Some time ago, I had a pastor call and tell me of another church whose pastor had to explain to the congregation about a demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the Sunday morning service. The pastor calling me thought that it was strange and unnecessary to explain about the workings of the Holy Spirit to a Spirit-filled congregation. Little did this pastor expect that I would side with the need for taking time in the service to explain what had transpired.
Here is what I told this pastor. Explanation is always needed …
- FOR THE SAKE OF THE UNBELIEVERS OR THE VISITORS – In today’s culture, the way of “doing” church differs greatly from the Book of Acts New Testament Church. What was normal when the Holy Spirit had full control of the Church is considered in many churches today to be abnormal or weird or even foolish. Why is this thought to be strange? The manifestation of God’s Spirit is always, always, always supernatural and goes way beyond the natural way of thinking. Consequently, just as on the Day of Pentecost, there will always, always, always be the need to briefly biblically explain to the “what meaneth this” (Acts 2:12) crowd what is seen and heard (Acts 2:33) in a New Testament Church.
- FOR THE SAKE OF THE BELIEVERS – The manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit needs to be biblically authenticated and validated to the believers. Those within the congregation need to be routinely reminded from the scriptures that what is seen and heard is the New Testament “norm”. Briefly explaining what has been seen and heard builds confidence within those cooperating with the Holy Spirit, stirs believers to seek to be used by the Holy Spirit with His gifts, and serves as a reminder that the working of the Holy Spirit always, always, always lines up with the Word of God.
This behooves us as leaders to know what the scripture says about the Holy Spirit and how He shows His presence in a gathering. It is imperative that we memorize scriptures or references that tell of Jesus promising that the Father would send another Helper and that He is still in the Church today. Also, we must be able to very BRIEFLY biblically explain about the gift of the Spirit manifested in that particular service. It isn’t a sermon or a theological exegesis. At most, it should last a couple of minutes. And lastly, it is important to emphasize that Paul admonished believers to desire to be used in these spiritual gifts.
To paraphrase a Ricky Ricardo quote from the I Love Lucy television series, “Leader, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do!” So, let’s do it and do it often.