The Holy Spirit in our Worship
Members of churches across multiple denominations all over the United States and across the world gather each week to worship and praise God. These congregations might worship a little differently in the way the liturgical practices are conducted, whether they take communion weekly or turn the lights off or meet outside, but they all share the same message of hope and freedom found in Christ. There is one distinct difference that does arise in many different church congregations about the focus of our worship, and that is the lack of focus or attention placed on arguably the most active part of the trinity, the Holy Spirit.
Some churches devote to an extreme and almost hyper-focused view of the Holy Spirit while others hardly ever mention its existence. The churches I have always been a part of, Southern Baptist Convention congregations, fall in the camp of the latter church where the Holy Spirit is often thrown on the back-burner and sometimes forgotten unless mentioned in the weekly passage. The Bible is very clear that the Holy Spirit exists and is an integral part of our lives. Ezekiel 36:26–27 proclaims “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” We see here that our hardened heart is made new by the work of the Spirit and we will be guided to serve the Lord in all our actions. The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit will not only give us a desire to follow God’s laws but also gives us new directions from God in how we should continue to live our lives. This is made apparent in Joel 2:28–29 where Joel exclaims “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. We also see here that it is not just the high priest that receives this ability but the servants, men and women as well.
What does all this mean? Well, it means that many of our churches have a Holy Spirit deficit. We tend to see the Holy Spirit as an inanimate and impersonal being that takes the sidelines in most situations because we only focus on God being the Father and Jesus. But Chris Morgan is very clear when he states in his book, Christian Theology, that “Impersonal forces also do not convict people of sin, but the Spirit does, as Jesus says: “When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment” (John 16:8).” The reality is the Holy Spirit is alive and active and is really who we are dealing with when we tend to say Jesus. Jesus himself claims this to be true when He says in John 16:7–11: “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” He says that He has to go in order for the Holy Spirit to come and carry on the knowledge that the world is full of sin but the prince of this world, the devil, stands condemned and is defeated.
I share all of this to bring about the point that many churches have this knowledge but often forget to celebrate and acknowledge the Holy Spirit in our worship. The hope is that this will serve as a reminder of how amazing our God is and also how every church can and needs to recognize and praise the Holy Spirit in our worship.
