In the Box of Our Creation

By: Wendy Duckworth Vance

During a recent worship service that I attended, we sang a song that was new to me called “Preference” by Rachel Morley. I was blown away by the boldly honest words of the song that challenge us to examine ourselves and our relationship with God. It challenges us to ask ourselves whether we are serving the God of the Bible or the god that we have created, our own golden calf, if you will. It challenges us to ask whether we have reduced the Creator of the universe, the God who stepped from glory, from timeless existence into our dirty, sinful human world for the express purpose of shedding his holy blood to save from our own wretchedness, to a wishing well or as a once-a-week social convention. She asks us to consider whether our faith would be shaken if God showed up in an unexpected way - if He did something outside of the box that we created.

I have been reflecting on this challenge since hearing this song. I have thought about services that I have attended and different things that I have heard people say or that I have said myself which place God into a box. I would like to take just a few minutes to discuss those reflections with you, dear reader.

In my lifetime, I have attended a variety of Christian services - Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Catholic, non-denominational, and Messianic Jewish. I have researched and spoken with people of other denominations including Mennonite and Amish. I have attended wealthy congregations and congregations that could barely keep the lights on. I have attended well organized services and services that were more free flowing. Here is what I can say about all this variety, I have been blessed not by the domination or by the planned program but by the Holy Spirit. I found my greatest blessing, my deepest interaction with the heart of God in the the congregations in which the Holy Spirit was free to interact, free to guide, free to deviate from the prescribed program.

For example, when I was in junior college, I attended a small congregation of about 40 people. We were small in number and short on funds. Instead of a band, the singers were usually accompanied by tape played over the sound system. We had little in the way of material, but we had something so much better than a flat bank account or a fancy program, we had the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit was so thick, so heavy that you could not help but pour out yourself to make room for His presence, to lift up your hands, lift up a literal shout of praise. Services had a start time and we had a “planned” end but we almost never adhered to it because we were so engrossed in the worship that we just could not bring ourselves to stop and leave. I am not discussing utter chaos here, there was organization, such as one singer or one speaker at a time, but we didn’t adhere to a strict limit on the number of songs, a 20 minute sermon and then hit the door. If there were people that had a song or a testimony to give, we kept going until there were no more. Some days we did not even get to the sermon. In those encounters with God that were not planned and programmed, I grew in my relationship with Him so much more than I could conceive or imagine. In that little, country church, sitting under the teaching of a man of God who wasn’t educated in seminary but learned at the foot of the Cross, I honestly and truly gave my life to Christ. I will forever be grateful to an amazing pastor, Brother Dennis Smith, for listening to the Lord and for allowing God to show up in whatever way the Spirit moved. There was no program box, just pure, spirit filled worship.

Now, please do not misunderstand me, I am not promoting the idea of dismantling organization. Nor am I saying that one cannot be blessed in a service that is dictated by a program. What I am asking you to think about is: what if God showed up in your church and people started speaking in tongues or had a word of testimony from the Lord? Could you step out of your programmed box, or would you say that such was inappropriate? If so, was David inappropriate when he leaped and danced before the Lord (2 Samuel 6:14, NLT)? Would you say, “my god doesn’t _________,” you fill in the blank.

And then I want you to take just a moment to analysis this phrase, (“my god doesn’t”) and yes I absolutely mean little “g” god. Yes, God is personal and speaks to you about your situation and your struggles, but when you utter “my god doesn’t,” this usually has little to do with who God tells us He is in His word or what He says is sinful, inappropriate, but rather it has to do with the narrative that we have created or our desire to prop up our opinion about a certain topic. In doing so, we create a little “g” god in our image, rather than conforming ourselves to His character and image that He shares with us in His Word. By doing this we miss His Word, His blessing, hearing His purpose and plan for our live, interacting with him in a powerful manner, and opportunities to bless others. Not to mention, that we totally violate the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 NIV).

When we say that we will only allow God to have a certain segment of our life or will only worship inside the box that was created by modern church (Christian restrictions), we miss the God of the universe. We miss having a deep and surrendered relationship with the One who said, “I love you so much that I lay down My glory, My divinity, My blood to save you, to bring you into My presence that you might dwell in My house forever.” In the face of such love, how can we have the audacity to say, “but I will only worship you as I prefer to do so; I will only let you have this much of my life and no more”? How can we say to God, “You must stay in this box of my creation and only show up in service or my life in this way or that dignified way.”

Today, I challenge you to listen to “Preference”. (See music tab). Let its words sink into your spirit. Then ask yourself,

-Where do I limit God?

-In what ways have I placed Him in a box of my creation?

-What is the role of God in my life?

-Is the god that I worship the God of the universe, the one who tells us who He is in His Word, or the god of my preference who is socially acceptable? The god loves who I love, blesses who I think deserves blessing? The god who doesn’t ask me to change? The god who accepts his prescribed and allotted time once per week? The god allows me to do whatever i want the rest of the week?

And when you are done, open the box, let go of your preferences, and let God be God. Let Him show you the the richness and freedom that comes in humbling yourself before the throne of grace. Lift your hands, lift your voice in a shout of praise, and invite God to dismantle your preferences so that you can experience the fullness of life in Yeshua.

Dedicated to the memory of Brother Dennis Smith. Thank you for welcoming the Holy Spirit into our midst at Cochran Evangelistic to reign and work in our hearts. I look forward to giving you a huge hug when my work here is done. Until then, fly with the angels, my dear friend. You are dearly loved and missed. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither, sorrow, nor crying neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” (Rev 21:4 NIV)