03 Canals & Swamps

We see a theme throughout scripture from Genesis to Revelation about the river of life. We see the rivers in the Garden of Eden that got out into all the world and the tree of life. We see in Ezekiel 47, a passage that mentions this river flowing from the temple, going out and getting deeper and deeper.

And in that river, there's lots of fish. The trees on the banks that represent life. Then in Revelation, we see the river of life and the city of God. And the tree that has healing for the nations. And so we understand the concept of this river, which is the presence of the Spirit of God.

That brings life and brings healing and goes out to the nations. And presumably brings in salvation. We often talk about the need to be found in the river. It is important. That is basically a picture of us, found following the Spirit of God.

Canals: The Problem of Human Effort and Control

But sometimes we can have problems in this. That's an understatement. Where I come from, in the northwest of England, which was the center of the industrial revolution, the rivers didn't always go where people wanted. They had to transfer lots of goods by ships, and so they dug canals.

Basically, they said this: We want the water to flow in this direction. So we are going to create man-made systems. Walls and locks and all of that. And we're going to make the water go where we want it to go. And that's quite simple.

The canals are straight, they go from point A to B in the shortest distance, and the water goes along the canals. Success, maybe. The problem is, the water in a canal will quickly go stagnant. The problem with the canal is, because you're trying to force the water in a particular direction, you've got to have what are called locks.

They are points where you park your canal boat for a while. And then you manually crank this thing to lift the water level so you can carry on. Traveling down a canal required a lot of human effort and it was exhausting. You couldn't just flow with the river.

Many of us have a default where we want to be in control. So, we decide to put systems and plans and man-made things in place. And it can appear successful because it can look like the water's flowing that way. And it can appear that we can get to our destination.

Swamps: The Danger of Structureless Freedom

The problem is it takes a lot of human effort and ultimately the water is stagnant. Sometimes in reaction to that and because it is our default, others say, we have got to get rid of systems. We've got to get rid of programs. We've got to get rid of schedules.

And we've got to get rid of anything like that. And we've just got to follow the Holy Spirit and see where He leads. That is like having a swamp with no structure. The water goes wherever it wants. The problem with the swamp is this, the water is stagnant and it doesn't go anywhere.

So I'm not much of a fisherman. I've been fishing many times and I rarely catch anything of significance. But I can guarantee this, if you are a fisherman and I give you the option of fishing in a river, a canal or swamp, I know which one you'll go for.

In the North of England, there are still canals today. If you go fishing in a canal, you're not going to catch your fish. You might catch a shopping cart. In a swamp, you're not going to catch anything. It's salty and marshy and dank and stagnant.

We want to be in the river because that's where the life is. Trees will be found on the banks of a river. You won't find trees naturally growing on the banks of a canal. You will get some kind of trees in a swamp, but it's not like a river with this beautiful, clean, fresh water flowing.

Flowing in the River: Following God's Spirit and Principles

Where you can travel down in a boat and the river itself is pushing you along. That's what's bringing momentum. A river does need banks and those are the principles. Not laws, not rules, not man-made systems, but the principles that God's given us.

And again, the river is what brings the life, not the banks. It is easy for us to fall into leading by principle. You can apply principles, but if you're leading purely by principles, without the river of life, you're going to be in trouble.

You are just going to have a dry riverbed. And so we want the Spirit of God flowing. This is very useful for us to recognize as individuals and as teams. Because as much as I've got a character, a team I am a part of develops a character.

It develops a personality, made up of the people that are in it. So as an individual and as a team, is your tendency to veer left into a canal? Is it to veer right into a swamp? Are you a team or an individual that tends to default to systems and programs and good ideas and man-made effort?

Or is it to say, we are not going to plan. We're not going to schedule. We're not going to prepare. And we're just going to let the Holy Spirit do His thing. Either of those defaults will not bring life. And we need to be constantly bringing it back and bringing it back and bringing it back.

Scripture as a Guide for Correction

And Scripture is an amazing thing for doing that. But Scripture can be dangerous. Because the problem is for those who are too far left, it's bringing us right. And for those too far right, it's bringing us left. But the problem with us as human beings, the problem isn't Scripture.

The problem is us as human beings. If I have a tendency to be a left, I love the Scriptures that tell me to go left. And if I have a tendency to go right, I love the Scriptures that tell me to go right.

But actually what we need to do is apply those Scriptures that will bring us back into line. And back into the river. And following the river is pleasurable and it's beautiful. But it's not easy because I can't see where the river is going to be 50 miles from now.

It doesn't go in a straight line. It wends its way where the river wants to go. Just as Jesus said, nobody can say where the Spirit is going to go because the Spirit is like the wind. And so I've got to be flexible.

I've got to allow myself to be guided by the river of God. I've got to be prepared to change direction as He changes direction. But whilst I cannot predict exactly where the Spirit of God is going to go, there is one principle I want to apply quickly.

Positioning Yourself through Humility

In John 3, Jesus says to Nicodemus that the Holy Spirit is like the wind, blowing where it will. And whilst I can't predict exactly where the wind's gonna blow, I can predict, to some degree, which direction and how strong it's gonna be. Based on the fact that wind is moving from high pressure to low pressure.

And the Holy Spirit always seems to be attracted to low pressure zones. It's always attracted to humility. It's always attracted to those who die to self. It's always attracted to those who are on their knees. God opposes the proud, but gives grace, gives more of His undeserved favor, gives more of His Spirit, if you like, to the humble.

So, whilst I can't command the Holy Spirit, and while I can't perfectly predict the Holy Spirit, I can position myself well for the Holy Spirit to come. And that is through a spirit of humility. Humility is a sense of, it's not my ability.

It's not my ability to build a canal. It's not my ability to force the water to go where I will go. Many leaders of churches today are actually praying, not Yours, but my will be done. They're saying, God, You bless my decisions. Surely as leaders, we should be saying, God, what is Your decision that I might be blessed?

And that's what it means to be in the river. Being in the river is, yes, decisions need to be made. Courses need to be altered. But Lord, what course would You have me take because I want to be in the river. Not, You send the river to wherever I am deciding.

So, as eldership teams, it is so essential for the life of the people and our own sanity that we're not trying to lead in our own ability. Our own strengths, our own decisions, our own systems and structures. But also for our own sanity, not to rule out principles.

Evaluating Your Natural Default

But for the life of the people and for the glory of God, we need to be eldership teams that are found in the river. Maybe a good idea after listening to this is to ask yourself, what is my natural default? Am I a canal guy?

Am I a swamp guy? Or maybe get together as an eldership team and talk about it. Do we default to canals or swamps? And if we find ourselves, where are we now? Are we in a swamp? Are we in a canal? And how can we adjust and find ourselves in the river of God?

Because where we find ourselves as an eldership team is where our people will find themselves. And we want to be those found in the river.