Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/78

Contributor - Will Kroon

Title - The Spirit, The Church, The World

Topic - Church In The World

There is a place in the Old Testament where God tells us specifically what He has in mind for His covenant people. We can find this in Gen. 12:13, where we read that He said to Abraham: ".. I will bless you... so that You will be a blessing... and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed (or will bless themselves)." It is in this passage of scripture where we read that God blesses His people so that they will be a blessing to the world. The New Testament writer refers to this when he states that: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

I feel that God wants us to keep the above in mind when we celebrate Pentecost. There have been times when I had a tendency to see the coming of the Holy Spirit as an end in itself. When that is the case, one has a tendency to put the main stress on the second chapter of the book of Acts and sees what follows as an anticlimax. However, if we understand what God has in mind for His church, then we see that the stress is on the break-through of the Holy Spirit, beginning in Jerusalem and ending up in the capital of the world (the city of Rome). In the book of Acts, we get a picture of what God had in mind when He poured out His Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are to be used as a means, to be a blessing to others, even to the salvation of the world.

Moving On Together

The other day we received a letter from a faithful reader of Pioneer in the Netherlands. In that letter, the writer asked the question: "When are you going to write about 'samen op weg' (traveling together)?" This question has stuck in my mind, for I, too, believe that it is God's will that we move on together as a fellowship of believers.

Have you ever wondered why it is so difficult to move on together as a body of believers? Your answer may be different from mine, and perhaps it is. I believe that it is so hard to travel together because we lack the proper spiritual gifts or misuse those spiritual gifts which we do have. Since there is always a tendency to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit as an end in themselves, rather than as a means to an end, it will always be an uphill battle to move on together. It is no wonder that Christ summarized the will of His father by saying: "Love God and love your neighbour as yourself." He knew that it is real love that makes working together possible.

These past months, I have become impressed, again, by the spiritual gifts of Moses, the great spiritual leader of the Old Testament. That man had the spiritual gifts that made traveling together possible (despite the stubbornness of the Jewish people). He not only had pretty well all the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the New Testament - he also had the fruits of the Spirit, as written in Galatians 5:22.

If God would allow me a choice as to which gifts of the Holy Spirit to grant me in my ministry, I would choose these gifts that make traveling together possible: the gift of love, the gift of caring for others and the gift of apostolic leadership.

Christian Values vs. American Values

Many of the values we treasure are more cultural in nature than Christian. It is not uncommon that Christians vehemently defend the values of their country for they have the impression that they are Christian values. For instance, Christians in North America treasure the values of independence, individualism, freedom and competitiveness. The problem is that these values are not shared by all Christians across the world. In fact, there are many Christians across the world who tend to believe in opposite values. They know that these American values tend to separate people, and so they are a threat to them and their way of life.

Without going into detail, I believe that the Bible does not stress values which separate Christians, but stresses values that unite them. The stress is on co-operation, on the interest of the whole body, on freedom within limits, on belonging, rather than on independence.

Since the churches of this continent are greatly influenced by the cultural values of the United States, there is a tendency for each congregation to do its own thing. It is not surprising at all that the church on this continent is so divided. It is so divided because the cultural values often outweigh the biblical values.

Time for a Break-through

When the Holy Spirit gets a free reign in the lives of people, many breakthroughs may occur. These breakthroughs don't happen automatically, for even the best Christians are not always ready to give the Spirit free reign. Even the Christians in the New Testament needed extra coaching and extra visions to let the Spirit have His way. Let me point out what breakthroughs may occur.

1. A break-through of the Spirit to our hearts. Someone pointed out that a Christian should not say, "I have the Holy Spirit" but rather "the Holy Spirit has me." There is a lot of truth in this, for it is just not true that we let the Holy Spirit take over when we become a Christian. We don't let Him have all of us all the time. I will explain this below.

Nevertheless, the break-through of the Holy Spirit can be a mighty experience. It gives a person a feeling of power, a feeling of belonging, a certainty that one is part of God's people. On the day of Pentecost, people experienced such a break-through. This experience was so overwhelming, that they literally bubbled over with joy and charismatic utterances.

2. A break-through to Christ. One of the major miracles of Pentecost was that people's eyes and hearts were opened to Christ. Prior to Pentecost, Christ was still Jesus of Nazareth to them, but afterwards he became "Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth."

Most people who accepted Christ on Pentecost, already believed in God the Father. No break-through to Him was needed. Could it not be different with many Christians today? Many are firm believers in Christ, but have they ever experienced a breakthrough to the Father in heaven? Jesus wants to lead us to such a break-through. He wants to be the Way to the Father and he taught us to pray to the Father. Perhaps the Holy Spirit may lead us to Christ, and through Christ, to the Father.

3. A break-through to the world. Even the Christians in the New Testament felt that the Holy Spirit was taking them a bit too far. They had many reservations when the Spirit wanted to breakthrough to those not circumcized. Many words were spoken, and many a meeting held before the leaders of the church gave permission to reach out to the world. However, the book of Acts tells us that it happened. Jews, and non-Jews, began to meet together and to work together.

In the beginning I wrote about traveling together to God's promised land. Since I feel this should be our aim in the church, I tend to stress those gifts of the Holy Spirit that make traveling together possible. That is why Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, said "make love your aim."

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