The Sacred Cow of Being Led by the Spirit

I've been really baffled lately about how dumb we Christians are. I got into an argument recently with someone going on and on about how wrong it is for Christians to love God and yet have a lot of material possessions. Now again, I'm not one of these extreme prosperity teachers, but I see more Biblical support for the idea God blesses us than I do with the idea we have to be poverty stricken in order to show we love Jesus and that anybody who has money, is in sin.



But I thought about this. Is it bad for a Christian business man to be successful? Does he pray that God won't let him be successful? Or does success gauge stewardship in any situation? I've also been thinking lately how someone tried telling me it's dangerous to say it's God's will to heal all--despite all the Scripture in the world saying so---because "it's up to Him and not us".



I was working at my latest job and I started thinking to myself about "what would such logic look like in a work environment?" If I behaved at work like most Christians think and believe and teach others to believe, then I'd be fired after less than a week. Too many wait for "a leading" of the Holy Spirit rather than just stepping out and doing something for God that the Bible TELLS us plainly to do. For example, the charismatic movement has brought a lot of good to the Body of Christ and re-opened many facets of God the Holy Spirit, and being filled with Him that the Body of Christ at large has benefited from. But there's one thing from experience and being around many charismatics I've noticed (and this goes for non-charismatics where the shoe fits): being "led by" the Holy Spirit. We have this mistaken idea that we can't do anything for God until/unless He speaks audibly to us or overwhelmingly influences us in some way to know what He wants us to do. If you wait for a feeling or some kind of inner witness before you'll be confident in laying hands on the sick so as to see them recover--then you'll never see anyone healed or delivered. Get full of the will of God--the Bible. Renew your mind with the Word of God and get the mind of Christ.



I remember doing street witnessing in Charlotte, North Carolina, and one time this very large group of youth walked by us and this new student I was with jumped up onto this ledge on the sidewalk and starts open air preaching. I remember his exact words being something like "Hey everybody, I'd like to take a moment to tell you that Jesus Christ changed my life". Turns out they were a church group, and yelled "we're all saved" and seemed very disinterested in what we had to say. But I really love something Geoffrey said to me afterwards about it, concerning 'being led by the Spirit'. He said "I'd rather have God stop me from doing it, than wait for Him to tell me what He wants me to do [concerning witnessing or open air preaching] or else I'd never do anything for Him".



And that my friends was a breath of fresh air to me.



If evangelicals or charismatics were cops, and they acted in their duties the way most act in their spiritual lives, it would look something like this: I am on the street and I notice that I see a man in dark clothing breaking into a person's house. So instead of going in there and nabbing the guy, I call on my radio to headquarters to find out what their will is. They shout back "Arrest the guy!"



If I were like most well-taught Christians, I'd say "but I want to make sure I have headquarters' will--God might be teaching the guy a lesson and I don't want to interfere against His will for that man." And headquarters' reply: "Didn't you go through the police academy? Did you or did you not go through our training, and swear to uphold the law?" And I reply "Yes, sir" To which he'd reply "Well then go arrest that guy like you've been trained to!!!" And I do so only then after the verbal confirmation from my superior.



Then the next night, I'm staked out doing radar on Highway 115, and see a car drive by well over 140K/hour, and so I radio headquarters again, and ask if I have their permission to pull the speeder over. They respond rather frustrated with me "Yes! Stop calling me every single time you come across a lawbreaker and just enforce the law! And when you're done pulling that guy over, come back in to headquarters and turn in your badge because you're too stupid to be a cop!"



You laugh and think this is all ridiculous (hopefully!) But yet this is actually how almost most of the Christians I know are--we will refuse to do anything for fear that we might do something wrong. We figure for whatever reason, that since God's sovereign, we might get ahead of Him if we lay hands on someone because most don't understand it's His will all are healed anyway. Most don't take witnessing seriously because, after all "not everybody will accept the Gospel, so no need to preach, I'll just wait for them to come to me and then I'll share." Absurd.



I saw an ambulance parked the other day, and I got thinking about this: when they get a 911 call come in to go pick up someone sick, in an accident, or almost dying, do they call someone above them in rank like a superior to make sure they have permission to? Or, do they say to themselves "statistically speaking, not all of these people survive, so we better not pick all of them up. We better be selective because after all, this one might not make it".



Do you see how stupid this is? Yet that is the exact same logic believer after believer use on me when arguing about what the Bible says about a lot of matters, healing and deliverance ministry in particular. To sum it up in a 'thesis statement' a little late in the discussion: most Christians would be fired from their jobs or responsibilities if they acted the on the job the way most popular theology teaches about God's will.



You don't need to ask God every single time you think of doing something you know the Bible teaches. If you are saved, filled with the Holy Spirit and devouring the Word of God and familiar with what He says in it, you can't screw up by trying to do something for Him. Remember the parable of the talents (Matt 25:14-30). The master was NOT pleased with the man who was given only one talent--it was the responsibility of the steward to take what he got and multiplied it, but yet his fear of screwing up kept him from bothering to do anything, and the master was not pleased with him at all. Initiative was required on the part of the steward, the talents didn't increase or multiply themselves.



As long as you are around unsaved people, trust me, the Holy Spirit in you is intensely interested in their salvation. As long as you come across a sick person, the Holy Spirit in you is intensely interested in their healing, and if you come across a demon-oppressed or possessed person, the Holy Spirit in you is deeply moved towards setting them free. So let's quit making excuses for why we will do everything BUT the things Jesus would do, and told us to do likewise.



If you want to know what God's will is, read the Bible and act accordingly. Stop waiting for some kind of Holy Ghost goose bump before you'll step out in faith.

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Steve Bremner - About the Author:


Steve has been a missionary to Europe for over 2 years, and currently lives in Canada while preparing to move to Peru in early 2009. He is a contributing author on the Fire On Your Head Blog, which can be viewed at www.fireonyourhead.org and also co-hosts a bi-weekly podcast with another missionary, Fire On Your Head- The Podcast, at www.fireonyourhead.com Both sites dwell richly in Pentecostal/Charismatic themes within Christianity.