The Church Needs the Holy Spirit!
Detail from “Pentecostés” by Juan Bautista Maíno
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Jesus, Acts 1:8)
“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Peter, quoting the prophet Joel, Acts 2:17-21)
The Easter season, those great 50 days following Easter Sunday when the church celebrates the power and presence of the Risen Christ, finds its culmination in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The Last Days, the epoch ushered in by the Holy Spirit’s ubiquitous availability, is marked by grace, gifts, and judgment. Peter’s Pentecost sermon draws heavily on the prophet Joel, who looked forward to a day when God’s Spirit would be poured out on all people, enlivening hearts and empowering service so that all who call on the Lord’s name might be saved. Church history from the events of Acts onward offers numerous accounts of what the Holy Spirit can do through men and women who are yielded to him and operate in the gifts he generously bestows. Without the Holy Spirit and God’s people hungering and thirsting after the righteousness only he can impart, the church is powerless, useless, and hopeless. The church needs a fresh infusion of the Holy Spirit!
Our Moment of Crisis
External and internal forces are hurting the witness of Christ’s body. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the church’s gathered worship; even three years after the pandemic’s first wave, many churches still have not recovered from its myriad impacts. Political forces continue to vie for the believer’s ultimate allegiance. The past few years have made clear that some Christians are more interested in political activism than proclaiming the gospel. Ideologies promoting gender and sexual confusion permeate our social institutions, from schools to government, and even many churches. False teachings regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ, the nature of sin, human nature, and heaven and hell (to name a few) have crept into the church, confusing and leading people astray. The devil is having a field day because his agenda to steal, kill, and destroy is often done for him by people claiming the name of Jesus Christ. This is a challenging time for the church. Yet we can be confident, because we have the power and presence of the One who is greater than the one who is in the world. Our moment calls for believers to face the challenge in front of us with clarity, conviction, compassion, and courage. The Holy Spirit working in and through us is the only way the witness of the church can speak hope and healing to the issues of the day. To do so, we need the power, usefulness, and hope that the Holy Spirit brings.
The Holy Spirit Gives Us Power
Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2 records this: “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (Acts 2:32-33). Follow Peter’s progression here: the resurrected Son returns to the Father on the day of Ascension; this allows for the Holy Spirit to be given to believers. And what was seen and heard by those gathered on that first Pentecost? The powerful Holy Spirit who blew through them and set them on fire with his gifts (Acts 2:2-3). When God’s Spirit moves, there is power (see Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8). In fact, the movement of the Holy Spirit is so powerful that Peter utilizes the universe-shaking cosmic imagery of the prophet Joel to describe the implications of Pentecost. It is through the Holy Spirit that power is available to the church through his gracious gifts: healing, teaching, prophecy, words of knowledge, and more. The power of the Holy Spirit enables believers to do what cannot be done by human strength. Believers must rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to stand against the present age and affect the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ. For too long the church has looked to secular leadership theories, church growth strategies, political and social activism, and a plethora of other fruitless endeavors to build up the church and advance the kingdom of God. It is time to face facts: these have been largely ineffective in combating the destructive principalities and powers run amok in our world. It’s time to get real and get serious and move in the Holy Spirit’s power, giving him primacy in all areas of our lives.
The Holy Spirit Makes Us Useful
The Holy Spirit wants to move in and through us, using us for his divine purposes. Let’s return to the day of Pentecost. What happened to the gathered crowd upon whom the Holy Spirit fell? They were given gifts, particularly the gift of xenolalia, the ability to speak in other known languages. Thus the gospel spread and resulted in thousands coming to faith in Christ in one day (Acts 2:41). Global Awakening founder and my doctoral mentor, Randy Clark, offers this frequent reminder: God’s gifts are meant to be given away. Stinginess and parsimoniousness are not fruits of the Spirit. When God’s power comes upon us, rendering us fit for the Kingdom with his gracious gifting, we are then called to use what he’s given. It is as true in the apostles’ era as ours: signs and wonders—the supernatural activity of God touching natural human lives—often leads to faith in Jesus Christ. I can testify to this: I have seen healing, deliverance, words of knowledge, and other moves of the Holy Spirit awaken people to the reality of God’s great grace and bring them to saving faith. But the world will never know the transforming power of God unless the church gets active and starts being useful.
The Holy Spirit Gives Us Hope
A watchword of Eastertide is hope. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus had hoped that Jesus was the long-awaited redemptive Messiah (Luke 24:21). Other disciples hoped the resurrected Christ would restore the political kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit brought hope to believers on Pentecost, and he gives hope to believers now. Let us once again hear Peter’s proclamation: “‘The promise [the Holy Spirit] is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.’ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation’” (Acts 2:39-40, emphasis added). A promise prompts hope if the one making the promise is faithful and true, and our Lord is just that. The Holy Spirit should elicit hope from believers, for his abiding presence comes to bear on the world around us; in other words, even in our “corrupt generation,” radical individual and collective change is possible. Without the Holy Spirit, we are utterly hopeless; there would be no antidote to the godlessness attacking us on all fronts. Praise God for the hope that comes with his abiding presence! His power alone, molding us into useful vessels, transforms us into ambassadors of hope.
The church desperately needs Pentecost Christians—believers from all denominational backgrounds who are open to what the Holy Spirit desires to accomplish through his gracious gifts lived out through the church. We are long past the time of playing church, of our witness being powerless, useless, and hopeless. The Spirit of God continues to look for people who are serious about his plan and purposes. Our current ecclesial and cultural moment calls for nothing less than unashamed Christians moving in the power of God, allowing themselves to be used by him to bring gospel hope to the hopeless.
Evan Rohrs-Dodge is the senior pastor of St. Paul’s UMC in Brick, NJ, adjunct professor at Centenary University, and a member of the Firebrand Editorial Board.