In the last few days I’ve had several conversations with friends and the leaders of our church community about how to navigate ministry in the midst of the coronavirus. Opinions and ideas have been all over the map, particularly as to whether we ought to gather our communities in person or go solely digital.
In my next few blog posts I’m going to “think out loud” as I process and respond to some of the conversations I’ve had with our local leaders, leaders across the country, and what I’m seeing in the news and on social media.
These posts are not definitive statements about how everyone should think or act during the current chaos. They’re also not thoroughly researched and reasoned theological stances. What they are is an attempt to process the current crisis through a biblical lens and an offer of hope to counter the climate of fear that pervades most online conversation.
During the Threshingfloor leadership team’s Sunday night conversation and prayer, Jesus’ words in John 14 stuck in my mind. I woke up Monday morning with them still bouncing around in my head and decided to pursue the idea of the Holy Spirit’s impact on how we view the coronavirus and process its implications for our micro-churches. Here’s what I found.
Two spirits
In the three passages below we see the contrasting of two spirits; The Holy Spirit versus what I will call the spirit of the world. Both Jesus and Paul set these spirits up as inherently opposed to each other. The Spirit Jesus gives is a spirit of peace, not as the world gives. Paul says that the Spirit we’ve been given is not a spirit of fear, but a spirit of sonship, power, love, and self-control.
The spirit of the world and the Holy Spirit are two distinct camps. You live in both simultaneously. Either you’re living in submission to the spirit of the world and letting that direct your thoughts and actions or you’re living in submission to the Spirit of God and letting Him direct you.
If you’ve put your faith in Jesus you have received the Holy Spirit, but that doesn’t mean that you’re bound to always see with His perspective. As beings with the capability of choice we get to make decisions about what spirit we’re going to operate in in a given moment. That’s why Paul takes the time to remind the church in Rome or his disciple Timothy what kind of Spirit they had received.
What spirit are you in?
That means that here in the midst of a pandemic and the chaos it’s caused we have a moment-by-moment choice; will we agree with the spirit of the world, or will we agree with the Spirit of God? And how do you know which one you’re operating in line with?
For many in this season it doesn’t seem to be an easy thing to know, so let’s use the verses above to get a taste for what markers distinguish these two spirits. As Jesus says multiple times throughout the Gospels, you will know a tree by its fruit. In the same way you will know whether you’re living under the spirit of the world or the Holy Spirit based on the results in your thoughts, emotions, and actions.
Contrasting the Spirits
Let’s contrast these two spirits by walking phrase by phrase through the texts below. They clearly describe (some of) what the Holy Spirit does and some of what the opposing worldly spirit does as well.
John 14:25-27
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
The Holy Spirit is our or helper and comforter
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name”
The first thing that Jesus says is that the Holy Spirit is a helper. If you’re operating in the Holy Spirit you will have a sense of being helped along, supported, and cared for.
The spirit of the world hinders rather than helps
The spirit of this world is the opposite. It will hinder rather than help. If you’re in line with the spirit of the world rather than the Holy Spirit you’ll feel like you’re struggling to make headway and feeling stuck.
The Holy Spirit brings Jesus’ words to mind
“he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”
The specific way that the Holy Spirit helps us is by teaching us and bringing Jesus’ words to mind. When you’re going about your day do thoughts that align with God’s word come to mind? When you’re struggling to resolve a difficult dilemma or find peace if applicable truth from scripture comes to mind odds are you’re in the Holy Spirit.
The spirit of the world distracts you from what Jesus said
However, if the things that come most readily to mind are worries of what others’ opinions might be, questions about worldly outcomes, and drives you toward more research and study on the internet, it’s likely that you’re following the lead of the spirit of the world.
The Holy Spirit gives supernatural peace
““Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” One of the key distinctives of the Holy Spirit is the peace he brings. Note well that peace isn’t the absence of concern or worry – it is a steadfast confidence that all will be well. If you’re in the midst of chaos and have peace when the world around you is frightened and anxious, odds are you’re in line with the Holy Spirit.
The spirit of the world stirs up anxiety and fear
Note the frequency of the word fear in the above verses. One of the primary things that the spirit of the world does is keep you in fear, so much so that Paul describes it as being enslaved to fear in the next passage, from Romans 8. If you find yourself swirling in an overwhelming mix of anxiety and fear you’re probably listening to the spirit of the world.
