Test the Spirits

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God……” [1 John 4:1]

As you read this post, I pray that God will open the eyes of your heart [Ephesians 1:18]. In Ephesians 3:6 Paul lets us into God’s grace – that through the gospel we are “heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” This should therefore locate all of us who believe in God, who have repented of our sins and who have been baptized [Acts 2:38], in a space of perpetual gratitude and humility.

In academia Evidence-based practice [EBP] is often spoken of. EBP is the integration of Clinical expertise/expert opinion [the knowledge, judgment, and critical reasoning acquired through training and professional experience]; Evidence [the best available information gathered from the scientific literature and from data and observations collected on the individual research subject; and Client/patient/caregiver perspectives [the unique set of personal and cultural circumstances, values, priorities, and expectations identified by the client and their caregivers]. When the three components of EBP are considered together, professionals can make informed, evidence-based decisions and provide high-quality services reflecting the interests, values, needs, and choices of individuals in the area that has been researched.

Back in the day we would repeatedly hear from the pulpit how our academic attainments meant nothing to God, and this was supported by scriptures [Acts 4:13; 1 Corinthians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 8:1, etc.]. We would hear how people gave up university admissions to come into the ministry [of Christ], etc. I was so impressed with how individuals “sold” their properties in the Western world in preference for a ministry life in developing countries. The passion for the gospel was so deep that ‘materialism’ [including university education] was discouraged and scorned. If I was at that time trying to gain university admission but advised against it for life in the ministry, I would no doubt have ‘obeyed’. For years, I was insecure in church for being an educated man- no thanks to the insidious attacks on our university degrees from the pulpit.

However, it was these same individuals who, many years later, used the pulpit to boast about the academic/professional attainments of their children – especially in the Western world. If you had denied yourself education by opting for life as a full-time church worker back in the day and here you are in the current congregation listening to this self- praise from the very individuals who advised you not to pursue your academic goal, the eyes of your heart will begin to open. You had also been an instrument in the hands of these individuals when given a pulpit chance in the Western world, to disrespect and insult the university-educated; you practically abused them! However, when God opened the eyes of your heart [His grace], you, in your ‘old’ age headed for the ivory tower! Our children are achieving their academic and professional dreams, and parents are elated! Why was the pulpit deliberately used to avoid Proverbs 1:22; 2:6; and 14:7 back in the day?

Note that as baptized disciples of Christ, we are citizens of the kingdom of God, which is not a bricks-and-mortar entity [Luke 17:20-21; 2 Peter 3:13]. And that is why Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” If you are truly a citizen of God’s kingdom, note that you are in a perpetual spiritual warfare until you die! If you are fully paid by the congregation through their giving and you see nothing wrong in insensitively rubbing talks of “retirement, pension, mortgage, exotic holidays”, etc., in their faces, then, you are already defeated! In 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5, Paul therefore alerts us to the fact that though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. Rather, our weapons of ‘war’ are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, “we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Now, let us return to EBP but this time, as a concept we could apply to our Christian faith. If all your Christian life you have devoted yourself to deliberately striving [and favoured by God’s grace] to seek righteousness [no one is righteous – Romans 3:10], then it is not inappropriate to see yourself as humbly knowledgeable [Proverbs 18:15] and exposed enough to reason critically [Acts 17: 10-11]. Raw evidence emanates from ethnographic first-hand experience of motivation, goals, challenges, lifestyle, culture, and tradition of the individuals that are brought into the church. Finally, you are positioned enough to appreciate the perspectives of church members [the unique set of personal and cultural circumstances, values, priorities, and expectations identified by them].

The next step is to interrogate the spirits for us to be able to make informed, evidence-based conclusions reflecting the interests, values, needs, and choices of modern-day disciples. How we often preach Galatians 5: 19-21 yet ignore the first verse of the chapter! It says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” This is corroborated by 2 Corinthians 3:17. What is a yoke? According to the Oxford Dictionary, it is “a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plough or cart that they are to pull.” It is simply bondage [Jeremiah 28:2], which Merriam-webster Dictionary defines as,”the tenure or service of a villein, a serf, or an enslaved person; a state of being bound usually by compulsion; servitude or subjugation to a controlling person or force.”

