There was a time in Christian history where the dominant doctrine among the Church was solely Christ. When did all of this change? When did the Church become more about man and less about Christ? I pray that it is God in me that reveals to the readers of this post, truth and light about the purpose of the Church according to Scripture.

I often times breeze through the newspapers or phone books searching for something particular. I then stumble across an ad for a Church and in this ad I see the phrase “Spirit Filled”. I have written previously that according to Scripture, when one becomes saved, it is Christ that prays for us (Christians) to be filled with the Holy Spirit forever, to guide us and always keep us directed towards the scriptures where the teachings of Christ lay.

John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

John 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, {but} you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

When I see a Church description consisting of the phrase; “Spirit Filled”, I wonder what that really means. Being that ANY and EVERY Christian Church is filled with the Holy Spirit. Suggesting otherwise would state that other Churches aren’t Christian Churches at all, rather in-fact Christ has never prayed for these people to receive the Spirit. I find this a dangerous speculation and statement. According to Scripture, there are no levels of the Spirit, We either have received the Spirit on behalf of Christ going to Father, or we haven’t. I sometimes witness people visit a Church service and as they leave I hear them speaking words like; “that church was dead” or, “I just couldn’t feel God’s love there”. At this point I realize that there is a direct human need that comes from some who attend a Church service. The Church must win these people over and then feed their emotional needs. This is where the false interpretation of “Spirit Filled” comes in. Is it that the feelings some humans require or expect to be supplied from the Church aren’t explainable in the texts, so this need is placed on the role of the Spirit? Is it that the Christian church has somehow become a show and must contain a certain level of entertainment? Is the modern Church one that Christ established, and Paul maintained? Or, Should a church in the 21’s century even resemble a 1^st century Church at all? I would answer this; If our own humanistic desires and cravings appear in the foreground, and the worship of God and the recognition of our desperate need of a savoir appear in the background, there is justification for sincere concern. Christ alone should fill our needs in every way, this includes emotional. Church service is for sinners to go and worship and glorify God. Church service is not identified in the Scriptures as becoming a place of human amusement, taking rides on emotional roller coasters and relies on “feeling” any sort of specific emotion. It is taught in scripture that our “heart” is deceitful, and we shall not follow it. In that context, “heart” is all of our being as humans. Also widely known and titled as our “flesh”.

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Christians develop and evolve in their relationship with Christ through baptism, prayer, fasting, worship, fellowship, studying the scriptures and partaking of the Lords supper. We need to constantly remember Christ, who He was, who He became and who He will always be, that of which is God. It is then when we learn the error in our teachings that it is Us that brings people to the kingdom, Jesus said “The only way to the Father is through Me”. It is then when we realize the error in the teachings that we can somehow play an active role in our own, or someone else’s salvation, our role as Children of God is a passive role of obedience. When keeping this in remembrance, Church suddenly becomes a whole lot less about us and our needs, and a whole lot more about Him.

May this be a blessing to those who read it.

Amen

VERSES TO MEDITATE

Matthew 19:25-26

When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”

Acts 2:38

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

From the NASB