Romans 8:14-16
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
The Holy Spirit reminds you you’re God’s child
When you know that you’re God’s child you don’t have room for fear. Your heavenly Father is the most powerful and good being in the entirety of existence. What worry could you have when you know that you can cry out, “Daddy!” and he will come running to your aid?
The spirit of the world enslaves you to fear
The spirit of the world, on the other hand, is a slave master. Slavery to fear looks like not being able to escape fearful, anxious thoughts. If you’re in the spirit of the world you’ll find yourself unable to shake off fear. As a result your actions will be primarily fear-driven, defensive, and frantic rather than powerful.
2 Timothy 1:7
God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
The Holy Spirit gives power
The Holy Spirit makes you know the power you have in Christ. As a result you live your life proactively rather than reactively, taking action on what you can take action on and entrusting the rest to God.
The spirit of the world makes you feel powerless
When you’re powerless circumstances feel out of your control. Rather than taking powerful action and entrusting the rest to God you feel like a victim of circumstances, helpless at the whims of the world.
The Holy Spirit gives love
If you’re operating under the influence of the Holy Spirit you’ll be primarily living from a place of love, desiring good for those around you and willing to give up your own good for their sake.
The spirit of the world kills love
By contrast the spirit of the world kills love, instead encouraging us to be motivated by jealousy, anger, bitterness, fear, or any of the other myriad of emotions that can drive the human psyche.
The Holy Spirit gives a sound mind
The King James Version translates “self control” as “a sound mind.” When we’re living under the leadership of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to take our thoughts captive and push aside chaos, confusion, and distress, replacing it with faith, hope, and love so that we can operate in healthy ways.
The spirit of the world gives unsoundness
However, if you’re under the leadership of the spirit of the world your mind will feel chaotic, disturbed, and confused – as James puts it in his epistle, like a wave tossed to and fro by the winds.
Summary
So, if we were to the realities stated in these three passages of scripture about the Spirit of Jesus and the spirit of the world side by side, it might look like this:
| The Holy Spirit | The spirit of the world |
| Helps | Hinders |
| Brings Jesus’ words to mind | Distracts from Jesus’ words |
| Gives supernatural peace | Gives anxiety and fear |
| Reminds you you’re a child of God | Tells you you’re a slave to fear |
| Gives power | Makes you feel powerless |
| Gives love | Kills love |
| Gives a sound mind | Gives an unsound mind |
Take your pick
Question for you. What spirit are you living under right now? Based on the truths above, which spirit are you submitting to today? Paul wrote in Romans 6:16 that if we present ourselves to anyone (or any spiritual reality) as an obedient slave, we will become slaves of the one we obey. As a follower of Jesus we get to decide whether we’ll submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit or if we’ll go along with the spirit of the world. Take your pick about where you want to be.
Note it well – this is a moment-by-moment choice – and some moments are harder than others. And these days and weeks ari one of those particularly challenging moments. The whole world around us is freaking out. The spirit of the world is speaking loudly, and the Holy Spirit generally speaks quietly enough that we need to intentionally attend to his voice if we are to hear.
A final note
One last thing – in this post I am not advocating for or against any specific actions as an individual or as a church or organization. Instead, my hope is to simply lay a spiritual groundwork for how we view this whole thing.
Two different people could make the same choice about whether to stay home or go out and one be doing it from a worldly spirit and the other from the spirit of God
For instance, as an extrovert could go out to hang out with some friends at the grocery store and do so out of a worldly spirit because I’m anxious and fearful of being cooped up for another day. My wife Kelly, who’s significantly more introverted and cautious, could make the exact same choice and go to the grocery store and visit with a couple friends while shopping and do so by the Holy Spirit, choosing to hold to the peace and power of God despite the risk of contracting coronavirus inherent in going out.
In future posts I’ll attempt to draw a few principles for our current situation from the way Jesus interacts with people and the infectious diseases that were present during his ministry.
Regardless of what you do today and over the next few weeks and months ask yourself, “what spirit am I living in today?” My prayer for all of us is that we would be able to stay firmly rooted and grounded in the peace, power, and love of Jesus’ Holy Spirit.
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