Our captivating, wild-at-heart, and just plain great God
'Safe?... Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you...' (said a beaver to a daughter of Eve in the wonderful classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis)
I recently heard someone speak about the differences between the needs of women and the needs of men. On my personal blog, I shared some thoughts that were inspired by that talk. (You can read that post here, if you'd like.) Some of those thoughts pertained to worship, how we view and relate to God in light of the fact that both men and women are designed as expressions of His image. I told my xanga readers I would flesh out those thoughts here, so here goes... (I will confess here and now that lots of these thoughts are heavily influenced by John Eldredge's work...)
'So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.' (Gen. 1:27) Our amazing God created humanity to reflect who He is, His ways, His heart, His character. And He created us in a way that no one person, no one kind of person can fully express who He is (well, other than Jesus, but that's a different sort of thing). God made us to be unique and different, with our differences in gender, culture, ethnicity, personality, and giftings, because He wanted to reveal so many different aspects of who He is. So although we are broken, fallen, flawed, we can still see traces of our Creator in the people around us. And those traces can point us back to our master Designer...
Men tend to desire adventure. Men desire to be on a mission and to accomplish that mission, to show leadership and strength, to offer that strength to a beauty. And we can see this in the heart of God... He is a God who acts on behalf of His people, taking on their battles out of His love for them. 'The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name...' (Gen. 15:3) One thing that always strikes me while watching The Passion of the Christ is the heroic way Jesus is depicted. He is a Defender of the woman caught in adultery. He boldly rails against the religious leaders who manipulate the hearts of people for their own benefit. He stands victoriously against Satan as he accuses Him (even in His weakest moments, He never forgets who He is, His mission, His destiny... or His enemy's destiny). And in one of my favorite scenes, after He's been savagely beaten with rods, He stands back up, almost as if to say, 'hit Me again. I dare you to hit Me again.' Jesus is the ultimate Hero. Maximus, William Wallace, Robin Hood, and the prince (whose name I can't remember) who fights through thorns and slays a demonic dragon in order to rescue and awaken the Sleeping Beauty that he loves... these men have nothing on my Jesus.
Women tend to desire to be pursued and fought for and cherished, to be beautiful and to unveil that beauty, to share in an adventure (they want the thrill of the adventure, but the thrill is a bit empty if they think they have to go it alone). They want to nurture and comfort and give life to things. And we see this in the heart of God as well... He is, as Francis Thompson would say, the 'Hound of Heaven,' ever pursuing us, yet His word expresses His longing to be sought by humanity. 'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.' (Jeremiah 29:13) And though few have even seen glimpses of God's beauty in this life, we're definitely given clues of how captivating He truly is. Men who were granted enough grace and favor to even be near Him would walk away glowing. They were inclined to build shrines. They would fall on their knees as if dead. And prior to the work Jesus did on the cross, God's looks really could kill. The most beautiful woman, the most amazing piece of artwork, the stars, the ocean, and the mountains... they have nothing on the beauty of our God. And our wild, adventurous and beautiful God isn't about going it alone, either. Have you considered recently what an incredible privilege it is that He includes men and women like us in the greater story, the story of our planet's redemption? Wow. That's really amazing!
So how do we worship such a multifaceted and infinitely complex God? I wrote in the xanga post that spawned this one that I think many Christians tend to express worship in ways that reflect His more feminine characteristics (and in case you were wondering, I don't think God has a gender identity crisis; Jesus calls God His Father rather than Mother, and that works for me, too; but I think God's bigger than our labels can adequately describe, and I can't deny that my femininity is a reflection of God's image just as a man's masculinity is). We refer to Him as beautiful or precious. We thank Him for ways He nurtures us or comforts us. And all of those things are true. I'm so thankful for these aspects of who He is. But I think we need some balance. We don't sing songs about His ways of being a warrior nearly as often as we sing about His mercy. So what does it look like to bring balance?
First of all, as always, we have to mention the fact that worship isn't just about singing. That frees us up so much as we look at all of God's many attributes. Worship can be singing a song or praying or listening to someone teach. But it can also be a visit to an art museum, recognizing that any beautiful piece of art you see there is only inspired by something even more beautiful God made and that He made those things because it reflected His beauty. Worship can be hiking or mountain climbing, taking an adventurous journey with the God who made the rugged terrain upon which you travel. Worship can be service, joining Him on His mission to redeem men and women, making His battles your battles and loving people as He would. Worship can be how we relate to each other, trying to understand each others' hearts, and seeking to truly put others before ourselves. More than anything, worship is becoming transformed into the image of God that we were created to be. We are freed up to cherish and honor God more deeply when we are more like the men and women we were designed to be.
