A Bible study guide I use contained this challenge yesterday: "Thank God that the electronic media have opened the floodgates for the good news of Jesus to travel ‘to the ends of the earth.' What could you do, say or write today?" I figured that it was about time for another post here.
Last Sunday was Pentecost, the 'birthday' of the church, the celebration of the Holy Spirit. So that's been the topic I've been thinking about a lot lately. It's also something I think many people, inside the church as well as outside, struggle to understand. For a long while I did, and even now I don't understand everything. But when my cell group this week were asked to describe their experirnces of the Spirit the word which cropped up again and again was 'gentle' and that made me think.
Because people often don't understand the Spirit, and often only see the more 'showy' aspects of his work, (such as people falling over when prayed for, or speaking in tongues, or giving prophecies), those- like me- who aren't used to this kind of thing can be a bit scared or disturbed by what's going on. But what I found most helpful was when, a couple of years ago, someone said something about God only taking you as far as he knows you can go. It reminded me of how God knows and loves each of us utterly. He wants to challenge us to grow with him, but he doesn't want to hurt us or scare us.
Those things are outward signs of what the Spirit is doing inside us, moving in and helping us become the people God longs for us to be. Not everyone has the 'showy' gifts, but every Christian has God's Spirit in them, part of their life, as guider and counsellor, as someone who comes along side to help and encourage us.
One of the things he does is to encourage us to put our faith first and to speak out about it. I've been reading about the healing of a lame man by the disciples Peter and John. They got into trouble for it with the same high priest and council who had put Jesus to death a few weeks before. Told they could go as long as they stopped talking about Jesus, they refused. They knew the danger they were in, but they couldn't stop. What they were talking about mattered more to them than their own lives.
I wish I had that enthusiasm, that 'bubbling over' with excitement. Sometimes it can misdirected and lead to insensitivity, but you often find that it's newer Christians, who still have that excitement, who bring new people in to the church. I hope I do have the same attitude as the disciples, to an extent, - I can't separate my faith from my life, if I had to stop living my faith- which includes sharing it- it would be to take away what makes me who I am. But I know I could use more boldness. And that's one of the things the Spirit is there for.
Showing posts with label Pentecost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pentecost. Show all posts
Friday, 28 May 2010
Thursday, 11 June 2009
It seems I was right...
This post is a follow-up to last week's one on Pentecost. It's publishing has been somewhat delayed because of the European election results.
or at least, Paul agrees with me. "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue." (1 Corinthians 14 vs 18-19). Because "how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?" (vs 16).
Verse 23 says: "So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?" A bit harsh, perhaps, but I have to agree. I know of people who have been put off by this. Yet in verse 22 Paul says: "Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers." So how do these two verses square up?
I've seen it suggested that the word 'sign' is meant negatively, that it's referring to people being excluded- as in, a sign that they're not part of what's going on. I don't know enough Greek to know if this is the case, but I think Paul's linking it with what he says about interpretation and prophecy.
Prophecy in this context isn't foretelling the future but speaking God's message to his people, pointing out what they're doing wrong and how they need to correct their lives, and encouraging them to follow God's ways. That's what the Old Testament prophets were mainly concerned with- warning the people of Israel of their disobedience and the consequences they could expect.
The point of this is that prophecy is relevant, and can touch indicidual lives: "and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare." (see vs 24-25) I think this may possibly be referring to the fact that we need to convince people intellectually as well as experientially- so they can believe with their mind and with their heart.
Paul doesn't want to discourage the Corinthians from speaking in tongues, and in verses 26-28 he gives them some guidelines for how to practice them: "If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God." It's a wonderful picture of everyone being able to contribute to the life of the church (verse 34-35 is probably a reference to irrelevant chattering rather than contribution).
Paul implies that tongues are mainly for use in private, mainly- as I often use it- to allow us to communicate with God when we have no words; because of grief and sadness, or because there are no earthly words to describe how great God is. So I'm not suggesting we should never have public use of the tricky gift of tongues in church, but that we should be careful how and when it's used- putting people off because we're scary or weird is the last thing we want to do to visitors to our churches! I think verses 39-40 of 1 Corinthians 14 sum it up:
"Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way."
or at least, Paul agrees with me. "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue." (1 Corinthians 14 vs 18-19). Because "how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?" (vs 16).
Verse 23 says: "So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?" A bit harsh, perhaps, but I have to agree. I know of people who have been put off by this. Yet in verse 22 Paul says: "Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers." So how do these two verses square up?
I've seen it suggested that the word 'sign' is meant negatively, that it's referring to people being excluded- as in, a sign that they're not part of what's going on. I don't know enough Greek to know if this is the case, but I think Paul's linking it with what he says about interpretation and prophecy.
