn from history.
• Where or Who? – Discernment comes from knowing God’s commandments, fearing the Lord, and keeping His law. If you know God, you have wisdom from above (James 3:17). If you don’t know God, the best you can have is earthly wisdom, which is unspiritual, demonic (James 3:15), for the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. (1 Co 3:19)
• When? – Discernment generally comes with age (elders), through experience. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes!
• How? We get discernment when we cry for it and train our senses by practice. We must desire and pursue it. It is like spiritual discipline or exercise – no pain, no gain. Nothing venture, nothing gained.

In short, if you are the Lord’s disciple, you will have discernment, because the Holy Spirit will guide you. You can see through the smoke and mirrors the world is throwing at you and won’t be deceived. So, when people ask, “Whose side are you on, the government or the protesters?”, I said “neither”. Is China good? Are the CIA/Freemasons pulling the strings behind the protesters good? Neither. No one is good except God alone (Mk 10:18b; Lk 18:19b). There is none who does good; there is not even one (Rom 3:12b). That’s why the only foundation you can stand on is the sure word of God. All other ground is sinking sand. I hope we are all following Christ closely.

Extradition Protests

Q. What’s your view on the extradition protests in Hong Kong? As a Christian where do you stand?

A. Over the last two months I watched the news from Hong Kong (HK) with dismay and anger – dismay as the law-abiding city I grew up in quickly descended into anarchy, and anger because of the fake news manipulating people who lacked discernment to see that they have been deceived.

Both sides are at fault and to be blamed. On the one hand, the Chinese government does have a dubious record of violating human rights, so much so that those protesting legally can evaporate from the face of the earth. There are legitimate concerns over the proposed extradition legislation.

On the other hand, the protestors are no better at respecting the rule of law, attacking authorities with tactics reminiscent of those used by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. Knowing that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED, a front for the CIA) is backing the protesters to de-stabilize HK to attack China, we pain to see how naïve the HK young people are, not realizing that they have been used as pawns in the US-China trade war. They think they are fighting for democracy, not recognizing that they are only disposable minions.

Whose side am I on? Let me borrow from Joshua 5:13a-14b, where the pre-incarnate Christ answered Joshua:

• “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” 

My answer is neither – I stand on the Lord’s side. Having said that, let me add my qualifier:

• Rom 13:1-3 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. ² Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. ³ For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;

I think the HK government has not done a good job in convincing the public the merits and safeguards of the proposed extradition law. They should, but they fumbled. But that does not give the protesters a right to cause havoc and hold the government ransom. Both sides are wrong, but at least the government is the legal governing authority and has the responsibility to maintain law and order. Like it or not, the protesters have no right at all to flaunt the authorities established by God, since the government is not legislating immoral laws in violation of God’s commandments.

Under the instigation of sinister outside parties, the protesters are doing all they can to undermine the foundations of a free society which they claim they want to establish but are in fact destroying. Instead of working for the public good, they are eroding HK’s security, competitiveness and economy such that it is sinking fast into irrelevance, which is exactly what China’s attackers want.

What’s the core problem? I believe it has to do with deception on the part of perpetrators, coupled with a lack of discernment amongst the masses, which we will discuss in the next post.

(To be continued)

Goats?

Q. Who are the goats in the Sheep and the Goats in Mt 25:31-46? Are they in the church?

A. There are some clues in the passage itself:

• Mt 25:32-33 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
• Mt 25:41 Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
• Mt 25:45-46  Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The goats are the nations on the Son of Man’s left when He sits on His throne for the Final Judgment. They are the accursed ones who did not do any acts of kindness to the least of the Lord’s brothers and are sentenced into the eternal fire for eternal punishment. Some see the term “nations” literally as countries or people groups, but it is unlikely that entire countries will treat the unfortunate in Mt 25:35-36 without pity or compassion. Others use the term “nations” as a multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus. This is more likely and my view.

There are other clues based on the figurative usage of “goats” in the Bible. In the OT, goats typically represent oppressors and wicked men, e.g.