But you probably want to hear about songs... :) As a worship leader, I feel a certain responsibility to be balanced in how I choose what songs to sing. And as I've looked at this in recent weeks, it's been such a challenge to find good songs that reflect a variety of God's attributes! I think the old hymns do have a way of being a bit more balanced. For every 'Fairest Lord Jesus,' there is a 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God.' I think part of the reason why so many of the more modern choruses tend to paint softer pictures of God is a reaction against the image so many have of God--a harsh Disciplinarian waiting to punish the wrongdoer. So we seek to drive home images of love and grace and mercy. We speak of God as a Warrior, and then we worry that someone will connect that statement with the crusades. But our God is as fierce as He is loving, and our images don't reflect that often... So I'm actively looking for more songs to balance things out as I lead people in worship through song. (If you know of any, hit me up...)
Well, that was a lot to write, and a lot to read, I'm sure. I don't have all of this figured out. God is so much bigger than any words I'll ever be able to write here. But I think it's important to take a look at this, to really examine the way we worship, and to take a good look at the God we serve and adore. Isn't He amazing?
'Safe?... Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you...' (said a beaver to a daughter of Eve in the wonderful classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis)
I recently heard someone speak about the differences between the needs of women and the needs of men. On my personal blog, I shared some thoughts that were inspired by that talk. (You can read that post here, if you'd like.) Some of those thoughts pertained to worship, how we view and relate to God in light of the fact that both men and women are designed as expressions of His image. I told my xanga readers I would flesh out those thoughts here, so here goes... (I will confess here and now that lots of these thoughts are heavily influenced by John Eldredge's work...)
'So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.' (Gen. 1:27) Our amazing God created humanity to reflect who He is, His ways, His heart, His character. And He created us in a way that no one person, no one kind of person can fully express who He is (well, other than Jesus, but that's a different sort of thing). God made us to be unique and different, with our differences in gender, culture, ethnicity, personality, and giftings, because He wanted to reveal so many different aspects of who He is. So although we are broken, fallen, flawed, we can still see traces of our Creator in the people around us. And those traces can point us back to our master Designer...
Men tend to desire adventure. Men desire to be on a mission and to accomplish that mission, to show leadership and strength, to offer that strength to a beauty. And we can see this in the heart of God... He is a God who acts on behalf of His people, taking on their battles out of His love for them. 'The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name...' (Gen. 15:3) One thing that always strikes me while watching The Passion of the Christ is the heroic way Jesus is depicted. He is a Defender of the woman caught in adultery. He boldly rails against the religious leaders who manipulate the hearts of people for their own benefit. He stands victoriously against Satan as he accuses Him (even in His weakest moments, He never forgets who He is, His mission, His destiny... or His enemy's destiny). And in one of my favorite scenes, after He's been savagely beaten with rods, He stands back up, almost as if to say, 'hit Me again. I dare you to hit Me again.' Jesus is the ultimate Hero. Maximus, William Wallace, Robin Hood, and the prince (whose name I can't remember) who fights through thorns and slays a demonic dragon in order to rescue and awaken the Sleeping Beauty that he loves... these men have nothing on my Jesus.
Women tend to desire to be pursued and fought for and cherished, to be beautiful and to unveil that beauty, to share in an adventure (they want the thrill of the adventure, but the thrill is a bit empty if they think they have to go it alone). They want to nurture and comfort and give life to things. And we see this in the heart of God as well... He is, as Francis Thompson would say, the 'Hound of Heaven,' ever pursuing us, yet His word expresses His longing to be sought by humanity. 'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.' (Jeremiah 29:13) And though few have even seen glimpses of God's beauty in this life, we're definitely given clues of how captivating He truly is. Men who were granted enough grace and favor to even be near Him would walk away glowing. They were inclined to build shrines. They would fall on their knees as if dead. And prior to the work Jesus did on the cross, God's looks really could kill. The most beautiful woman, the most amazing piece of artwork, the stars, the ocean, and the mountains... they have nothing on the beauty of our God. And our wild, adventurous and beautiful God isn't about going it alone, either. Have you considered recently what an incredible privilege it is that He includes men and women like us in the greater story, the story of our planet's redemption? Wow. That's really amazing!