Prophecy in this context isn't foretelling the future but speaking God's message to his people, pointing out what they're doing wrong and how they need to correct their lives, and encouraging them to follow God's ways. That's what the Old Testament prophets were mainly concerned with- warning the people of Israel of their disobedience and the consequences they could expect.
The point of this is that prophecy is relevant, and can touch indicidual lives: "and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare." (see vs 24-25) I think this may possibly be referring to the fact that we need to convince people intellectually as well as experientially- so they can believe with their mind and with their heart.
Paul doesn't want to discourage the Corinthians from speaking in tongues, and in verses 26-28 he gives them some guidelines for how to practice them: "If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God." It's a wonderful picture of everyone being able to contribute to the life of the church (verse 34-35 is probably a reference to irrelevant chattering rather than contribution).
Paul implies that tongues are mainly for use in private, mainly- as I often use it- to allow us to communicate with God when we have no words; because of grief and sadness, or because there are no earthly words to describe how great God is. So I'm not suggesting we should never have public use of the tricky gift of tongues in church, but that we should be careful how and when it's used- putting people off because we're scary or weird is the last thing we want to do to visitors to our churches! I think verses 39-40 of 1 Corinthians 14 sum it up:
"Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way."
Monday, 1 June 2009
Pentecost
Yesterday was Pentecost, the least well known of the three major Christian festivals. It's the birthday of the church, the day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus to be a "Counsellor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." (John 14 vs 16-17).
The Holy Spirit is something- or someone- with whom a lot of people struggle with, both inside the church and out. God the Father- creator, lawgiver, even judge- fairly straightforward. God the Son- a bit more complicated, being both God and human, but still, a personality we can begin to understand. God the Spirit- rather more difficult. Something intangible, invisible, described in metaphor and simile: "like the blowing of a violent wind," "what seemed to be tongues of fire." Something which gets inside us, fills us, is God living in us, guiding, healing, revealing, power-giving. It's through the Holy Spirit within every Christian that we are enabled to live in God's way.
And yet the Spirit has been the subject of intense debate and division over the church's history, and even today differences of belief and practice of the gifts of the Spirit set apart churches and denominations. Some believe that the more 'supernatural*' gifts (for example speaking in foreign or heavenly tongues or miraculous healings) are no longer present in the church, while others see and use them as a regular part of modern worship.
As someone who grew up in a church where I don't remember these questions even being discussed- I don't remember much teaching on the Spirit at all- it was quite a shock to arrive, at 18, into a congregation where the practice of spiritual gifts was the norm, where services regularly included speaking or singing in tongues, messages people had felt God giving them and prayer for healing! It took a while to get used to, a while to accept too that I wasn't an inferior Christian because I hadn't done these rather odd things. A while to accept that God gives people different gifts, that some are given the power to heal, or to prophesy, while others have gifts of communicating well (teaching) or the gift of administration (yes, it's real, 1 Corinthians 12 vs 28.)
If that's how strange I found the gifts of the Spirit as someone who was already a Christian, as someone who accepts the existence of the supernatural and that it still affects the world around us, think what it must be like for someone who doesn't believe that (or isn't sure) suddenly coming into contact with the Spirit at work! No wonder the disciples were accused of being drunk on the first Pentecost!(Acts 2 vs 13. And when Peter said in verse 15 that they couldn't possibly be drunk because it was only 9am, he'd obviously never met the G&S society after a Crash!). I know that some of my friends who aren't Christians have said they find the idea of speaking in tongues weird, even cultish. And I can understand that. It's not an easy thing to explain. Either it's a bunch of deluded people making fools of themselves and doing really strange things, which is weird; or it's the 'supernatural'- God- breaking through into the 'natural,' which is scary.**
I'm someone who was rather sceptical about the whole thing and didn't particularly want to be able to speak in tongues until God decided I needed to and I was going to whether I wanted to or not! I thought it was both weird and scary, was worried about various things, (how do I know that it is a gift and not just me making up random words?) and would frankly rather have just ignored the whole thing. But I couldn't. I found the whole thing a lot more comfortable when someone said to me that God knows us and knows exactly what we're comfortable with, and although he may challenge and encourage us to move forward he won't give us any gift we're not ready for. It's still something I'm a little shy about doing in public, not least because I don't want to freak people out! It's the sort of thing that's fine to practice with other Christians, but perhaps ought to be avoided- or at least controlled- when there are non-Christians around. The church has enough of a reputation for being weird already!
But perhaps it's not as freaky as it sounds. These gifts may sound weird, but when you've actually experienced their use then actually they're generally not.
But the idea that the Holy Spirit is God breaking through into our world- that is scary. Scary but wonderful! Scary because it's a demonstration of the power of God, of his lordship over our world and ability and willingness to be involved in our lives. If you've seen that at work you can't avoid it affecting your life in some way.
