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To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. — 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 ESV

What Readers Cannot Do

I’ve been a writer for over a decade, and while I will never rise to the level of authors like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, or P.D. James, I do know a thing or two about writing and reading. If someone reads, say, one of my crime fiction novels, they will encounter a mosaic of characters, twists to the plotline, and a vibrant sequence of settings. They will largely see things through the eyes of my protagonist, Detective Cameron Ballack, as his mixture of logic and intuition will ensnare the perpetrator. They will experience many things. But there is one thing they will never, ever do.

They will never change the story. They will never make it what it is not. The story is mine. I tell it. I give it whatever power it has. 

That seems entirely logical. After all, who would dare to think we had the right to go into someone else’s novel and do things our way? Who would read The Fellowship of the Ring and muse, “No, no, no! I don’t like what Tolkien has done with the wizard! I don’t like the name Gandalf. I think we should call him Mr. Pigglesworth!” And you would read the rest of the epic referring to Gandalf as Mr. Pigglesworth? It would wreck things.  

The Holy Spirit’s Way

Yet there is a temptation to forget a parallel problem as Christians. While we receive the clear teaching that every follower of Jesus is empowered by the Holy Spirit with at least one spiritual gift to edify and fortify the Church (and to receive benefit from others through their gifts, as well), we may subtly forget that the Spirit does this in His own way; we don’t. 

In fact, Jesus gave that same reminder in His midnight chat with Nicodemus when He says, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8 ESV)

We can do this in many ways, but two come to mind. First, we may forget that the Holy Spirit is sovereign, and we are not. He directs us and He prevents us. In Acts 16:6-7, Luke notes that the Spirit “prevented” him, Paul, and others from ministering in the province of Asia. The Holy Spirit—the third person of the Holy Trinity—is not there to rubber-stamp our ideas and declarations. We need to affirm that the Spirit is holy, and ask Him to forgive us for when we merely view Him as useful.

Bending the Spirit to Do Our Will

In my early days of teaching, I was also a head soccer coach. The day after one of our biggest wins, a potential discipline issue came up regarding one of my players. As my assistant coach and I were thinking through how to proceed, another teacher came up to us and declared that she “knew” the player was guilty of a certain accusation. When I asked how she knew, the teacher declared that during her morning devotions that day, the Holy Spirit had revealed it to her through a verse of Scripture.

I am not making this up! My assistant and I were dumbfounded. Not that God can’t work that way, but a little humility before the Holy Spirit would have been nice to see in that moment. It seemed she was using the Spirit to reach a conclusion she’d already drawn.

Another reminder we often need is that we do not choose the gifts we have, nor do we truly have control over the moments we exercise those gifts. Those matters also are under the authority of the Holy Spirit. The opening passage above (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) demonstrates that the Spirit apportions each one individually as He wills. Not only does he endow us with said gifts, He also directs us in proper ways.

How greatly we need to tread humbly here! How confident we can be of doing the Spirit’s work when we should be much more cautious! How many times do we run ahead in our actions, even with the best of motives, thinking that what we are doing has divine sanction?

My paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian pastor and, as the story goes, in one of his churches there was a very zealous man who was very convinced he needed to go confront another church member about his sin. So, one Sunday afternoon, the zealous man heads across town, goes to the other man’s house, and knocks on the door. The wife of the house answered.

“Is your husband available?” the man asked.

“No,” the wife demurred. “He’s gone this afternoon.”

“Well,” the man replied, “he needs to be here, because the Holy Spirit has compelled me to come here and confront him about the presence of a certain sin in his life. I need to speak to your husband!”

To which the wife, nonplussed, responded, “Sir, if the Holy Spirit told you to come here today to speak to my husband, the Holy Spirit would have made sure my husband was home.”

We follow the Spirit, not the other way around. May our lives and prayers be marked by a humility to seek the Holy Spirit’s will, not by attempts to bend Him to do our will. Our impact in God’s world may well hinge on such submission.

Rev. Luke H. Davis

Luke H. Davis serves as Theology department chairman at Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis. He has authored books in the Cameron Ballack Mysteries and the Merivalkan Chronicles, as well as Tough Issues, True Hope. He has also penned lyrics to over fifty new hymns and ordinarily blogs at For Grace and Kingdom. An ordained deacon in the Anglican Church in North America, Luke lives with his wife Christi and their family in St. Charles, Missouri.

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