• Ezk 34:17 As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.
• Zech 10:3a “My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the male goats;

Goats look like sheep, but there are differences. In appearance, goats have horns, hair, and their tails point up. Sheep (except for the Merino) don’t have horns, have wool, and their tails point down. In personality, goats are more curious and independent and tend to get into more trouble. Sheep are more timid and have a strong flocking instinct. Goats lead goatherds, while sheep follow shepherds. These characteristics are like the differences between the unrighteous and the righteous. Goats push, take, destroy and bully, just like the unrighteous. Sheep depend on their shepherd to lead and protect them like the righteous.

Are there goats in the church? I believe yes, just as there are tares among wheat in the kingdom of heaven. In Israel, goats and sheep are often kept in the same flock (Gen 30:32, 35). In church, the unrighteous are among the righteous too, and often you can’t tell them apart because they look similar. Only by observing how they behave over time can you distinguish between the two. But there are no goats in the Church, the Body of Christ, as only genuine Christians are members of Christ’s body.

Kindness to All?

Q. On the sheep and goats passage in Mt 25, I tend to think that we should show kindness to all, more than just brothers mentioned in 25:40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers , you did it to me.’  Any comments? Why did Matthew use the word “brother” in 25:40? What’s his point?

A.  I believe we should show kindness to all, but not based on Mt 25:40, which specifically addressed to “brothers”. The context contrasts sheep, representing brothers, with goats, those who are not brothers. So, to say “brothers” implies “all” goes beyond the text and the Lord’s intended meaning.

I base “kindness to all” on the following:

• Lk 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. (Also Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27)
• 2 Tim 2:24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged.
• 2 Co 6:6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,
• Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
• Col 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

The Lord commanded us to love our enemies. If we are to be like God, and He is kind to ungrateful and evil men, who are not our brothers, we certainly need to show kindness to all. This is explicitly taught by Paul. Even though 2 Tim 2:24 addressed the Lord’s bond-servants specifically, the principle does not go against the context and is applicable to all. This is also the case in 2 Corinthians 6:6, where Paul was commending themselves as servants of God (2 Co 6:4). They are to be kind so that they give no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry will not be discredited (2 Co 6:3).

The fruit of the Spirit, which includes kindness, should be manifested by all those who belong to Christ Jesus (Gal 5:24). Since Christians are those who have been chosen of God, we are to put on kindness to all, not just to those who love and do good to us, in keeping with the spirit in Lk 6:32-34. So, while I agree with your conclusion, my rationale is different.

Lastly, why did Matthew use the word “brother”? In chapter 25 there are three periscopes:

• Parable of Ten Virgins;
• Parable of the Talents; and
• The Sheep and the Goats.

All three showed a separation – the wise from the foolish, the faithful from the lazy, the blessed from the accursed. Each time the focus is on what they did versus did not do. The emphasis was on the subject, not the object, which in the first two cases were things – oil and talents – not people. What’s important is the action or inaction, not the recipient. So, “brother” is not the main point of the story, faith in action is. I could be wrong, so if you have a better explanation please inform me.

Bad Pastor? Part 2 of 2

Q. What can we do about a pastor who is doing a poor job but blames us for not supporting him? He scolds us for not respecting his leadership, but people are leaving because of him. What should we do?

A.  (Cont’d. from yesterday)

Yesterday we discussed some principles on examining yourselves before receiving an accusation against a pastor. Today we continue with what to do next. Why that sequence? Because of Mt 7:3-5:

• Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Unless you correct any wrong in your own attitude and behavior first, you are in no position to judge your pastor, who is also your brother.

Assuming you are in the right, what next? There are other passages in the OT and NT about good and bad shepherds. For example:

• Ezk 34:2-6 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? ³ You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. ⁴ Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. ⁵ They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.⁶ My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’”

The bad shepherds are those who feed themselves rather than the flock. He did not strengthen the sick, heal the diseased, bind up the broken, nor bring back the scattered and the lost. Instead, he dominated them with force and severity. The Lord will stop them from tending sheep.

What makes a shepherd good?

