Our greatest contentious issue in the Church today

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all. Acts 19:2

In the American Church ‘them thar’ is fightin’ words’. We are probably more contentious with one another about the topic of the Holy Spirit than any other issue in the Church today. Bring up the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues and prophesying and the frothing begins. Why is that? The Holy Spirit is not like …religion. The Holy Spirit really doesn’t care about your ‘traditions’ or comfort. The Holy Spirit is about revealing the person of Jesus Christ. Often times it is that ‘revealing’ that is SO shocking and such a stark difference to our expectations of what it should be like. I think Jesus’ disciples were constantly being shocked by Jesus’ behavior and words. He was not what they expected. He was not what they had already formulated in their own minds about what He the Messiah should be like. The Holy Spirit can also be shocking and ‘off putting’ to our ‘sensibilities’. That’s what makes the Holy Spirit such a ‘thorn’ in the side to religious manipulation and formulas. Steven via the Holy Spirit’s sermon had the Sanhedrin seething to the point they dragged him out and stoned him. The Holy Spirit can often have the ‘religious authorities’ seething. Why? Because He comes to expose their sin and their wicked hearts. Jesus railed on the Pharisees and exposed their hearts for what was really inside them. The Holy Spirit as well can expose our hearts and we can either agree with Him or deny the Truth He is exposing within us. To deny the Holy Spirit is a dangerous thing, because that opens the door for every other spirit to attempt to speak into your life.

Does your Church ‘machinery’ put the Holy Spirit in the first place of priorities when it comes to making decisions? Is He allowed to speak when it comes to the Church’s plans and ‘vision’, and ‘order of worship’? Or is everyone just supposed to agree with the narrative espoused by the Church leadership? That somehow they know better than everyone else in the way everyone should go? Top down authority models are not the Kingdom of Heaven’s way of doing things. Why do I say that? By the very words of Jesus. 

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-4

What then is the real difference? Agape love. The first fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) 

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

Control and manipulation is NOT love. Forcing dictates is NOT love. Free will choice is the foundation of love. Someone MUST choose to …love humbly. If the Holy Spirit is truly in control the first fruit seen and experienced is … love. Then the evidence of the other eight fruit is close behind. In the building of the great ‘machinery’ of the ‘Church’ how much of the Holy Spirit’s direction and instructions must be sacrificed for the ‘greater good’? “Well …we give the Holy Spirit at least 3 minutes during the service to ‘move’ among us. Well.. we prayed and then moved in the direction we thought best.” How many excuses do we give for our ignoring and denial of the Holy Spirit? Do we write off whole sections of scripture in the New Testament so we can feel comfortable in our own interpretation of the way think we should go? Do we ‘rule’ over what we think should be done? Or are we truly humble before God asking and waiting for His instruction and direction?

So many ‘educated’ seminarians believe we can just ignore certain New Testament scriptures pertaining to the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit no longer works that way. That was just for the apostles in the first century.” Where does it say that in the New Testament? Man’s halls of great learning pale in comparison to the ‘school of the Holy Spirit’. The evidence of the Holy Spirit in a place or person is the same. It’s His fruit on display for everyone to see. 

By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35