How Third Day’s Mac Powell ‘Flips’ Satan’s Lies: ‘I Don’t Have to Be Good Enough’
By Movieguide® Contributor
The devil’s “You’re not good enough” attacks don’t work on Third Day’s lead singer Mac Powell because he knows the only one who is good enough — Jesus Christ.
“I think it’s the same thing that that a lot of people deal with — that you’re not good enough,” Powell said of how the devil tries to sway him, “which, you know, in some ways is true, but I don’t hear that as detrimental anymore. I hear that as the truth and going, ‘Great, I don’t have to be good enough,’ you know?”
“When I first gave my life to Jesus when I was a kid, it was because I realized that gospel truth that I was never going to read the Bible enough,” Powell told Worship Leader last month. “I was never going to go to church enough. I was never going to sing enough Christian songs. I was never going to give enough money to charity to be saved, to save myself.”
“And so I think when we sometimes hear that you’re not good enough, I think…we need to sometimes flip it and go, ‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m not good enough, but I don’t have to be because Jesus has done it all for me, and he’s the one who continues any kind of thing that I have.’”
Powell knows that he would have nothing if it were not for God. Every day, he goes on an hour-long prayer walk where he acknowledges what God does for him.
“There are so many times in my prayers while I’m walking, I say, ‘Jesus I can’t even draw this next breath without you,’ and so there is truth to those lies in the sense that we’re not good enough, but that’s what we need to realize is that we don’t have to be that. Jesus is that for us.”
On staying humble, Powell’s favorite advice from a pastor he doesn’t recall the name of.
“I think it was Chuck Swindoll; I don’t remember. I was reading a book, and it was a pastor, and he said that all that humility is honesty, and so that’s how I think I can remain humble, as just being honest of knowing who I am. That…everything that I have is from the Lord, you know, and even on top of that is from the Lord working through so many people to help me be able to have the success that I’ve had, so I’m very thankful,” he said.
Powell offered some insight to anyone who thinks the church may not be relevant to them.
“If we read the scripture, it’s very clear do not forsake the assembly of yourselves. We can’t do this on our own. We can’t be hermits and you know, monks living off and not spending time with each other,” he explained.
“There’s fellowship within the church, within the body of Christ. There’s fellowship there. We’re called to do that, and so to say that church is not relevant for you, well…it’s just not simply the case.”
He noted that even the Trinity — Father, Son and Spirit — are an example of fellowship.
“We are called to spend time together,” the singer explained. “Now…it might be a little different than how a lot of people who go to church think, but as long as we are under the authority of someone who’s teaching us and as long as we’re spending time with other believers encouraging and spurring one another on in our faith and helping out one another, that’s the church. And so how can you ever be a believer and not believe in that, right?”
Throughout his career as a member of Third Day, he and the band sold more than 10 million albums, achieved four Grammys and an American Music Award. The Georgia Music Hall of Fame also inducted them.
The band split ways in 2018. Since then, two of Powell’s singles as a solo artist have made it to Christian top-hit lists.
Movieguide® reported on Powell’s run as a country artist before returning to the Christian music genre:
“That was like scratching an itch I had for a long time,” Powell told CBN. “Once Third Day was over, I finally had a chance to do that, but I always knew I was gonna be in Christian music. That’s where I feel comfortable. I love singing about Jesus and sharing my faith throughout my music.”
Because of this, Powell returned to the genre after his country project, releasing “New Creation” in 2021. This launched a tour and allowed him to travel and perform with his daughter, Scout, and her husband, Alec.
“Man, what a privilege to have my baby girl out on the road with me and my son-in-law,” Powell said. Scout plays bass while Alec plays the drums. “We’re having a blast.”
The deep-toned singer just finished a Canada tour and will tour several U.S. states throughout the summer, starting with Tennessee on Jun. 1.
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