A Friendly Reminder reflection from QLC
By Andy Stanton-Henry
Lately, I’ve been thinking about a story from the Hebrew Bible about Moses. Moses was leading the people through the wilderness and it was a long journey, so folk and their livestock were getting thirsty. God gives instructions to Moses about how to meet this need: “Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water” (Numbers 20:8).
However, as Moses stood between the rock and the people, his rage over the people’s incessant criticism and complaints grew and instead of speaking to the rock, he struck it – twice. Water did flow out. A problem was solved but more problems created. Moses had not been faithful to divine instructions and the people received the wrong parable about divine power. Moses would be kept from entering the promised land.
It’s easy to empathize with Moses as a fellow leader. We’ve all had times when we’ve gotten so frustrated by people that we wanted to strike something (or someone) with a religious rod.
But we are called to “speak to the rock.” We are called to use the power of life-giving words to bring forth the “waters of life” hidden or trapped within our people and place.
Learning to “use your words” can be hard, just ask my little nieces. Sometimes tears and tantrums come more naturally. And crafting good emails, letters, sermons, and conversations requires a good deal of mental energy and spiritual sensitivity. Communication is tricky; life-changing and community-shaping communication qualifies as a miracle.
Our struggle to “speak to” rather than “strike” the rock may also be impacted by more fundamental tensions. One is that we secretly fear there’s no water in the rock. We look at our congregation, organization, or community and see a lifeless, immovable rock. It might hide fossils inside it but definitely not a fountain. No words will bring forth its life because there’s nothing to draw out.
A second tension may be a secret belief that faithful words and loving actions are not enough to get water from the rock. Words don’t work. People and groups don’t change by “speaking the truth in love”; they only respond to force — whether force of personality, force of verbal violence, or force of spiritual manipulation.
We might note that Moses’ violent act “worked.” He got the job done but it came at a social and spiritual cost. Lasting change does not come “by any means necessary.”
Social shaming, coercive communication, and dominating leadership can sometimes bring about positive outcomes. But they can’t create what Jesus called “fruit that lasts.” Real, lasting change requires relational and responsive leaders who practice faithful communication in a patient but persistent way. Yes, there is a place for speaking hard truths and prophetic critique. But faithful leaders are eager to affirm life wherever they see it and call forth the gifts of people and places.
We are always praying, laboring, listening and speaking from an expectant hope that is life in that rock.
How might you be called to “speak to the rock” of your congregation or organization? How can you call forth its hidden life and possibilities?
