Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late

by James MacDonald

  Moving from ministry issues to family, I find it hard sometimes to trust God with my children. I become anxious about their futures in this dark world and want to protect them from every evil influence that would seek to capture their minds. And sometimes I get very disappointed with Christians. I don’t see how people can live with such a gaping cavern between what they profess to believe and what they actually live. I see too many people harboring bitterness when we are clearly commanded to forgive. I see too many people living for the here and now. But the bottom line is: I see too many people and need to get my eyes back on the Lord. Like Peter walking toward Christ on the water, the moment that you and I take our eyes off the Lord, we begin to sink. I could tell you in detail how I resolve each of these issues, but the answer for me is always the same: faith.

  LET’S TALK SOLUTION

  Here are three questions to ask as you develop faith, the fourth Promised Land attitude:

  1. Can you describe the last time you actually and specifically trusted God about something? Have you told anyone about that? If you have not, try to do so this month.

  2. How would you rate yourself in the three keys to growing your faith: (1) focusing on the Word, (2) having a witness, and (3) walking daily in your faith? In what ways has your life become like a wilderness because you have been choosing doubt and unbelief over the power of trusting God by faith?

  3. Look back at the three steps to faith just above. What practical steps could you commit yourself to just now that would grow your faith and all the joy and blessing that comes with it?

  Look Up

  Father, thank You for giving me Your Word. Thank You for ordaining that the way to You is by faith. Forgive me for wishing that everything about You could be seen and known as a fact. Forgive me for preferring the ways of this physical world to the spiritual realities that You have chosen to create. Teach me deeper lessons about what it means to walk by faith. Give me spiritual eyes to see this world as You do. Help me to embrace by faith the brevity of life and the nearness of eternity. Give me strength to guide those I love toward faith in You, and help me to be a good example of what it means to really trust You. Lord, my needs are g but You are a great and faithful God. I pray that You would, by Your Word and through my witness and walk of faith, increase my capacity to rest in and trust You. Might it be said of me before my days are through that I am a man/woman of faith. Keep this goal ever before me, I pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

  NOTE

  1. 1. Michael P. Green, ed. Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989), 137.

  CHAPTER 9:

  REPLACE A REBELLIOUS ATTITUDE...

  NUMBERS 16

  SAY IT IN A SENTENCE:

  Rebellion against proper authority reveals a deeper rejection of God’s authority, which brings devastating consequences to our lives.

  Rebellion! What do you picture when you hear the word? Some Fonzie-like tough with the collar up on his black leather jacket and an attitude that will not quit? Maybe you picture a sixteen-year-old standing up to parents and resolutely refusing to do what is asked. Or do you think of people resisting government authority and marching in the streets to demand their rights?

  Rebellion has many faces, and all are not equally bad. Certainly the American Revolution had elements of rebellion in it, as did the women’s and civil rights movements of the now-past century. But when rebellion is against God and His ordained authority structure, the consequences can be devastating.

  That’s rebellion in a nutshell. It’s knowing what God wants me to do and refusing to do it. Like Saul, like Samson, like Jonah . . . wait, like me. We all have rebellion in our hearts. All of us have areas in our lives where we have chosen not to do what we know to be right. All of us know more than we are doing. That is rebellion.

  In this chapter, we want to look at the rebellion of the children of Israel, find out where they went wrong, and see if we can avoid a similar peril in our own lives. Let’s begin with this thought:

  Rebellion is serious.

  This is no small matter or trifle that we’re talking about. Lives are at stake. There is no heart that God has a harder time dealing with and changing than a rebellious heart. By the time Numbers 16 happened, Moses and Aaron had led the children of Israel—two million of them—on a journey from Egypt to the borders of the Promised Land. Actually it wasn’t much of a journey. Did you know that it was only three hundred miles? And did you know that it took them, minus the wandering, only sixteen months, with a year of that time being spent at Mount Sinai camped in one place? Their rebellious attitudes, however, extended a short trip into a lifelong journey—forty years of wandering —that they would never finish.

  KORAH GOES CRAZY

  Your Bible probably subtitles Numbers 16, “Korah’s Rebellion.” As with the other events from this section of Scripture, the apostle Paul says that what happened is recorded “for our instruction” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Let’s remember that during the events recorded in Numbers 16, Moses was more than eighty years old. He was a proven leader, though certainly not perfect. We see some of his faults, but he’s humble and he has been successful. Clearly, the people’s murmuring was often against Moses, but their failure wasn’t his fault.

  A group of men, led by Korah, got together and began a revolt. They wanted to carry out some kind of mutiny against Moses and Aaron. So they got in Moses’ face about what they felt was wrong with his leadership. In truth, they resented Moses and Aaron because of their prominence as leader and priest to the people. God’s anger at their rebellion was so strong that Moses had to plead with God not to wipe out everyone because of the rebellion of a few. God responded, and Moses warned the people to back away from the rebels (verses 21–24). Then Moses told the rebels, in effect, “Do you guys want to be priests? Do you want to be me? Do you think you can do what I do?” He told them to pick up the censers, as a way to claim their new roles. A censer, in case you’re wondering, is a pole with a pan on the end, covered by a lid. It was used to carry coals in worship. The priests would scoop coals out of the fire and then bring them into worship, where different fragrant herbs and spices would be placed in the censer as a fragrant offering before God.

