Upon you rests the grace of God like flames of fire...

I was reading an article recently in Neue, an offshoot of Relevant Magazine. It was an interview with Jaeson Ma, a church-planter in China. He said:

“A church apostle from China came to L.A., and my friend [took] him to different large churches there. After visiting half a dozen of them, he asked, ‘What do you think of the churches here?’ And this is what he said: ‘It’s amazing what your churches in America can do without the Holy Spirit.’”

Ah yes, that’s what it is. I’ve never been able to pinpoint what I’ve found to be lacking in many (not all) churches that I’ve been to in the U.S. I’ve actually been to a lot of churches this year. I’ve been to mega churches in Chicago, Wisconsin and Los Angeles. I’ve been to multiple churches of various sizes and denominations in Portland, Minnesota, and Washington. This summer, I led “interdenominational church services” in the campgrounds at Mount Rainier National Park. Since moving to Bellingham, I’ve been going to Lettered Streets Covenant Church, a two-year-old church plant.

            I had a surprisingly great experience singing in the Easter choir at Willow Creek Community Church, one of the biggest churches in the country. I remember talking to someone who told me that what most people don’t like about it is that it’s different from other churches they’ve been a part of. It was certainly very different from what I’m used to, but we had some legitimate worship there. And the people there are living their lives as true disciples, even if they may seem a bit daunting with their sanctuary that seats 7,000 and their soundboard that looks like it belongs to NASA. In contrast, Lettered Streets meets in a humble church building without fancy media and only one pastor. We have children running around the aisles during worship, and sometimes the pastor’s mic doesn’t work, so he just talks loudly. But God has done wonders in both places, because the people there are bursting at the seams with the Holy Spirit.  

            But I’ve been to churches where the Holy Spirit seems conspicuously absent. I remember visiting a church once and wondering, ‘Did we pray at all that whole time?’ At other times, I’ve thought, ‘That sermon was way too much about people and not at all about God.” And I think this happens when the church forgets about the importance of the Holy Spirit in everything we do. We absolutely cannot rely on ourselves when it comes to ministry. Nothing gets done without the Holy Spirit.

“Love and serve the Lord in the strength of the Spirit...” (North Park Collegelife benediction)