Speaking, Not Striking

Ever felt like you've totally lost control of a situation? I know I have! The reality is that we aren't ever really in control of anything that happens, but we like to act and think as if we were. Moses was put in one such situation in Numbers 20. The people of Israel have been going through the wilderness, complaining pretty much the whole journey, and they end up in a place called Kadesh. Kadesh made for great camping, except that it didn't have any water! Numbers 20:2 says, "Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, 'If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!" When the people complain, Moses and Aaron initially act wisely: they go to the Lord. V.6 says, "So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them." 

The best response to a crisis is always to first turn to the Lord! And God appears to Moses and Aaron in His glory. He gives them the answer to the people's needs: "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water." God has an answer ready for the people's need: they will receive water from the most unlikely place. The rock at Kadesh will be split open and pour out enough water to satisfy the millions of Israel and their animals! But Moses is only going to speak to the rock. Just as he laid hold on God's presence by simply seeking God in prayer, so he will receive God's provision by simply speaking to the rock. It is God's power, not his own, that will split the rock and provide for the people.

But Moses is frustrated! He has had enough of the Israelites and their accusations against him. So instead of approaching the situation as God directed him, Moses gathers the people and says, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod". Moses' good start in going to God in prayer is now ruined by his angry attitude toward the people. He not only gets angry at these "rebels", but he sinfully puts himself in God's place. Notice how he asked, "Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" GOD is the one who provides the water, not Moses or Aaron. On top of that, Moses expresses his self-glorifying attitude by striking the rock (twice!) instead of speaking to it, as God had commanded. 

When we're thrown into those out-of-control situations, our sinful instinct is to always try to fix the problem ourselves. We see that we aren't as "in charge" as we imagined and we want to reclaim our imagined sense of control. Instead of looking to God to split the rocks for us, we speak of bringing water out ourselves. Instead of speaking to the rock, we strike hard in our own strength. 

When Jesus was teaching about not being anxious and trusting God instead He said these words, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matt 7:7) God knows everything that you need, Christian, and He has promised to provide for everything you need. The water is going to pour out of the rock! But receive the water by asking, not demanding. Don't strike the Rock, but speak to Him. He will answer the one who asks Him in faith. 

Does God Want Our Creativity?

Does God want us to be creative in worship? That's the question I've been wrestling with after overhearing an interesting conversation at the coffee shop the other day. Two young women were catching up and sharing about their Christian lives. One began to discuss her involvement in a local megachurch. She was enthusiastically sharing about her artistic pursuits and delighted with how this megachurch had allowed her to grow, expressing her artistic creativity through the outlet of worship.

My study of the Shorter Catechism the last couple weeks has been on the 2nd commandment, so worship was already on my mind. One of the things the catechism writers saw in the 2nd commandment is what we call the Regulative Principle of Worship: the truth that God establishes in His word how we are to worship Him, and we are forbidden from worshipping Him in any ways He has not commanded. 

To many evangelicals today that idea seems very restricting. It feels almost like a straitjacket on our ability to be "authentic". How am I supposed to really worship God if I'm just doing all the things God said to do, and not doing the things He didn't say to do? Where's the outlet for creativity? 

All of this drove me back to God's word, and in particular one of the most interesting places in the Old Testament: Exodus. In the book of Exodus, when you get to the Mount Sinai sections, God gives His people His law through Moses. The law encompasses all sorts of different things, but one thing it deals with is worship. Much of the last portions of Exodus are all about the tabernacle: how it is to be constructed and how worship is to take place within it. At the end of Exodus 35, God gives instruction on who will oversee the tabernacle construction:

30 And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, 32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.

34 “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.

There are Isrealites whom God has specifically gifted, filling them with the Holy Spirit, to make all types of workmanship. These are God's artists, equipped with skill to create beauty which glorifies God. If there was ever a group of people we would want to let run wild with artistic license, it would be these guys! But God doesn't seem inclined to do that. Instead, the very next chapter starts off like this, "And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the LORD has commanded."

In other words, the creativity of these artists isn't expressed like most children play with Legos: "Here's all the pieces, let's see what you come up with!" Rather than that, it's more like putting together models, with detailed instructions telling the creator exactly what to do with all these pieces. 

I think to many in the modern evangelical world, this sounds like God is stifling the creativity of these artisans! They are to paint, but it's a paint-by-numbers kit God has given them. Where's the excitement in that? There are many areas of life that God leaves us to discover, working by the general principles of His word. But when it comes to worship, the stakes are far too high. To come before a holy, holy, holy God in our own fashion or preference always ends in disaster for the worshiper. 

Think of it using the analogy of the fire and a fireplace. There are two ways for that setup to go wrong: you can have a well-constructed fireplace, but a poor fire, barely smoldering. This is sadly where I think many Reformed congregations find themselves. But the other way this can go wrong is to have an inferno of fire, but uncontrolled by the fireplace. The fire's burning great, it's also burning the house down! I sincerely believe this is where most modern evangelicals fall off: all passion, no direction; good intentions, heartfelt expression, but not focused and regulated by God's own word. 

The best thing is always to do what God says. Simple obedience to what He has told us to do is ALWAYS better than the most elaborate, beautiful service we come up with apart from His command. "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." (1 Samuel 15:22)

So, if we circled back to our original question, "Does God want us to be creative in worship?" I think the answer is a resounding yes! But God wants our creativity to be honed in and focused by the boundaries of His word. If our creativity and passion in worship is like that fire, God wants it red hot! But He wants the fire in the fireplace of His commands. That is why I love the regulative principle! It enables us to burn hot in praise and zeal and to know that our fire is actually accomplishing what we want: the sincere worship and glorifying of our great God!