• John 10:11-15 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, ¹⁵ even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

The Lord is not asking all pastors to die for His sheep like He did, but He is asking them to put the interests of His sheep ahead of his own. A hired hand is not concerned about the sheep and won’t do that. The bad pastors do not know the sheep and they don’t know him. There is no close relationship.

If you have a good pastor, thank God and work with him. But what do you do if you have a bad one? Start with the principles in Matthew 18:15-17:

• “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

This passage is about a sinning brother, and a bad pastor is still a brother. First confront him in private. If it doesn’t work, bring two or three witnesses, not to gang up on him, but to confirm the facts. Remember 1 Tim 5:19?

• 1 Tim 5:19-20 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.

If he is unrepentant, bring it to the church openly, no longer in private. If he still does not listen, then the church should let him go. I hope your church would not come to this, but all these are according to God’s word; I did not make them up myself. Church discipline is always a difficult matter, so I pray you will have wisdom from the Lord as you handle this hard subject.

Bad Pastor? Part 1 of 2

Q. What can we do about a pastor who is doing a poor job but blames us for not supporting him? He scolds us for not respecting his leadership, but people are leaving because of him. What should we do?

A.  I need to know more about your situation before I can offer any suggestions, but I can give you a few guidelines for your consideration:

• 1 Tim 5:17-22 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” ¹⁹ Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. ²¹ I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. ²² Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.
• 1 Pet 5:1-5 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, ² shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; ³ nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. ⁵ You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

When you say your pastor is doing a poor job, by what criteria are you evaluating his performance? Yours? Or the Bible’s? I’ve heard your side of the complaint, but I’ve been around long enough to know there are two sides to a story. I have heard heart-breaking stories from fellow pastors who shared how their board challenged most things they say and do, just to show who is “boss”! Essentially, they treated him like an employee, who should listen to them who pay his salary. So, the first thing I would suggest is “examine yourselves”, even before you appraise him. Are you assessing his work according to God’s standards? Or yours, which may be totally unrealistic.

What are some of these standards? Let me list a few:

Examine Yourselves:

• Do you have evidence to support your accusation against your pastor? (I’m using elders and pastors interchangeably here.) Do you have two or three credible witnesses?
• Do you have a spirit of partiality? In other words, you have a prejudice against him, so that no matter what he does, he can’t do anything right in your eyes?
• Are you paying him a decent salary, or are his wages low so that he must ask for more or do a side job to support his family?
• Did you call your pastor too hastily i.e. you did not do the necessary due diligence to make sure you have a good candidate before you extend your call?
• Do you submit to his leadership, with humility, recognizing he is your shepherd, not a hired hand (John 10:12-13)?

Examine the Pastor:

• As overseer, does he rule well? Does he have insight and show wisdom in situations? Is he balanced in his judgments? Does he have good ideas?
• Is he working hard at preaching and teaching? Or is he lazy in preparing messages and training disciples?
• Does he shepherd the flock well? That is, does he care for the people? Does he lead, guide and protect them, not just feed them?
• Does he watch over God’s people willingly? Or was he compelled to enter the pastoral ministry because he couldn’t do other things well?
• Did he become a pastor for the money? Was he called? Did he desire the noble task?
• Did he lord it over those entrusted to him i.e. was he overbearing, domineering? Or does he lead by example, not asking people to do what he himself is not prepared to do?

There are more principles on what makes a good shepherd in both the Old and New Testaments. But this is a good place to start.

(To be continued)

NT Sacrifices

Q. Is choir singing or a group of people singing on stage the same as offering a sacrifice to God on behalf of the congregation?  Now that Jesus died for us, do we need to offer sacrifice anymore other than ourselves during worship?

From Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” I only know that we need to offer our own self as a sacrifice. For myself, I don’t sing well (poor quality) but if I prepare myself and sing my very best during worship, wouldn’t this please God?

My dilemma was on the concept of choir representing the congregation to sing.  If I offer myself a living sacrifice, why do I need someone else to sacrifice on behalf of me?  I think I can accept the role of choir or another group leading congregation in worship, but I am not sure I see their action as a sacrifice on behalf of me or others.

