What is Real Christian Spirituality?
Ecclesiastes 3:11: “He Has Put Eternity into Man’s Heart”
I define spirituality as having a foot in this reality and one in the other plane where reality was created.
Hebrews 11:5 mentions the invisible realm, which is the realm of spirit-inspired senses and abstract experience when the unknown breaks through our consciousness. During such episodes, the individual is in communion with the creator or God’s representatives in the spirit realm.
Only then will guidance and updates occur so the believer can stay on track in growth and provide service to others. The Bible has many examples of this type of relationship. In the Old Testament, during the early Jewish era, only those chosen by God received the Spirit of God (theHoly Spirit in the New Testament). The Spirit provided power such as prophecy, healing, faith and conviction, foresight, and more.
There are overlaps with modern concepts on psychic abilities such as clairvoyance (far-sighted, seeing the future), clairaudience (hearing the invisible), clairsentience (sensing spiritual presences and energy), etc. The Clairs, as they are called when all categories are listed together, seem very consistent with the experiences of what were called prophets in the Bible.
One does not have to be Christian or Jewish to experience psychic abilities. One must have the right relationship with God to be guided by the correct spirit. While such gifts can be essential and desired, the most crucial ability is knowing God’s will and how to stay on track with His goals.
There were examples in the Old Testament of how one received the Spirit of God. A few examples are found in 1 Samuel Chapter 10 (NRSV). This chapter describes the choosing of a man named Saul to be King of Israel. First, Saul was anointed with oil by the prophet Samuel. He is told to join a group of prophets with several musical instruments (harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre). Each prophet is dancing to the music and caught up in what is described as a prophetic frenzy. Verse 6 is crucial as Samuel tells Saul, “Then the spirit of the Lord shall possess you, and you’ll be caught up in a prophetic frenzy along with the other prophets, and you will be turned into a different person.”
Samuel even further says Saul should do whatever he thinks best since God was with him. This seems to imply that when God sends His spirit upon a person, the person’s mind becomes guided in doing the will of God. We see a similar occurrence when Samuel anoints David, the future king after God rejects Saul. In 1 Samuel 16 13, Samuel poured oil over David’s head, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily. The fact that the Spirit of God (or from God) disrupts human intentions is further demonstrated in 1 Samuel 19: 18–24; here we see that when people approached prophets when gathered in a frenzy, those in their presence experience the same frenzy as the spirit falls upon them.
Interestingly, as one follows the career of Saul from chapter 10 to 31 of 1 Samuel, we see both Saul’s rise and ultimate fall. This is due to the human tendency to drift into our selfish desires. God does not stop free will when giving His spirit; it urges and motivates him to do His will. But it is our choice if we do so. If we fail, God, in Saul’s case, removed His Spirit from Saul, resulting in him tormented by an evil spirit. This caused Saul to experience fits of rage and violence. It is not a nice picture, and Saul’s continued poor choices lead to his death.
Another development in Saul’s life was his growing desperation to reconnect to God. He sought God through Jewish priests, dreams, and prophets, but the Lord had departed from him. He became so desperate that he sought a medium to consult the now-dead prophet, Samuel. This bible passage in 1 Samuel 28: 3–20 has been controversial in Christian circles as it gives evidence that consulting the dead is possible. The medium did establish contact with Samuel. However, the message was not promising as it predicted Saul would die the next day. I include this example to say that experiencing psychic phenomena can be confirmed.
The pathways of spirit communication can be similar even when it is not from the Lord. Other spirits may be eager to speak, and mystic encounters can occur through many methods, some inducing a state of frenzy or ecstasy. For the Christian believer, it is again more important to know you are in contact with the right spirit.
There are many examples of spirituality in the Bible and the numerous ways God communicated when chosen people received God’s Spirit. Some are frightening, such as in Daniel, Chapters 7–12. These chapters show a series of visions and visitations from mystic beings that left Daniel weak, even bedridden for days. The visions drained his strength, so the Angel in the vision had to strengthen Daniel lest he die from the intensity of what he witnessed.
Spiritual encounters and visions can be intense, yet many can be deceptively mild. An example is in 1 Kings 19:11–14 when the prophet Elijah is on a hill expecting a word from the lord. He experiences earthquakes, a great wind, and fire — each demonstrating great power, but the Lord was not in them. Instead, the Lord came in a small, quiet voice. In this case, expectations can be deceiving.
Some will say that my examples are from the Old Testament, the Jewish writings that no longer apply to Christianity. Indeed, I have heard and read such comments from scholars and ministers. However, is that true? An interesting passage in the Old Testament book of Numbers, 11:16–30, shows God taking part of His Spirit in Moses and placing it on the seventy elders who will assist Moses in judging the people of Israel. We further see that when God places His spirit on the seventy elders, they begin to prophesy…like the prior examples I have provided regarding Saul, David, and the prophets. Moses’ assistant, Joshua, tells Moses to stop two of the seventy outside the meeting tent from publicly prophesying. Moses responds, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His spirit on them.”
Moses may or may not have known that with that statement, he was prophesying. This is further illustrated in Joel 2:26–29, which reads, “Then afterward, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.”
Moving on to the New Testament, in Matthew 3 11, we see the instrument God will use to pour out his Spirit, as prophesied by Joel. John the Baptist said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me: I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
We begin to see that the Old Testament prophecies on a future pouring out of the Spirit are connected to the arrival of a certain person — Jesus. This further begins to make sense, starting with what Jesus said in Luke 12, 49–53, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided into three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law. And daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
It seems clear what John the Baptist’s reference to fire means: the persecution that would occur against those who believe in Jesus, but what about the Holy Spirit?
The Gospel of John contains rich information regarding Jesus’s giving of the Holy Spirit. In John 14, 15–16, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, who will give you another advocate to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you and will be in you.”
In John 14:25–26, Jesus said, “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”
Jesus says the Holy Spirit cannot be received unless he leaves the earth. His leaving will cause great sorrow, but it is also good. Jesus tells his disciples in John 16: 5–10 that he was leaving them to return to his Father in Heaven. He states that this is a good thing, even while his saying that he was leaving causes sorrow for now; his leaving will allow the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to come as he will send him. There is more in the New Testament that supports this point of view.
The mystery of the exchange between the presence of Jesus in the flesh and the coming of the Holy Spirit is revealed in John 7:37–39. Here, Jesus proclaims,” Let anyone thirsty come to me and let anyone who believes in me drink as the scriptures (Old Testament — see Isaiah 55:1) have said, rivers of living water flow from the believer’s heart. This underscores the believer’s active role in receiving the Spirit, resulting from their faith in him. This was said about the Spirit which believers in him were to receive; for yet there was no Spirit because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
