Radical Christianity?

We all love to look back and read the stories of amazing works and movements of the Holy Spirit. Many names have been immortalized for simply following His lead, heading in the same direction that God and His Spirit were moving. Names like Whitfield, Spurgeon, Wesley.

We look on at these amazing men and their history and think… “Wow! How radical! How amazing would it be to be a part of something like that?” Radical? Consider this… The word radical simply means to go back to the roots, the fundamental essentials. With that in mind, we can’t help but to go back even further to some names that are probably a little more renown. Peter, James, John, and Paul… These guys were really radical! They set the standard, the pace, the bar. What were their “roots?” Of course, their roots were found in The Name above all Names, Jesus who told them He would be leaving but He would also be sending them His Spirit, Who would then be sending them.

I've been thinking about Paul, laying hands on someone for healing, Peter sharing the gospel with thousands. I thought of the countless miracles written in the New Testament alone and asked God, “Why not right now?” These men believed… expected… that God would show up on their behalf (2Chron. 6:19a). They believed that the Holy Spirit “had their back” and when they ministered, laid hands, shared the gospel… the miraculous was going to happen. Now fast forward about 2,000 years… It’s you and I…
What about us? Are we submitting ourselves to the authority of Holy Spirit or are we asking Him to submit to us? Are we showing people BY EXAMPLE that the Spirit is still moving, working and performing miracles or are we just talking about it? The fact is, we need to make sure that we go back to our roots, we need to get back to being radical. If we’re not there, we need to cry out in humble honesty to God and beg for forgiveness for being afraid of being out of control…

That’s what the real issue is, isn’t it? We’re afraid. Fearful that if the Spirit has control and moves in our lives, that we (now out of control) have the possibility of looking “weird, crazy, or fanatical?” Out of control stretches our comfort zones and absolutely requires us to wholly lean on the Spirit. So we’ll trade the leading of the Spirit for a model of someone else who was truly led by Him. We’ll talk about the Holy Spirit and put our seal of approval on the gifts, but we won’t really regularly provide the opportunity or the encouragement to acquire them and use them.

Please don’t miss my heart on this… I’m not putting anybody down. Let’s talk about and share how we are going to get “back on track.” During our regular weekly schedules, how and when are we going to allow the church to be exposed to the real deal, to get baptized in the Spirit, to operate in the gifts of the Spirit? Maybe you’re one of the faithful… please share with us your experience and how this happens at your place of worship. I’d love to hear some God stories too…