I recently saw someone comment on a social media post about God being the cause of our wonder. Someone commented, “The church of Christ could use some mysticism.” Followed by someone else who said, “…I believe an exercise in caution is worth consideration.” This is a common posture towards the Spirit, caution. But I believe we must take a new posture; conviction and courage.
To be possessed by the Spirit is surely a frightening prospect. The temptation to domesticate the Spirit is almost irresistible
Stanley Hauerwas.
“a church that seeks to restrict and control the Spirit, as too dangerous and unpredictable, may be safe, but it has signed its own death warrant.”
James Dunn
Dr. Leonard Allen exposes what many consider to be the Triune God. That when many talk about God the Father, of God the son they are at ease.
And when we present the triune God we present him as God the Father, God the Son, and God the church. Or God the Father, God the Son, and God the Bible. He can be limited to the Bible or to the institution.
Talk about God the Spirit make some feel threatened. Many become afraid. But there is nothing to fear. Some may be overly cautious against the power of God. “The Spirit of God is too dangerous and unpredictable, he may just wreck your life.”
The Spirit is not one who wrecks your life. He builds our life and gives us life for the life of the world.
Hear me out if you are a follower of Jesus. Christians are not a part of a cautionary movement; we are a part of a courageous mission.
And a courageous mission creates a movement. We are not to be caretakers of Christian Culture. We fall under conviction to cultivate courageous Christianity.
Have you ever been convicted by the Spirit? Have you ever been moved by the Spirit? How do you explain that conviction? How do you explain the Holy Spirit’s movement in your life?
A feeling? An urging? The Spirit more than a feeling. He is more than our moral conscience. A feeling, sure. You can sense him. I was discipled to disregard my feelings. “Emotions are neither here nor there, right or wrong, they simply exist, and are not to be trusted.” But being attentive to the Spirit is being attentive to how you feel.
But know this, being uncomfortable does not negate the Spirit’s presence, leading, calling, and direction. Also, being offended does not mean we retreat. We press-in where the Spirit has been poured out.
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and to the cross. Paul was led by a vision to preach the good news in Rome. Jesus and his disciples were led by the Spirit through hardship and persecution.
A feeling or urge can also come through our desire for happiness. If our main desire is to be happy then we can interpret the Spirit’s movement in our lives through this guiding question, “Does this make me happy?” Evidence of the Spirit’s movement is love and joy (Galatians 5). Do you delight in the love of God and the joy of being his child in service to him and your neighbor?
I am not only to have good feelings for my neighbor but I am to serve them, offer hospitality to them, pray for them, and forgive them.
A voice? We shy away from claims to have heard from God. Yet, the Spirit is a person so of course, the Spirit speaks. He speaks the word of God. The Holy Spirit recalls the word of God planted in the child of God but the Spirit is more than an aid to your memory. The Spirit is more than a messenger. The Spirit is the embodiment of the continued mission of Jesus throughout the world.
When he speaks, he is propelling us toward the love of Christ for the love of the world. Listen to him.
A vision? A dream? The Spirit is God’s insight into the Spiritual realms and heavenly places. When you have the Spirit you have the mind of God. Who else to better discern God’s call than his very self?
May the Spirit increase our imagination and give us heavenly insight into what he is doing and will do in the world through dreams and visions and our reliance on the Spirit to give us meaning.
A word? The Holy Spirit wants you to believe in a God who is found even in the Bible. He doesn’t just spill out of the page he spills into the book. Because sometimes those words are given to you through a person whom God may have poured into. You may have a story of a time when God sent someone to you at just the right time to give you a word of hope, or courage, or correction, or all of the above. And your life has never been the same since.
A person? God can send a person to you to bring a prophetic word like a foretelling (something that will happen in the future) or a forthtelling (proclaiming the truth of God in your life). A Spirit-filled person may confirm God’s work in your life. There are no coincidences. Make the connection by being attentive to the power of the Spirit.
A circumstance? The Holy Spirit has used (or can use) something in your life like a blessing or something painful to mature you into the person you are today. In order to grow in your faith, you interpreted that event as a catalyst for change because God is working all things out for God through his Spirit.
I recently spoke to a group of teens on the campus of Lipscomb University. A kid approached me afterward. He was a PK (preacher’s kid).
He was trying to discern his calling. He asked for my help. “What direction in life should I take? Should I be a preacher? And how will know if that’s right?”
I share with him that when I thought I wanted to be in allied health I shadowed a lab tech. When I thought I wanted to be a financial planner I interned at Smith Barney.
I said, “If you think the Holy Spirit is calling you to be a preacher, test it.”
Whether you have experienced a feeling, a voice, a vision, a word, a person or none of the above. All of these I have personally experienced in my life and testing is the key principle for when anything like this happens. To step into the power of the Spirit’s leading in your life. Test it.
Test what God reveals to you through his Spirit.
1 John 4:1-2 (NIV) Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
The Apostle John gave a principle to people who were not discerning the Spirit’s movement in their lives. They were following the wrong messages and messengers. He told them to test the spirits.
For many of us we need to do some testing.
We need to do more testing and less dismissing.
Go and test instead of stop and tame.
Because God has released his Spirit onto his people.
Don’t dismiss the operation of the Spirit so quickly. God wants to start something new in your life. Don’t stop him before he can even get you started.
What would have happened if Peter dismissed God’s vision to go to Cornelius in Acts 10? What might have happened if the disciples in the Jerusalem council choose not to open the doors wide for Gentiles to have fellowship with their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ? It seemed good to them and the Spirit and they put the Spirit to the test.
Testing leads to obeying. This is the goal of the Spirit’s work in your life. The Holy Spirit wants to fill you with the power of God so that you can follow Jesus and be obedient to his mission.
Double down on the Spirit’s leading. Strengthen your commitment to God and his mission.
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Jovan preaches for the Littleton Church of Christ near Denver, Colorado. Visit here to listen to sermons preached at the Littleton Church.