The Following was posted on one of my class discussion boards:



I realize this is an early post ... and the turn of discussion may go an entirely different direction... but, as I think about the Holy Spirit and the church (specifically, the church where I attend), I would like to put on the table these initial thoughts:
1. The Holy Spirit and our relationship with Him is one of the most misunderstood, misunderestimated and misutilized gifts that God has given us in the church. We don't expect God to do anything by His Spirit -- we have learned to rely upon our own self efforts. We don't come to church expecting to meet with God -- we come to judge what others are bringing to the table for us to enjoy ... and thus, God isn't given half of a chance to interrupt our lives by His love, His power, or His life being exhibited by the Holy Spirit. We don't come to church looking for, or expecting God by the Holy Spirit to do anything in our midst!
2. Abuses of "showmanship" by tele-evangelists have caused the church to run away from the very power that is ours as Christians ... so we have learned to be content with a "mental" relationship with God, instead of a heartfelt spiritual relationship with Him.
3. What is Christianity today, isn't at all the Christianity of the Book of Acts and what the church fathers experienced. And the arguments of "well, God needed to do that then, because the church needed to be established" doesn't wash with me ... because if there ever was a time for the church to be established in our world, IT'S TODAY. We need the Holy Spirit to move in our midst today ... and I don't mean in Pentecostal emotionalism, I mean in the reality of where we stop and stand in awe of God because His presence is so real we can hardly stand before Him. Where we have a quiet reverence and expecting of "what is God doing in our midst right now? I don't want to miss it!"... where's that gone?
4. A lot of what we have defined to be "spiritual gifts" in the church today are nothing more than talents and natural abilities ... and this "watered down" Christian life has zapped whatever kind of supernatural expectation of God that He wants us to have. May I dare to say, that if the Holy Spirit lives inside of me (and He does) -- and He is the giver of all the gifts in 1 Cor 12 -- then, if I am yielded to the Holy Spirit, God can manifest whatever gift He want to if I am open to it (regardless of what my natural gifting may be). [With that said, I am not saying that God doesn't use our natural talents and abilities too ... because He does. But, we should take our natural talents and abilities and yield them to the Holy Spirit's use -- and ask, "what is God saying, or wanting to do at this moment, through my talents for His glory, to allow His presence to be manifested to others?'
5. God wants us to live in a "day by day" relationship with Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit that transcends the rational and what we human beings call as "order." Where He can interrupt our schedule with divine appointments and meetings that change lives -- one on one -- for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Where God reminds us of Scriptures for people - or words of comfort - or touches lives with divine healing - or manifests His love to an individual in a real way... Do we expect this?
6. The lack of emphasis in prayer has caused us to not grow in our relationship in "hearing God" and allowing the Holy Spirit to have a part in our lives or the church. We see prayer as just talking to God - or performing worship to God - instead of listening to Him in relationship ... and, if we dared to REALLY listen to Him when we came together, what would He say? Would we obey it?
7. To allow the Holy Spirit to have a place in the organized church is going to require an added dose of humilty (to say, "I don't have all the answers, let's go to God (REALLY) in prayer right now and see what HE HAS to say") and grace (to allow us to try and fail as we learn to listen to God's voice) and some perfect love to accept people where they are and love them where they are at.
Right now, I have a relationship with the Holy Spirit in my prayer closet that the church - corporately where I attend - is clueless to and in its bylaws states, "Doesn't exist today!" UGH!
We have settled for second best. What we are calling "normal Christianity" is far less than God ever intended... We have become so corporate in the way we play church, that we have forgotten it is the people - the relationships - that God is hungering to touch by the power of His Spirit.
And my heart is broken about this issue of the Holy Spirit and the Church, for these very reasons.
We have become so performance oriented in our church and relient upon our own programming and idea factory working that if God didn't show up this Sunday ... would anything change? No. Church would be the same as it is now. THEN, what are the signs that show we are allowing or expecting God to move in our church today? How are we even allowing ourselves, corporately, to rely upon the Holy Spirit and His desire in our times of "coming together" to have His way in our midst?
I suppose this starts by having this expectation individually in our daily lives...
But then we need to cultivate an attitude of when we get together that we are celebrating what God is doing in our midst -- and expecting God to do more -- even at the moment that we come together on Sundays.
Just my thoughts ... and I could be totally off base ... but until God tells me otherwise, my heart expectation and prayer will be:"Holy Spirit, come! Let God's Kingdom come, right now -- doing whatever God needs to be accomplished -- as it is accomplished in heaven."