10 Signs that We Don’t Believe in the Power of the Holy Spirit
Several weeks ago I was thinking about how little we talk about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christ-followers. I began to consider how I live out my life, and, I was convicted…which, by the way, is one indication that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives. I thought it might be good to consider the conversation here especially as it relates to leaders in the Church. Based on that, here are…
10 Signs that We Don’t Believe in the Power of the Holy Spirit
- We are experiencing anxiety and bitterness in our lives rather than joy and kindness. (Galatians 5:22-23)
- We can’t remember the last time we prayed for the people we lead. (Romans 8:26)
- The churches we lead aren’t growing and reaching more people. (Acts 9:31)
- The churches we lead aren’t outreach focused. (Acts 1:8)
- We think it’s our responsibility to convict people of sin. (John 16:8)
- We are stuck in sinful patterns rather than pursuing the things of God. (Galations 5:16:17)
- We think we have the power to change people. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
- We are more concerned about the rules than we are our freedom in Christ. (Galations 3:2-3)
- We think we can explain the mysteries of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-12)
- We are creating division and aren’t promoting unity within the Church. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
It might be good to begin the week and this next season of ministry by studying and praying through this list. My prayer is that your life and your ministry would continue to experience its fullest potential in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hey Tony,
Thank you for these ten signs. We all need to be diligent and keeping our whits about us when it comes to this area of personal spiritual awareness. We need to pray 2 Timothy 1:7 everyday. Pray that the Holy Spirit would fill us with His love, power and self-discipline.
Have a GREAT day.
Blessings,
Dave
Totally nailed it Tony. Obviously, you’ve been spending time in prayer talking to the Holy Spirit! Stay close to Him!
Tony,
Thanks for these. They came at a timely point in my life and in ministry.
God bless you,
Rob
Tony,
Great post! I think you absolutely right! If we aren’t relying on the Holy Spirit we are just setting ourselves up for failure!
In His Grip,
Jacob
So churches that aren’t growing in number aren’t relying enough on the Holy Spirit? I guess this is true in some cases but a blanket statement comes off as nothing more than fundamentalism to me. Sometimes a church shrinks as it begins to rely on the Holy Spirit more than it has in the past.
Tyler, share more. Can you shoot me examples from Scripture where there’s a direct connection between people being empowered by the Holy Spirit and the number of believers getting smaller? There are several examples in Acts where the leaders were full of the Spirit and the number of people believing in the Lord grew.
btw… we’re both INTJs. That means were both perfect. :-)
tony
Good thoughts, what about “Our lives look nothing like what happened in Acts.”
Thanks, Tony!
I needed exactly that today!
Tony and Tyler,
Here are a couple examples off the top of my head about people led by the Holy Spirit had congregations that shrank.
First one is Moses. This may be a stretch as he did not have the Holy Spirit as we do now, but he did have a pretty close relationship with God.
As Moses was leading the children of Israel, some of the people got so upset that God separated the earth to swallow them up. Then others got mad at Moses for killing the Lord’s people, so God pulled away Moses and Aaron and sent a plague to kill almost 15K more.
Number 16: 28-50
The second example is from Paul, which is a more definite example of being led by the Spirit. He gets near the end of his life and is in a prison in Rome. He feels alone as all have left him except Luke.
2 Timothy 4: 9-11
I do think that if your ministry is not growing then it is good point to bring to God in prayer. Maybe it is that we are not trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit; maybe He is doing something else. Just as you have in point 9, maybe it is a mystery that He wants to cause us to learn more about His ways.
Tony, I did want to say that I like the list. I think it will cause those who are being led by the Holy Spirit an opportunity to have a spiritual check up. Thanks.
INTJs FTW! Perfect is right.
I think many of the Old Testament prophets are a great example. God was leading them in their words and in their leadership and many people would turn away from them. Essentially the numbers of people would ebb and flow while their diligence to God remained constant and even growing. I just have a hard time thinking a church’s level of commitment to seeking God and being Spirit always results in increasing numbers. In a perfect world it would, but I know many pastors who are being led by the Spirit in their churches and yet people are leaving.
Tony,
Is it harsh for me to say I HATE YOU! I didn’t need to hear this right now…because it is EXACTLY where I am and where my elders are. This is going to help us get back in the right frame of heart to lead like Jesus is really in charge – not us. Thanks!