We need the Holy Spirit in all His fullness!
In this series of articles on what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I’ve described seven major characteristics of the Spirit-filled life: 1] Spirit-filled Christians really love God; 2] they have Christ-like character; 3] they share their faith in Christ;4] they operate in spiritual gifts and can be used in supernatural ways; 5] they fully participate in Christ-centered fellowship and body life; 6] they wholeheartedly praise and worship God; and 7] they have a growing compassion and anointing to minister to other people.
As we survey these characteristics, it’s probably clear that many of us have used the phrase Spirit-filled rather carelessly and without sufficient understanding as to the breadth and depth of its meaning. I’m not suggesting that my presentation of what it means to be Spirit-filled is final or definitive; no doubt there are many others who can to do a better job deducing and explaining these things than I. Nevertheless, I do believe the insights I’ve presented are close enough to the truth that we can all see this: When we talk about being Spirit-filled, we need to do so with greater care and with deeper humility.
Spiritual pride is a killer. Not only does it lead to spiritual destruction in the lives of individual Christians, it also destroys unity in the Body of Christ. In matters dealing with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we should seek to avoid terminology or inferences that tell other sincere believers in Christ that we believe we are Spirit-filled but that they are not. Our general human tendency is to judge others in areas where we show strength and to ignore areas where we show weakness. Let’s avoid the pitfalls of personal and ecclesiastical self-aggrandizement and acknowledge that, though grateful for what God is already doing in us and through us, all of us still have a ways to go.
Some years ago, God spoke to me in a powerful way that made me weep and tremble. He had made me a leader, a pastor of a large church relative to the size of the county. Our church had significant ministries, including one to the university campus, and a very successful missions program that sent people to many nations of the world. He had also used me as a leader in county-wide events. I had become well-known in the Christian community and influential in many ways. I felt happy and pretty satisfied with myself . . . until God sent me a thunderbolt from His Word: Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple. (1 Cor 3:16–17)
The context of this passage has to do with problems of pride and division in the church. The Corinthian church had tended toward divisiveness because of an overemphasis on the importance of individual Christian leaders and their teachings rather than on elevating Christ and centering their fellowship in Him. So God warned the Corinthians through Paul — and He warns us today — that the church is the temple of God’s Spirit, that He considers it sacred and takes its health and welfare seriously. Those who destroy God’s temple, God will destroy. This scripture sent shivers down my spine as I recognized, in a deeper way than ever before, the depth of God’s concern for the unity, health, and fruitfulness of His church. I understood acutely how crucial it is for me, as a leader, to use my ability, energy, and influence to build up Christ’s body and promote the unity of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:3), not just in my own church, but also in the larger body of Christ. I felt Jesus asking me to extend the great love and reverence that I have for Him to His body, the church, for which He shed His blood.
It wasn’t that I could think of anything I was doing to damage His body; but until that day, I had no idea how seriously Christ takes the health and unity of His church. He reveals His heart in His prayer in John 17:20–24: “My prayer is . . . that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me … May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and that you have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Yes, I was already familiar with this passage, and it has been an important one to me that always motivated me to work towards Christian unity. But when God spoke to me from 1 Cor 3:16–17, I saw deeper into His heart and purpose than I had before. I saw His love for His church, and I had a more intense appreciation for the essential role unity plays in reaching the world for Him. It caused me to weep! And it awakened in me a greater reverence and regard for His holiness. The disunity of the body of Christ is destructive to the health of churches, to individuals in the churches (1 Cor 11:20–30), and to the church’s mission to reach the world for Christ. Worst of all, it breaks His heart.
In saying all this about unity, it’s equally important to emphasize that the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of TRUTH.. We must never preserve unity at the expense of biblical truth. Those who dilute the truth of the gospel for unity’s sake miss the point of what Christian unity is about. Sometimes, sadly, unity cannot be achieved or preserved, in spite of our earnest efforts; things happen beyond our control, and though we try our best to maintain unity, we just can’t seem to pull it off. God’s Word encourages us, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18). Nevertheless, we who do agree on who Jesus Christ is, what His gospel is, what our mission is; we who know Him, revere His Word, and have experienced the life of His Spirit; we are the ones who are far more accountable to God for living out these truths than are those who’ve never experienced them. May the Spirit of God quicken us! May He awaken us to the importance of love and unity in His Spirit.
In coming articles, I’ll be writing about HOW we can become Spirit-filled. We do need Him so much! Amen! COME HOLY SPIRIT!