Here’s part 3 of my blog about what an Every Nation church or campus ministry is supposed to look like.
In summary and review, Every Nation Churches and Ministries exists to. . .
Honor God and Establish
Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, Socially Responsible
Churches and Campus ministries
In Every Nation
What does a Spirit-empowered church or campus ministry look like?
In some denominations and traditions the power of the Holy Spirit means falling to the ground after being prayed for. In other traditions the power of the Holy Spirit is something that happened in Bible times, but not today.
What some people call the power of the Holy Spirit might actually be a cultural response to the presence and power of God.
Some individuals and some cultures are emotional; others are analytical. Some are demonstrative; others are stoic. Some loud; others quiet. Huggers, hand-shakers. Loose, stiff. Serious, funny. God seems to love the variety. He created it.
I think his power can flow through all different types of cultures.
When I say we want to establish churches and campus ministries that are Spirit-empowered, I mean churches and campus ministries that welcome and celebrate the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in ways that make sense to the culture and community where that particular church or campus ministry exists.
Some cultures and communities respond to the presence and power of the Spirit with great exuberance and emotion, while others respond in quiet reverence. Some fall down. Some kneel down. Some bow down. Some stand still. All these responses are biblical and valid.
Here’s what Luke wrote about being Spirit-empowered:
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. (Acts 1:8)
It doesn’t matter if you fall down, roll around, shout and shake, or stand as still and quiet as a marble statue—as long as you are an effective witness to your lost friends and neighbors when your religious experience ends, and you go back to work or class. A Spirit-empowered church is a church filled with people who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to live lives that point others to Christ.
Luke also wrote this about being Spirit-empowered:
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31)
How about that for a Spirit-empowered prayer meeting—the building shook! Wow!
As exciting as that building-shaking prayer meeting might have been, the proof that they were Spirit-empowered is what happened when they left the prayer meeting—they spoke the word of God boldly.
We can have world-shaking prayer meetings with all kinds of mystical and spiritual manifestations, but if we don’t live as witnesses and we don’t speak God’s word when we go home, then I don’t see the point in all the falling, shouting, and shaking.
I don’t think the purpose of being empowered by Holy Spirit is so we can have exciting meetings. Rather, I think the point is to help us live lives that honor God and point our friends, family, and neighbors to Christ.
I don’t know about you, but I definitely need the miracle power of the Holy Spirit to be a decent witness. Left to myself, my witness would scare people away from God.
