Motivated by the Spirit

The Misunderstanding of the Church

The understanding of truth and church are fundamental to ministry. A German Protestant professor in Zurich, Emil Brunner opened up for me new perspectives on each. He is regarded as one of the top four or five Protestant systematic theologians of the mid-20th century.

He saw Truth as Encounter, the name of his book. In my philosophy and seminary days, I thought truth was presented in books that had carefully formulated propositions all in a logical order.

In contrast, Brunner highlighted that truth is relationships experienced, not doctrine tightly defined. Encountering Jesus is the truth, the way, the life. Life-changing encounters happen in the heart, not just the head. Heart-work is done by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus said, the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

The other fundamental new perspective came through his book The Misunderstanding of the Church. In his time when most church leaders thought of church, they had in mind church institutions, which in Europe were well developed over centuries. They saw the Christian church of the first several centuries as the “primitive” church. The “early” church is a better name. I regard the early church as the best source for re-learning how to do church more effectively in our times.

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Look on the Other Side of the Coin

Kevin Park is a member of our church who designed and by now has distributed 150,000 grace and mercy coins. One side has a cross and the words “Mercy is when God spares you what you deserve.” The other side has a dove and the words “Grace is when God gives you what you don’t deserve.” It’s a great evangelism tool.

The first side’s cross represents Christ. The other side’s dove is for the Holy Spirit. Mercy is the proper word for the forgiveness God gives us through Christ’s redemption. The Bible word is charis for the gift given, which we call grace. A second kind of grace is called charisma, the gift received. This is always associated with the Holy Spirit. One form is the special energy he gives to do specific ministries (1 Corinthians 12). The other is the higher gifts of love, faith and hope (12:31) and other fruit the Spirit produces in believers, like joy and patience.

Christ’s Advocate Prompts Us

On the evening we call Maundy Thursday Jesus gathered his eleven disciples around a table, perhaps like your dining room table with all the extension leaves inserted. Judas had left. Jesus had a long meandering discussion with those who remained about what was going to happen.

Our church has celebrated the Christian Passover several times on Holy Week. Last time it was led by an Israeli member of Jews for Jesus. The Jewish Passover seder format calls for drinking four cups of wine. The third is the cup of redemption, which is when we assume Jesus consecrated the wine and bread to be his blood and body. I noticed last time that after those four cups I was feeling rather mellow. Imagine that as the mood of those twelve gathered around the table.

Jesus told them, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:16)

The key term in Greek is paraklete, rendered as “Counselor” above but properly translated as “advocate,” like a lawyer who stands beside you and presents your case. In his first letter, John uses that word to describe Jesus as our advocate before the Father. So in that one word paraklete, we have the job description for Jesus and for the Spirit. In his letters, Paul linked them six times as the Spirit of Christ.

Motivated by the Spirit

The Misunderstanding of the Church

Look on the Other Side of the Coin

Christ’s Advocate Prompts Us

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