  Now only the priests were allowed to use censers in worship. Through Moses, God told all these wanna-be priests, “Go get a censer. Do you want to be a priest? Let’s do this right now.” God allowed them to pretend to be priests so He could clearly indicate who was and was not really on His program. Second Timothy 2:19 says, “The Lord knows those who are His.” The bottom line: In the midst of all of this, the ground opened up and swallowed all the rebels. Those with the censers fell alive down into hell itself. Then other rebels were burned alive by a fire from God (see verses 28–35).

  Amazingly, the people who watched all of this actually began to complain against Moses and Aaron. They blamed their leaders for Korah’s rebellion. So God sent a plague, and eventually more than fifteen thousand people died in the rebellion of Korah (see verses 41–50).

  That has got to be one of the most tragic stories in all of the Old Testament. These people knew the truth. They had no excuse—yet they chose rebellion, so God had to choose judgment. In case you didn’t catch it: Rebellion is serious. The Bible says that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” (1 Samuel 15:23 NKJV). Think about that for a moment: all of the horrific animal sacrifices and cruel, perverse activities that are connected with witchcraft. You say, “Well, I would never do something so sick and idolatrous as witchcraft.” No, I believe that you wouldn’t. But God says that from His perspective, rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft. Rebellion is very serious.

  WHO’S IN CHARGE?

  Romans 13 tells us that the powers that be are ordained of God. So what are these powers? What authorities has God established?

  -- Human government.

  -- Church leadership—elders and pastors—and other recognized church leaders.

  -- Husbands in the home as leaders of
the family.

  -- Husbands and wives together as leaders of their children.

  -- Our bosses at work and the people who are over us. You may say, “You don’t know where I work.” No, no, listen; that relationship is established by God for a reason.

  -- The whole criminal justice system and the court system, which can be seen as part of human government.

  The powers that be are ordained of God. And to make a choice to rebel against authority that God Himself has established is a very serious choice.

  Now we could talk about different kinds of rebellion. We could talk about knowing what God wants me to do in His Word and not doing it. But the primary focus of Numbers 16, the wilderness attitude we’re trying to put off, is rebellion against people, not rebellion against truth. We’re not talking about rebellion against the Word. This whole chapter is about the people that God has placed in authority in your life and how you handle them. In thinking about them, this is the first principle to remember: Rebellion is serious.

  Here’s a second truth about rebellion from Scripture:

  Rebellion exists in every human heart.

  Numbers 16 vividly pictures how rebellion exists in every human heart. Take note of verses 1–2: “Now Korah the son of Izhar, th son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action.” The two names that are really important in there are Levi and Reuben, founders of two of the twelve tribes in the nation of Israel. Verse 2 says that these descendants “rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown.” Who are these rebels? They’re not outcasts. They’re not known troublemakers; not the untrained and uneducated, on the fringe of the nation of Israel. These are noble men of the Israelite society. They’re responsible leaders gone bad.

  Korah was a descendant of Levi, the tribe that was given the responsibility of tabernacle worship. Only the Levites could lead worship, so Korah had a significant place in the tabernacle worship. In addition to Korah and his Levites, we also meet Dathan and Abiram among the Reubenites who helped lead the rebellion.

  With them were two hundred and fifty men from almost every tribe in the nation of Israel. Talk about strange bedfellows! But when the word of the day is rebellion, you would be amazed at the people who will get together.

  We’ve seen this right here in our own church. All of a sudden, “Who’s talking to who? They don’t even like each other!” Surprise, surprise; people who would hardly talk to one another and would have nothing to do with each other will come together on the basis of their mutual desire to resist the authority that God has placed over them. Rebellion does exist in every human heart.

  Before we’re too hard on the people here in Numbers 16, we need to look at ourselves. Are we guilty of the same attitude? Keep in mind that by rebellion, I do not mean ignorance (when I don’t know and I need to be taught) nor discouragement (when I know, but I’m discouraged and I’m struggling). No, rebellion is knowing but not doing. Rebellion is not the pain of trying and failing and repenting and trying again. Rebellion is, “I won’t—I know I should—but I won’t! You can’t make me!”

  Are those the thoughts behind your attitude? Remember, rebellion is a lip-out, arms-folded, back-turned attitude. “Don’t look at me like that! Get away from me! I’m going to do what I want to do!” It’s a choice. It’s a pattern of thinking formed over a long period of time. Those who choose rebellion as their lifestyle will spend their lifetimes in the wilderness.

  REBELLION GOES WAY BACK!

  A propensity to rebel thrives in every human heart. It’s as old as the Garden of Eden. What did God say to the original couple? “Here’s the whole world I’ve created and put under your care—99.9 percent of all of the things. Do what you want; only here’s one thing you can’t do.” And what did they do? They rebelled. They did the one thing God commanded them not to do.