So how do we worship such a multifaceted and infinitely complex God? I wrote in the xanga post that spawned this one that I think many Christians tend to express worship in ways that reflect His more feminine characteristics (and in case you were wondering, I don't think God has a gender identity crisis; Jesus calls God His Father rather than Mother, and that works for me, too; but I think God's bigger than our labels can adequately describe, and I can't deny that my femininity is a reflection of God's image just as a man's masculinity is). We refer to Him as beautiful or precious. We thank Him for ways He nurtures us or comforts us. And all of those things are true. I'm so thankful for these aspects of who He is. But I think we need some balance. We don't sing songs about His ways of being a warrior nearly as often as we sing about His mercy. So what does it look like to bring balance?
First of all, as always, we have to mention the fact that worship isn't just about singing. That frees us up so much as we look at all of God's many attributes. Worship can be singing a song or praying or listening to someone teach. But it can also be a visit to an art museum, recognizing that any beautiful piece of art you see there is only inspired by something even more beautiful God made and that He made those things because it reflected His beauty. Worship can be hiking or mountain climbing, taking an adventurous journey with the God who made the rugged terrain upon which you travel. Worship can be service, joining Him on His mission to redeem men and women, making His battles your battles and loving people as He would. Worship can be how we relate to each other, trying to understand each others' hearts, and seeking to truly put others before ourselves. More than anything, worship is becoming transformed into the image of God that we were created to be. We are freed up to cherish and honor God more deeply when we are more like the men and women we were designed to be.
But you probably want to hear about songs... :) As a worship leader, I feel a certain responsibility to be balanced in how I choose what songs to sing. And as I've looked at this in recent weeks, it's been such a challenge to find good songs that reflect a variety of God's attributes! I think the old hymns do have a way of being a bit more balanced. For every 'Fairest Lord Jesus,' there is a 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God.' I think part of the reason why so many of the more modern choruses tend to paint softer pictures of God is a reaction against the image so many have of God--a harsh Disciplinarian waiting to punish the wrongdoer. So we seek to drive home images of love and grace and mercy. We speak of God as a Warrior, and then we worry that someone will connect that statement with the crusades. But our God is as fierce as He is loving, and our images don't reflect that often... So I'm actively looking for more songs to balance things out as I lead people in worship through song. (If you know of any, hit me up...)
Well, that was a lot to write, and a lot to read, I'm sure. I don't have all of this figured out. God is so much bigger than any words I'll ever be able to write here. But I think it's important to take a look at this, to really examine the way we worship, and to take a good look at the God we serve and adore. Isn't He amazing?
posted by dvineworshipteam at 2:10 PM
4 Comments:
I love your thoughts on this. The differences between men and women are really on my mind recently as God shows me more about my own femininity, so seeing this taken beyond the relationship realm into the worship realm is really interesting for me. Can't wait to see what you find in terms of creative ways to worship.
Brilliant exposition. I do not want to negate anything you have said, but I think David in his psalms expressed both the female and male parts of god and of worship. Because don't forget the whole church is the bride of Christ. That is a very female component, no? As a modern day "worship" leader myself, I have been thinking about the same thing, how to effectively lead people to worship God, and how that experience can bring the two of them (God and people) closer together. How can people more effectively enter the presence of GOD, and remain there? lately I have been focusing on the kind of worship we will have if we were already in heaven, and trying to get some of that right now. A good CD that always gets me going is City of Gold. Great!!!!
the real whole point was to say that although it is good to acknowledge differences between us, in heaven that difference will vanish and we will worshiping how we are created too. How can we come closer to that real worship right now on earth?
subsurface... always good to find fellow worship leaders... thanks for stopping by.
i found what you said about our differences vanishing when we get to heaven to be interesting. my thoughts on that are a bit different. i think when we get to heaven we won't lose our identities so much as we'll become perfectly the people we were created and designed to be. i'll still be me but without all of the flaws and limitations brought on by sin. He made us all in His image, but still made us different. He made both adam and eve prior to the fall. the differences are good. very good.
i love that you're asking the question, 'how can we come closer to that real worship right now on earth?' i think our role as worship leaders involves (just to name one thing :)) constantly learning, constantly seeking out what that looks like.
thanks again for hanging out here!
Hmm, I agree with you. We will perfectly be who we were meant to be, as we are now but without the flaws. Good point.
What led me to say what I said was the quote from Jesus about the being no marriage in heaven.. "After the dead are raised up, we're past the marriage business. As it is with angels now, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God."
So I wondered, will we be essentially sexless, and instead radiating the full glory of God? God has male and female attributes, and we will finally be in his image. Does that mean our essential identity will still be rooted in our gender though, cos your comment makes sense. Stuff to ponder!
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