Is the Holy Spirit a Casualty of Unity?
The above passage of Scripture reveals that the gifts of the Spirit are for the common good. That sounds like unity to me. It also says that God empowers these gifts in us. This is for the sake of the fulfillment of ministry.
When the Holy Spirit was given in that Upper Room, two specific manifestations were imparted into the people who were baptized in fire:
- Boldness: “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31, ESV).
- Power: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8, ESV).
The church must not only experience boldness and power, but we must be fueled by it in every moment, every service, every event. This is what was happening at Brownsville Assembly of God:
All told, more than 2.5 million people have visited the church’s Wednesday-through-Saturday evening revival services, where they sang rousing worship music and heard old-fashioned sermons on sin and salvation. After the sermons were over, hundreds of thousands accepted the invitation to leave their seats and rush forward to a large area in front of the stage-like altar. Here, they “get right with God.” … Untold thousands have hit the carpet, where they either writhe in ecstasy or lie stone-still in a state resembling a coma, sometimes remaining flat on the floor for hours at a time. Some participants call the experience being “slain in the Spirit.” Others simply refer to receiving the touch of God. Regardless of what they call it, these people are putting the “roll” back in “holy roller.”— Steve Rabey[3]
I believe we must see the manifestation of the Holy Spirit increase to a radical degree—enough that we have the supernatural power necessary to succeed. We need an outpouring like Brownsville to become normal in our churches again.
This means those who don’t embrace the gifts will have a decision to make. Understand this very clearly: we must never divide away from anyone who names the name of Christ, and who is living according to the Word of God. However, if others refuse to participate because the gifts are in play, they are the ones causing disunity. They are making the choice to pull away. It’s on them.
If we shut the gifts down, we are communicating that we are more interested in people being in attendance than the Holy Spirit, or at least, we want people to give leadership and determine what the Holy Spirit is allowed to do. This mindset should terrify us.
When I hold prayer events, praying in tongues is a constant. I absolutely love it when those who have yet to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit join in with us. Honestly, that is one of my favorite times in prayer—when those who don’t pray in tongues refuse to allow that to get in the way.
Sadly, there are also those who refuse to attend such gatherings. It’s their decision, not mine.
But, let it be known: I will always choose the attendance of the Holy Spirit ahead of people. I will always allow the Holy Spirit to manifest the way he chooses, even if it upsets people. I will never offend the Spirit of God, even if that offends people.
I am smart enough to know that the goal of any corporate meeting is absolutely impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit raging throughout.
The manifestation of the Holy Spirit can’t be limited to times of prayer and worship. We need anointed men and women of God to preach with such power that entire rooms are filled with fire! Our church services much change, and fast!
“While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word” (Acts 10:44, ESV).
It’s time we see the temperature of Holy Spirit activity shoot so high the thermometer explodes. We need to have meetings that are so full of God’s presence that people have to crawl through the door! It’s time for a shaking, quaking, Spirit-filled environment of eruptions in prayer every Sunday morning (and every other day of the week)!
Doing ministry any other way just won’t work. It will accomplish some things, sure, but the goal we have been given requires power, boldness, signs, wonders, miracles and a lifestyle of burning, Spirit-driven intercession and worship. It’s time we actually become OK with scaring the visitors with the tangible, fearful movement of God in our services! They may actually hit their knees and cry out in repentance instead of sitting quietly filling out a visitor card. Maybe the greeter’s handshake in such an environment might actually impart something:
“Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:17, ESV).
We can’t keep the Holy Spirit on the bench. We can no longer choose when or how He manifests. Do we want revival or not? Try to imagine revival without a supernatural atmosphere. You can’t. It doesn’t exist.
A newspaper report on the Asuza Revival:
… disgraceful intermingling of the races … they cry and make howling noises all day and into the night. They run, jump, shake all over, shout to the top of their voice, spin around in circles, fall out on the sawdust blanketed floor jerking, kicking and rolling all over it. Some of them pass out and do not move for hours as though they were dead. These people appear to be mad, mentally deranged or under a spell. They claim to be filled with the spirit. They have a one eyed, illiterate, Negro as their preacher who stays on his knees much of the time with his head hidden between the wooden milk crates. He doesn’t talk very much but at times he can be heard shouting, ‘Repent,’ and he’s supposed to be running the thing … They repeatedly sing the same song, ‘The Comforter Has Come.’[3]
Are you ready for the Comforter to come?
