Are You Seeing Red? - by Joel Hempel If you attended a liturgical church on Pentecost, you likely saw a sea, or at least a pond of red decorating the chancel and the worshipping congregation. Red on Pentecost is usually associated with the reddish tongues of fire over the heads of the first recipients of the Holy Spirit, poured out on the followers of Jesus. Today, too many Christians sadly either take the Holy Spirit for granted or never give Him a second thought. If the Holy Spirit is with me, many would have to confess, who would know? He’s invisible, and His impact on my life is unnoticeable. If the above confession is true for some Christians, whose fault is it? When describing the work and impact of the Holy Spirit, the metaphor of wind is used – a metaphor Jesus himself used with Nicodemus.1 The wind blows; it can’t be seen, but its effect is felt, and its impact demonstrated. But what if, on a windy day, you go inside your house and close the door? The wind is no longer experienced. So it is in our lives as Christians. If we cut ourselves off from the ways the Holy Spirit can impact us, we can easily conclude that the Holy Spirit is irrelevant or practically non-existent. Bottom line, it’s on us to receive what the Holy Spirit offers. Scripture promises multiple blessings are “available” to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. How spiritually red our lives are depends not only on God’s generous grace, but also on our willingness to receive and make use of His gifts. Take, for example, the fruit of the Spirit.2 The fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control – are produced by the work of the Spirit. They will grow within us by the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. But not if we refuse to invest ourselves in the life God lays out for us in His Word! Look at the verbs used in the section of Scripture on this topic (Galatians 5:16-26):
- Walk by the Spirit
- Live by the Spirit
- Keep step with the Spirit
All of those verbs are meant to get our attention. God desires to enrich our lives and equip us for service to others. Of course, if we want to live impoverished lives, we should stay in the house. Refuse to let the Wind of the Spirit carry us away. On the other hand, if we desire to grow in the faith and increase our service to Jesus, look at what’s possible. Look at those first Christians. Soon after the Spirit came upon them, a growing community of believers began hearing, seeing, and proclaiming the Gospel. The church grew – not miraculously by the Spirit only, but also through the people of God living the fruit of the Spirit.3 Imagine what could happen today!
1. John 3:1-15 2. Galatians 5:16-25 3. Acts 2:41-47; 4:32-35 |