A. You rightly point out that our Lord offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins once for all:

Heb 10:12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,

but atonement is not the only type of sacrifice in the NT.

Consider the following:

• Php 2:17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
• Php 4:18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
• Heb 13:5 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
• 1 Pet 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Paul considered the service of our faith and the love gifts we gave to help others as sacrifices pleasing to God. The author of Hebrews treats our praise and giving thanks to God to be sacrifices. Peter referred to spiritual sacrifices, which in its context includes proclaiming the excellencies of God (1 Pet 2:9).

To answer your question directly, I consider choir singing as a sacrifice of praise, but for themselves, not on behalf of the congregation. The priesthood of all believers (1 Pet 2:9) informs us that we, the congregation, are a royal priesthood. We do not need to go through priests as in OT Judaism, or modern-day Roman Catholicism, to approach God. The choir or praise team leads us in worship, but do not offer worship on our behalf. I do not accept the argument that they represent the congregation. That is why I used 2 Co 8:11-12, which is quantitative, to argue that the same rationale applies to the qualitative. Another analogy is the widow’s mite (Mk 12:41-44). She gave only one cent, but Jesus said she put in more than all the contributors. The value is not in the absolute amount, but in relation to how much she owned. Similarly, laymen singing their hearts out to God, though their music is mediocre, is more pleasing to God than professionals who simply go through the motions, even though their half-hearted efforts may be very good already to ordinary people. Hope this clarifies your dilemma.

Performance or Participation?

Q. Our church has a tradition of scheduling different choirs and small groups (e.g. seniors fellowship) to present songs during the worship service. However, the caliber of the music varies. Some feel that since we are supposed to offer our best to God, those who don’t sing well should not be asked to perform. Others believe in the “priesthood of all believers” and feel that we shouldn’t allow only “professionals” to sing, but everyone. Who is right?

A. We have this debate in church for a long time – performance versus participation – and both sides can cite biblical support. In the OT, choirs served in the temple, and 56 psalms are addressed “for the choir director” in its title:

• Neh 12:31 Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on top of the wall, and I appointed two great choirs, the first proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate.
• Neh 12:38 The second choir proceeded to the left, while I followed them with half of the people on the wall, above the Tower of Furnaces, to the Broad Wall,
• Neh 12:40 Then the two choirs took their stand in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials with me;

In addition, singer or singers appear 36 times in the OT, e.g.

• 1 Chron 9:33 Now these are the singers, heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free from other service; for they were engaged in their work day and night.
• 2 Chron 5:13 in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord saying, “He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,
• Ezra 7:24 We also inform you that it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim or servants of this house of God.

These singers were free from other service as their sole occupation was to praise and glorify the Lord. They also enjoyed special privileges such as tax-exemption and were therefore professionals expected to meet certain performance standards.

On the other hand, the NT admonished believers to sing to one another and the Lord:

• Eph 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
• Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

The emphasis is on their doing it to one another i.e. participating together in unity, in order to admonish each other in an attitude of thankfulness.

So, is performance or participation correct? I believe it is both, not either/or. Performance without participation focuses on the performer, not necessarily on the Lord, and would not be true worship. Worship is all about God, not the “star”. Participation without quality is like offering a sacrifice with defects to God, which is not acceptable:

• Lev 22:21 When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. (See also Lev 3:1, 6)
• Deut 17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God. (See also Deut 15:21)

Having said that, I believe God is not saying that only people who are gifted in music are qualified to sing praises to Him. He is asking us to offer the best we have. I believe the principle in 2 Co 8:11-12 applies:

• 2 Co 8:11-12 But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 

What a person gives depends on two things: his readiness or willingness, and his ability or means. Here Paul is teaching that if the willingness is there, what he can offer, even though it may be small, is acceptable. Ability is given by God, and a person can’t offer what he does not have. Similarly, if a choir had tried their best to practice and offers what they are capable of, it is acceptable to God. I am not condoning shoddy performance, but if I had to choose, I believe participation triumphs over performance. I don’t believe in elitism in God’s Kingdom. Hope this helps.