  The book of Proverbs says, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child” (22:15). Foolishness—rebelliousness—is bound up in our very being. It’s part of our nature! There’s a desire to go my own way. It’s in the heart of every kid—each little baby who comes into the world. They sit in the nursery and you think everything is innocent perfection. All of a sudden, they get to age one or two and you see they have a will. They didn’t learn it; it came from within.

  Kathy and I received the grand tour at my brother Todd’s new house during a recent visit. Kathy and I were being led by our two little nephews, Josh (eight) and Tanner (six). As we walked around the basement, I complimented their house: “Oh, this is so nice, your new house,” and “That iso nice.” Later I said, “Oh! What’s this door? I really like this door.” I was pointing at a heavy door with a big deadbolt.

  “That’s the door that goes outside!” one of my nephews said. I said, “Oh, let’s open it and see...”“No, no! Dad doesn’t want that door opened! Don’t open that door!”

  “Well, no problem,” I said. “We won’t open the door because Dad’s the boss.” I looked at them and asked, “Your dad’s the boss, right?”

  Then little Tanner said, “Yeah, he is, but we wish he wasn’t!”

  That’s it, isn’t it? We laughed about it. But do you know what? That is in every single human heart, the desire to rebel. You say, “Well, why? Where does it come from?”

  The answer is found in our third biblical truth about rebellion:

  Rebellion has many sources.

  You don’t wake up in the morning and say, “I think I’ll be a rebel today. I think I’m just going to be in everybody’s face all day.” Rebellion is where you end up. Other attitudes push you to that place.

  Notice that verse 3 begins, “They assembled together.” This was a conspiracy—an organized, well-thought-out coup. Allow me a brief word of caution here: Don’t ever be the person who gets on the phone and pulls together the group. There is a huge accountability before God if you are the instigator and organizer of rebellion, as Korah was in this circumstance.

  Notice how they approached their leaders: “They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ‘You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?’” (verse 3). This was Korah talking to Moses on behalf of his rebellious group. Look at Korah’s half-truths,“...All the congregation are holy.” True or false? Well, in the sense that all of them were set apart by God and belonged to Him and that each one had equal access to holiness, there’s some truth to that. “And the Lord is in their midst.” Is that not right that the Lord was with every one of His children? Sure, it is. Most rebellion is based upon half-truths. But then comes this last part, the accusation hidden in a question: “Why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” There’s the lie. Far from self-exalting, Moses was self-abasing. Moses was the guy who God had to basically knock down and drag into this role. Remember the burning bush in Exodus 2 and Moses’ reluctance to lead? We’ve also learned in Numbers 12:3 that Moses was more humble than any man on the face of the earth. He was the guy saying, “I don’t want this job. Does anyone else want it? Come on, you can have it.” Moses did not exalt himself.

  WE’RE ALL EQUAL ,BUT ...

  If you don’t know the whole story, it’s easy to get carried away. After all, Moses was uniquely called by God, powerfully used by God, and clearly appointed by God. While these rebels were right in saying that they were equal with Moses on one level, they were wrong in what they meant. They confused equality with sameness. They assumed that their equality as children of Israel made them the same as Moses in every way. But equality does not equate to sameness. Moses was the ordained-by-God leader. They were not.

  This principle is true in the body of Christ. Are we not all equal? We are all equal, but all are not the same. You are equal with your boss, but you are not the same as
your boss. Wives are equal with their husbands, but they are not the same as their husbands. If we are students, we are equal with our teachers in our ponhood before God, but we are not the same as them. Similarly, we are equal as followers of Christ, but we are not the same as our elders. God appoints and places people over us. Some are leaders, and some are followers who should submit.

  Korah and his little club were way off base on this one. They were equal with Moses, but they were not the same. To suggest that they were was rebellion.

  SIX SOURCES OF REBELLION

  So where did their rebellion come from? There were six sources, and they can appear in our lives today. The first source of Korah’s rebellion was jealousy. It’s so clear when they say, “Why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” Like most rebellions, this one was about control. Korah and his agents wanted to be in authority over Moses or at least equal with him in authority. “I don’t want to submit to you because you have a position that I think I should have.”

  Several years ago, I had a lunch meeting with a man in our church. I sat down with him, just trying to encourage him and care for him. All of a sudden, he began a series of questions. “How come you get to be the pastor at Harvest? How come you get to be in charge of such a cool church? I’ve known the Lord longer than you! I’ve been serving Christ longer than you! How come you get to...?”

  His questions surprised me. In fact, I almost choked on my food. I thought, “Where did this come from?”

  Well, a few months later, this person got bent—really upset—and injured a lot of people in his own version of “Korah’s Rebellion.” And I knew the entire time that the source problem was jealousy.

  Whether it’s in the home or in the marketplace or in the church, if you set your eyes upon those whom God has placed in authority over you and begin saying, “ I should be the one—that should be my place!” That’s jealousy, one of the sources of rebellion.