Sometimes I can’t help but scratch my head and think, “what are we thinking?”.

In many churches today you keep hearing the phrase, “we don’t do those things in our services, we don’t want to scare off the new people”. Interesting… Jesus made it very clear the purpose of Holy Spirit in our midst and why He has to come. Yet we think somehow, we know better, we can reach people better. Let’s take a look at what Jesus had to say about the issue…

John 16:5-15 NLT

The Work of the Holy Spirit
5 “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.

Here the Advocate is mentioned, (A.K.A. Holy Spirit, Counselor, Comforter, Encourager) these are all things that people flock to the church for. They are lost and are seeking PEACE, JOY, HELP in some of their greatest times of need. Yet we don’t want to introduce them to the One who was SENT to be all the things we need, because we think they might not like Him for who He is…

8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

Holy Spirit has a specific role in our lives and in our churches. He is sent to convict the world of its sin, ok… that’s probably not the most popular message in the church right now…but it’s the GOSPEL. Why are we in church if we can’t come to a place of repentance and realize that who and what we are isn’t right without Jesus! We have to know about righteousness that only comes through Jesus, and they have to know there is a coming judgement. Yet I know these aren’t popular feel-good messages, but that’s why Jesus sent THE COMFORTER, and ENCOURAGER to deliver these messages to the church today! He has a purpose, yet we think we have figured out the formula to do it better.

12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

He is the one sent to guide us into all TRUTH, He is the Spirit of Truth. He’s only coming to give us words directly from Heaven. He’s going to warn us of future things coming, He’s going to bring us strength and encouragement coming from Jesus for now. He has so much He wants to offer each one of us… yet we won’t allow Him to come in and be front and center. He knows the secrets of Heaven and the heart of the Father, yet somehow, we think we can do it better… God, please help our hearts to follow Your Word & let the Holy Spirit guide us in all truth!

The other day I had an illustration come to mind:

Say you are running an amazing Non-Profit for children, so you hosted a huge Fundraiser Dinner Event. So, of course you invited friends & family and sponsors you already have. You begin to fill in the seating charts for the event and have everything filled. All of the sudden you hear a man who has a lot of money in the area is very interested in your mission & wants to attend the dinner. What do you do? Do you tell him I’m sorry you will have to sit outside because all of the arrangements have been made and I can’t make room for you. Or do you move mountains to make sure he is front and center at your event, so he gets to hear all the testimonies of everything your organization is doing to help the lives of these kids and the community?

It’s obvious what the answer would be, yet why isn’t it so obvious in our church services?

*Disclaimer- I do know some people who do misuse the “spirit” in their services and therefore cause people to run scared… but I am a firm believer that if you are really making room for the Spirit of God to move in your services- His goal isn’t to scare them off. Yes, do some people get scared when their sinful nature gets confronted… YEP! But again, we have to remember to let God, BE GOD!

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.