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| Saturday, March 07, 2009
Review > The El-Shaddai Worship Conference featuring Michael Card You Are Not Your Gift Writer : Aaron Lee The El-Shaddai Worship Conference in Singapore from 6-7 February 2009, was co-organised by Navmedia and BLESS Bookstore, and supported by Covenant Evangelical Free Church.  (a) Michael CardThe artist necessarily puts so much of himself into his creative work that his sense of self cannot be separated from his identity as an artist. The line between the artist and what he does is a fine one at best, and for so many of us, it often feels like there is no line. For Christians in the creative field, artistic struggles can be even more titanic because, in this field of human endeavor, our counter-culture philosophy and efforts are even more marginalised. To Christian artists, Michael Card says "you are not your gift". This was one of the most important messages he shared at the recent El-Shaddai Worship Conference. The event was a rare occasion for nearly 800 pastors, ministry leaders, musicians and artists to hear this anointed servant speak in person about issues that God has placed in his heart. From the Wisdom books in the Bible Michael Card challenges us with the idea that "all true worship begins in the wilderness" ; that place of brokeness and utter dependence on God. "Worship," he reminds us, is derived from the phrase "worth-ship". It is in the wilderness that we learn what God is worth. Could it be that the most precious thing we can offer to God in worship is that thing which hurts us the most? Can it be that God can use us best when we were hurting? One senses not only that Michael Card knows what he is talking about, but that he lives it daily. His humorous and gentle sharing in word and music suggests that if for any reason his ministry were to come to an abrupt end tomorrow, he would nevertheless be content to be nothing more or less than a beloved child of God. Undeniably, making art gives substance to our sense of self. But this has led to many Christian artists, even well-regarded ones, continually struggling with questions of whether they are "good enough". David Bayles reminds us that "making art is dangerous and revealing... it precipitates self doubt, stirring deep waters that lay between what you know you should be, and what you fear you might be". So as we sojourn in the wilderness, is there a compass? It is the idea that as God's elect, we are "strangers" in a country that is not our own (1 Peter 1:1), on our way to another place that Jehovah promised us. We leave behind our old selves - our doubt, the shackles of our sinful ways and our ideas of the law. Because of the new covenant and the grace that we are afforded, we go in the grip of the promise that "neither death nor life, angels nor demons, the present nor the future, nor any powers, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord". Our time in the wilderness-our worship- thus becomes a journey of ever increasing intimacy with our Sovereign Lord. This must grow in priority to, and in advance of, everything else: our ambition, work, relationships, even the exercise of our artistic and other gifts. Paradoxically, this will empower, nourish, guide and lead the way in our work and ministry. Otherwise, all of our efforts are merely pitching tents in the shifting sands of the desert. Until we reach the promised land, we should rather be piling foundations and building altars to our Creator. Images (a) Taken from http://navigators.org.sg/snapshots/el-shaddai-conference/DSC_9307.JPG, viewed 7 March 2009
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