Casting Crowns was up (again) for an award at the American Music Awards last night. They didn’t receive the award, but as fellow artist, Kirk Franklin, stood behind the winner’s podium and thrust that Contemporary Inspirational trophy upward in the air, he called their name, showing his respect for this amazing band.
This morning I went on Casting Crowns’ website looking for information about their nomination. To my surprise, I found nothing – not one mention of the AMM award nomination.In fact, there was no specific reference to any of their public accolades. Only through a Google web search did I learn they’ve won a Grammy and GMA’s Group of the Year 2 years in a row now or that they have sold to date over 2.5 million albums.
No, I didn’t find any impressive awards lists or radio stats that demonstrate their musical and popular prowess.  However, I did find this insightful bit of information on their bio page from Casting Crown’s lead singer, Mark Hall:

“Your purpose is to worship Him with your life,” Hall says. “On that journey to becoming like Jesus, you may be a doctor, construction worker, salesperson or a youth pastor, but that’s not why you’re here. You’re here to worship Him with everything you have. You’re here to become like Jesus.” “This is your life song,” Hall says. “This is your act of worship: what you do with the life you’ve been given. A life of worship says ‘God, I’m waking up today. I’m going to do a lot of things, I’m going to go a lot of places, I’m going to talk to a lot of people, but my goal is to point others to You and to make You smile today.’ The more we live like that, the more we become like him, and the closer we get to His heart, the more we see that His heart is for people. So then you start seeing people that are hurting. And ministry becomes the overflow of a life poured out at Jesus’ feet.”

Reading those words by Mark, it is no real wonder why God continues to elevate them. He can trust them! They really “get it”; they understand that this life is not about them. They are giving all honor and credit back to Jesus, the giver of anything good in any of our lives. Simply put, they are not waiting until they get to heaven to cast their crowns before Jesus’ feet…
As I think over my ministry and my life right now, I am compelled to ask myself if I really “get it”? How important to me is my neighbor across the street? How much does it matter to me whether the people I lead in worship this weekend really connect with God and discover His love and power? What really motivates me – His honor…or mine? Am I casting my crowns at Jesus feet? Better yet, am I casting my very life at the foot of His cross?