Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit are maturing spiritually, demonstrating a genuine love relationship with God and a Christ-like character. God’s Spirit leads, empowers, and controls them as a general way of life. In Acts 6:3, the apostles advised the newly formed church, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” The church needed leaders known for their integrity to carry out administrative leadership among the people. The ones they chose were recognizably filled with the Spirit, showing maturity and character, as well as giftedness.
In Acts 11:24, we see Barnabas, another leader, described as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” He, too, possessed a clearly recognizable Christ-like character. In Acts 4:36–37, we learn that his faithful walk in the Spirit and his great generosity had earned him his name “Barnabas,” which means “son of encouragement.” In Galatians 5:22, Paul describes the “the fruit of the Spirit” working in the lives of believers as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” As these qualities manifest in our lives, we see the character and personality of Jesus Christ. Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit become Christ-like!
It’s been said that a virtue is not a virtue until it has been tested. When our son Billy Ford was a freshman at a prestigious southern California college, he played on the varsity water polo team. Before school even began the team went to San Diego for a tournament, and one night the team gathered around a campfire for the express purpose of bragging about their sexual exploits. Everyone participated, and the stories seemed to get worse as they went along. The last person called on to share was Billy. Since he was just starting to get acclimated to his new surroundings and wanted to be accepted, this situation was especially distressing for him. Nonetheless, when it came time for him to speak, he took a deep breath, prayed a silent prayer, and then said with genuine humility, “Well, frankly, I am a virgin. I have a girlfriend and everything, but I am a Christian, and I have decided to wait until I am married to have sex.” The impact of those words on the rest of the team was considerable.
Billy continued to resist temptation, demonstrating genuine Christ-like character all the way through college and then seminary. It is not surprising that he is now a dedicated pastor. He and his wife Denise have served at Bouquet Canyon Church in Santa Clarita, CA for over ten years now, and they have five precious children.
A few years ago a pastor friend of mine in Connecticut sent me this message: “Following a renewal weekend at our church, our congregation was hit hard with serious health issues of several prominent members. As a result of the renewal in the Holy Spirit we have been experiencing, we are more aggressive in healing prayer, and we’re growing in faith and courage. These assaults on our members have left us shell-shocked; but we have expectancy– even with grim problems–that God will do great things!” The response of this church to the attacks against them is a clear demonstration of Christ-like character.
Perseverance. Faithfulness. Christ-like character. Far too often, we relegate this facet of what it means to be Spirit-filled to a low place on the list of spiritual priorities. Some Christians and churches have such a hunger for powerful and dramatic manifestations that character issues get sidelined. I know firsthand of a church that quickly elevated a man to a central leadership position when they saw how gifted he was. This amazingly gifted man was an impressive Bible teacher who also operated dramatically in the gifts of the Spirit. With such an ability to wow a crowd, he soon had quite a following.
Then the day came when he made a shocking announcement to his fellow church leaders: He was divorcing his wife and marrying a woman whom he’d been counseling. When questioned, he conceded that he knew God “generally” was against divorce, but that He had granted an exception in his case. Of course, this sent the church reeling. Sadly, this man’s charisma swayed some in the church. They actually supported his decision, convinced that God had given him a special dispensation. The lead pastor, however, held his ground against this man’s behavior. Eventually the man left the church. They discovered after he left that he had done this same thing five times before! To top it off, he took his new wife to another well-known church some forty miles away and within a few months was in leadership there. The last I heard, he was married to his seventh wife!
Jesus said: “By their fruit you will recognize them . . . A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-18). If our lives bear bad fruit, we insult the Holy Spirit if we claim to be Spirit-filled. Too many Christian leaders, though endowed with tremendous spiritual gifts, lack the most basic and essential virtues of moral purity, financial integrity, and personal and professional accountability; consequently, they end up dragging Christ’s name through the mud for all the world to see. Recent history is strewn with examples of this. The fallen leaders themselves aren’t fully to blame, however. We Christians too often allow church culture to become so infected with the spirit and values of the world— materialism, thrill-seeking, power-trips, hero-worship—that such things are almost guaranteed to happen.
Many of our evangelical “subcultures” and churches allow “touch-not-the-Lord’s-anointed” and “Moses-syndrome” concepts of leadership to intimidate them into quietly resigning themselves to the outrageous behavior of leaders. Please! The call to support our leaders does not mean that we silently watch while they spurn the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and hold His Name and His church up for public contempt and ridicule. Leaders must be held accountable to exhibit Christian character by their fellow leaders, churches, and denominations. If they/we refuse accountability, then they/we should not be in the ministry. It is sad when the non-Christian world often has a better grasp on standards of behavior acceptable for Christian leadership than the leaders and members of Christ’s body. Cheap grace and false mercy must be renounced and replaced by a genuine regard for the holiness, as well as the love, of God.