So perhaps that's why those outside (and even maybe some inside) the church find it so hard to understand the Holy Spirit. As the passage quoted above says: "The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." Perhaps you can't just 'know about' the Spirit, in the same way you can know about Jesus or God the father. Perhaps the Spirit has to be experienced to be known. That doesn't necessarily involve scary or weird things like speaking in tongues, but it involves being open to the possibility of the reality of God and that he is at work in his people today, speaking to us, teaching, healing, leading, empowering, emboldening, helping us to live his way.
*For want of a better word, I mean the things that are the direct work of God without a earthly or human cause. Spectacular, obvious, if you get my drift. Outside the 'laws of nature,' the observed situation.
**I'm not sure you can separate 'natural' and 'supernatural' like that, but I think you get my point. The 'possible' and the 'impossible' maybe?
The Holy Spirit is something- or someone- with whom a lot of people struggle with, both inside the church and out. God the Father- creator, lawgiver, even judge- fairly straightforward. God the Son- a bit more complicated, being both God and human, but still, a personality we can begin to understand. God the Spirit- rather more difficult. Something intangible, invisible, described in metaphor and simile: "like the blowing of a violent wind," "what seemed to be tongues of fire." Something which gets inside us, fills us, is God living in us, guiding, healing, revealing, power-giving. It's through the Holy Spirit within every Christian that we are enabled to live in God's way.
And yet the Spirit has been the subject of intense debate and division over the church's history, and even today differences of belief and practice of the gifts of the Spirit set apart churches and denominations. Some believe that the more 'supernatural*' gifts (for example speaking in foreign or heavenly tongues or miraculous healings) are no longer present in the church, while others see and use them as a regular part of modern worship.
As someone who grew up in a church where I don't remember these questions even being discussed- I don't remember much teaching on the Spirit at all- it was quite a shock to arrive, at 18, into a congregation where the practice of spiritual gifts was the norm, where services regularly included speaking or singing in tongues, messages people had felt God giving them and prayer for healing! It took a while to get used to, a while to accept too that I wasn't an inferior Christian because I hadn't done these rather odd things. A while to accept that God gives people different gifts, that some are given the power to heal, or to prophesy, while others have gifts of communicating well (teaching) or the gift of administration (yes, it's real, 1 Corinthians 12 vs 28.)
If that's how strange I found the gifts of the Spirit as someone who was already a Christian, as someone who accepts the existence of the supernatural and that it still affects the world around us, think what it must be like for someone who doesn't believe that (or isn't sure) suddenly coming into contact with the Spirit at work! No wonder the disciples were accused of being drunk on the first Pentecost!(Acts 2 vs 13. And when Peter said in verse 15 that they couldn't possibly be drunk because it was only 9am, he'd obviously never met the G&S society after a Crash!). I know that some of my friends who aren't Christians have said they find the idea of speaking in tongues weird, even cultish. And I can understand that. It's not an easy thing to explain. Either it's a bunch of deluded people making fools of themselves and doing really strange things, which is weird; or it's the 'supernatural'- God- breaking through into the 'natural,' which is scary.**
I'm someone who was rather sceptical about the whole thing and didn't particularly want to be able to speak in tongues until God decided I needed to and I was going to whether I wanted to or not! I thought it was both weird and scary, was worried about various things, (how do I know that it is a gift and not just me making up random words?) and would frankly rather have just ignored the whole thing. But I couldn't. I found the whole thing a lot more comfortable when someone said to me that God knows us and knows exactly what we're comfortable with, and although he may challenge and encourage us to move forward he won't give us any gift we're not ready for. It's still something I'm a little shy about doing in public, not least because I don't want to freak people out! It's the sort of thing that's fine to practice with other Christians, but perhaps ought to be avoided- or at least controlled- when there are non-Christians around. The church has enough of a reputation for being weird already!
But perhaps it's not as freaky as it sounds. These gifts may sound weird, but when you've actually experienced their use then actually they're generally not.
But the idea that the Holy Spirit is God breaking through into our world- that is scary. Scary but wonderful! Scary because it's a demonstration of the power of God, of his lordship over our world and ability and willingness to be involved in our lives. If you've seen that at work you can't avoid it affecting your life in some way.
So perhaps that's why those outside (and even maybe some inside) the church find it so hard to understand the Holy Spirit. As the passage quoted above says: "The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." Perhaps you can't just 'know about' the Spirit, in the same way you can know about Jesus or God the father. Perhaps the Spirit has to be experienced to be known. That doesn't necessarily involve scary or weird things like speaking in tongues, but it involves being open to the possibility of the reality of God and that he is at work in his people today, speaking to us, teaching, healing, leading, empowering, emboldening, helping us to live his way.
*For want of a better word, I mean the things that are the direct work of God without a earthly or human cause. Spectacular, obvious, if you get my drift. Outside the 'laws of nature,' the observed situation.
**I'm not sure you can separate 'natural' and 'supernatural' like that, but I think you get my point. The 'possible' and the 'impossible' maybe?
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