If you haven’t read my first alliteration on this topic, then I encourage you to. You can find my previous articles on the link that is at the bottom of this page.
Hopefully this topic is one that is of interest and of importance to you. God seems to value His Presence. We see in the Old Testament many prophets, kings and mighty men of God put worth and significance in God’s Presence. Just one glimpse into the Psalms will give us an insight into the mindset of King David. David found joy in the Presence of the Lord.
Psalm Chapter 16, Verse 11 “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Rather than take us through all the Biblical examples of God’s Presence and its importance. Let’s focus on the negative impact or perhaps the adverse connotations that come with this topic. In my last article, I said that Paul was arguing that the Holy Spirit should unite the body of Christ more than it should tear it apart.
South Africa
I was recently in South Africa and I wandered into a church. After enjoying the worship for a much longer and extended amount of time that I am used to in the States, I started to notice many differences in the way they worship. As the teaching started and the preaching began, I noticed more distinctions.
I started to think, “what would happen if we took this church and planted it in the middle of my middle class white society?” I’ll spare you with most of those thoughts. But, the prevailing thought was that the church would get torn apart. Not by the “secular” world, but by the Christian world in which I reside.
Theology
Arguments and lofty ideas that effect the local church, such as the songs that are sung, the clothes worn and the theology on the church’s website would be in question. This church in South Africa doesn’t compare to our seminaries and years of Bible study that have given us the way in which we have dubbed the correct system.
Before you stop reading
I know, that’s kind of harsh and criticising. Here’s my point: The Holy Spirit UNIFIES the body of Christ. I think this point is pretty clear in Paul’s letters (see Ephesians Chapter 4). If there is something as Christians that we can hang our hope on, it’s that our Father from heaven poured out His Spirit on Pentecost. Which unified Jews and Gentiles, making them equal before our Father. My theology and my Bible training doesn’t make me more accepted and loved by God than another son or daughter of God.
Here’s my last thought. In John Chapter 17 Jesus prays for His people.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
My challenge to myself and the reader: Is it possible to unite around the Holy Spirit and God’s Presence? Can we live out Jesus’ prayer to be one?
Jason LaLone was on staff at YWAM Brisbane and is currently in America working with Truro Anglican Church located in Fairfax, Virginia. He is passionate about discipleship, taking Jesus’ command to make disciples a practical reality that he can live on a daily basis. He loves lasagna, cats and used to dislike Monday's, making him most like Garfield.
Jason LaLone’s previous articles might be viewed at: http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/Jason-LaLone.html