Following the River of God

I have been reading "Following the River" by Bob Sorge and thought of sharing a few things I read from the book.

"Ezekiel was shown the river of God in what is perhaps the most graphic description of this river in the entire Bible. As we look at Ezekiel’s river, I would like us to view it as depicting the river of corporate worship. This is not the only way to interpret this passage, but it certainly is one of the valid interpretations.

There is a river that flows in corporate worship. It derives from the very throne of God, and quenches the thirst of God’s people.

The following diagrams depict various types of worship services. The curved line represents the river of God—the  river that we long to find in corporate worship. This river is the place where healings happen, where a prophetic spirit fills the auditorium, and where sinners begin to fall on their faces under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit as He is revealing the deep cry of their hearts. Oh, how we long for this river!

The straight line in each diagram, with the arrow at the end, is representative of our songlist (since songlists move in straight lines). We are using these diagrams to show the relationship between the flowing river of God and the straight lines of our service preparation.

 

Fig. 1, The landlubber service

In the worship service represented by this diagram, you’ll notice that the songlist is moving completely parallel to the river of God. In other words, as long as we stay with the songlist, we will never encounter the river.

This is the most depressing worship service anyone can possibly endure. In this service, the worship leaders are trying to find the river of God, and they’re hoping with every successive song that something will change. But no matter what song they pull out from their list, there is no water to be found. But they’re so desirous of finding the river that they just keep on moving through their list, hoping that eventually one of the songs will cause a change in the meeting.

 

Fig. 2, The aborted service Again, the curved line is the river we’re wanting to find, and the straight line represents our linear songlist. In this service, our songlist is actually taking us in the right direction. If we stay on course, we’ll eventually hit water.

You’ll notice, however, that the worship service doesn’t quite make it to the river. That’s because, just as we’re about to hit water we hear those famous words, ‘You may be seated.”

 

  

Fig. 3, The quit-while-you're-ahead service 

In this worship service, we’re moving through our list of songs, looking earnestly for the river. Then something begins to happen. We sense a breeze of the Spirit moving through the room. Expectant hearts begin to turn heavenward. The presence of Jesus begins to gently distill in the room in a way that everyone can sense. There’s no mistaking it; we have encountered the presence of the living Christ. Waters are beginning to swirl gently around our feet. We’ve found the river of God!

This is what we came together for! We have gathered together in His name because we wanted to touch the life-changing river of God, and now it is happening. How thankful we are to God for this moment.

Then—very smoothly, so as not to appear disruptive— one of the leaders glides over to a microphone and saves the service from potential trouble. There is the fear that an unstable saint, moved by the freshness of the waters, could erupt in an expression of exuberance that might be misunderstood by others. But the even greater fear is: Now that we’ve touched the river, if we keep moving with the worship service, we might lose something that we’ve just now found, and end up with something anticlimactic. So, to avoid any kind of let-down, we quickly and gently bring the worship service to an end, and move on to the next portion of the service order.

This wisdom says, “Once you find the river, quit while you’re ahead.”

 

Fig. 4, The tunnel vision service

In this worship service, we’re moving through our songlist when suddenly it happens! We hit the river! Faces are turned upwards, tears begin to flow, hearts begin to soar on the winds of the Spirit.

But the worship leaders just keep moving with their list. For a while everyone still thinks we’re in the river because everybody is wet. But guess what? You’re no longer in the river, you’re back on land.

When we hit the river in worship, the river can actually appear to be a detour. The river is flowing one way, and our songlist is going another way. Worship leaders are sometimes faced with a very awkward decision. Sometimes they have to choose between the river and the next song on the list.

Going with the songlist is like staying in the boat; it’s safe, predictable, and dry. Going with the river is like walking on water; it’s unpredictable, potentially hazardous, and filled with uncertainty. And following the river can be very disruptive to service orders. Sometimes we pay a price to follow the river. Leaders often have to make split-second decisions to either go with the river or go with their list.

 

Fig. 5, The U-turn service

Like the worship service in Diagram 3, we’re moving forward with our list, we hit the river of God, but then we keep on moving straight ahead with our songlist. However, a few minutes later we stop and say to ourselves, “Hey, there’s water back there!” So then the worship leaders take a hard turn and head back to find the river again.

When you’re not hitting water in a worship service, but you want to, it seems to me that worship leaders have two general options at their disposal. Option one is to persevere, to keep knocking at the door, to keep pressing forward on the present course and hope for a breakthrough to eventually come. Option two is to stop, change course, and pursue the river in a different direction or a different way.

 

Fig. 6, The standard charismatic service

This diagram represents the liturgy of many contemporary churches today. It seems someone must have

written a rule, “You can’t go river-hunting until you’re 25 minutes into a worship service. For the first 25 minutes, don’t even expect to encounter water. Do your songlist. Then, after you’ve sung three fast songs and three slow songs, you can begin to search for the river.”

I am raising a formal objection to this prevailing custom of our day. My heart cries out, “Why can’t we go river-hunting right from the start of the meeting?” Whoever wrote the rule that you have to wait for 25 minutes before you can get out of the boat—let’s form a posse and hang the guy.

 

Fig. 7, The so-close-you-can-taste-it service

In this service, we’re in the river; then we’re out of the river; then we’re back in; then we’re back on land; then we’re back in the water again. Our songlist seems to follow the river so closely that we’re moving in and out as the service progresses.

Here’s what I’m suggesting in this chapter: There is afundamental incompatibility between the straight lines of our preparation and the flow of the Spirit. It is impossible to remain within the straight lines of our preparation and expect to flow in the depths of the river of God’s glory. Inevitably, we must choose between the comfortable safety of our songlist and the veiled uncertainty of following the river of God. Rarely can we have both.

 

So from one worshiper to another, let me ask you a question.

Why do we always accept it, when they say the song is over?

Here’s how the burning ones sometimes feel: “You might be finished with the song on the platform; go ahead and ritard into the finale, but I’m not done with my worship. You see, I’ve got this fiery river flowing through my spirit, and I’ve got a new song bursting from my heart. So go ahead and close down your old song, but I can’t stop. I’ve got a new song in my mouth, and I’ve just got to let it go. I’m so in love with Jesus, my heart is overflowing with thanksgiving and praise."