Let us look at the emphases above. ‘Do not submit again’ means life before we found Christ was that of submission to the sinful nature [note that Gal 5:19 uses the word ‘evident’]: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, etc. Now, watch this: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” If any of these acts are still found among the congregation, then it means people have completely lost touch with the reason why they were saved.

What is slavery? Oxford Dictionary’s third definition is apt: “a condition of having to work very hard without proper remuneration or appreciation. “What is ‘controlling’? According to Merriam-webster Dictionary, “… inclined to control others' behaviour: DOMINEERING”. What is it to be domineering? The same dictionary describes it as: “to exercise arbitrary or overbearing control; to tyrannize over.” Let us look at the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The passage ends with an admonition: “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other” [Galatians 5: 22-26]. What does it mean to be conceited? According to Merriam-webster Dictionary, “it is a favourable opinion especially: excessive appreciation of one's own worth or virtue.”

Do you have faith, and if you do, how is it? Do you think this is enough for you to make it into the kingdom of heaven? According to apostle Peter, we must make every effort to add to our faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. The apostle assures us that if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, if we do not have them, we are near-sighted and blind, forgetting that we have been cleansed from our past sins. This is how to ensure that we make it into God’s kingdom [2 Peter 1:5-11].

I was recently disturbed by an SMS post from a congregationalist wherein he stated that the Holy Spirit is currently missing where he worships “… especially within the heart of the leadership team.” [His exact words]. Yet another post by a different congregationalist from the same worship setting claims that the leadership uses threats and intimidation “… to silence concerned disciples.” [His exact words]. I also happen to know that some individuals of the congregation have taken drastic steps, which contradict God’s instructions thereby sucking in the ‘corporate’ body church into their ungodliness. I suspect that a lot of people in the congregation live in fear, which I did mention to the leadership. It is confusing if you have given up everything including friends and family to come into God’s kingdom only to be caught up in the middle, which is marked by ambiguity or disorientation. The situation of some of these people has been made worse by their resort to Hebrews 6:4-6. And our hearts are gladdened that they no longer come to church [Matthew 18:10-14] while forgetting our role in their decision to leave! How confidently we quote Romans 13:1-5; 1 Timothy 4:12, etc., but hardly preach on Matthew 20:25-28; 1 Peter 5:2-3, etc.!

Conclusion Apostle John says by default, we should NOT believe every spirit. Rather, we should subject the spirits to Galatians 5:19-21; 2Peter 1:5-11. This write-up resorted to an ethnographic evidence-based approach [not as a research methodology] to position the author in a Berean domain, which resulted in a fair and objective examination of the subject. The interrogation of scriptures revealed that the Holy Spirit does not dwell in fear, anxiety, hypocrisy, conceit, insecurity, authoritarianism, rebellion, disobedience, lie, deceit, selfish ambition, greed, envy, jealousy, manipulation, insincerity, enmity, strife, dissensions, divisions, undermining, ostracism, paranoia, delusion, etc. Rather, He dwells where there is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If your church is not growing, if there is strife, if people are leaving and you do nothing about the situation, then how can you claim that the Holy Spirit’s fire is not already quenched in your congregation? From what a couple of Congregationalists revealed, where the pulpit is weaponized [denigrated] against anyone who challenges leadership, people’s spiritual growth will atrophy. Rather than look at evidence, which is supported by scriptures, we resort to fear-and-insecurity induced acts that further entrench ungodliness in the congregation. We say things but do the opposite- for example, I have heard Ephesians 6:12 referenced numerous times, but we are still waging war as the world does. We quote all the scriptures, sometimes sway our audience but our actions are complete opposite of what we say [Matthew 23: 2-4]. If our over-bloated, deluded self-righteousness [conceit] has, over the years, caused many sincere, God-seeking people to leave [Matthew 23:13] the fellowship, we cannot escape Luke 17: 1-2. Should this not scare us? The good news is, Today is another opportunity for us all to repent [2 Peter 3:8-9]. Therefore, we should no longer harden our hearts [Hebrews 3:8].

I end with excerpts from the admonition of a third brother in the ethnographic study, who started the SMS conversation in the first place: “… May we consider reviewing some of our practices that seem to have exasperated both the young and the old within the congregation…”

Copenhagen Church of Christ