Christian Education and the Holy Spirit
What’s the Connection? And a Practical Exhortation.
I have a specific and practical connection between Christian Education and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in my mind, and I’m going to try to argue clearly for it. Discussions among Christians about the work of the Spirit can be divisive, which is a grievous thing (pun intended). But I hope I can be thoughtful, helpful, humble, and always biblical in what I put into print here on the topic.
First, An Overview of the Spirit’s Ministry Today
Aiming for what Christians can all agree upon, here are some clear New Testament texts concerning the normative ministerial operations of the Third Person of the Trinity within the “holy catholic Church” (let the reader understand).
John 16:7-15
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
This passage is immensely important for a number of reasons. For one, it is the clearest articulation of the ministry of the Holy Spirit given by the Son in the revealed Word. We would do well to use this text to assist us in harmonizing other passages in Scripture that teach on the ministry of the Spirit.
A second important facet of Jesus’ teaching here is that it seems clear by context that his words about the Spirit’s ministry are not merely operative for the Apostles uniquely (as in other places, ala Luke 24:48-49 and Acts 1:8), but are also instructive of the Spirit’s work in Christians not granted the special, unique, and currently-closed gift of Apostleship. The contextual clues for this are twofold. First, Jesus talks about how the Spirit was going to come because he was going away, and since Jesus is still in heaven we can presume that the ministry of the Spirit continues in his physical absence as he describes in John 16. The second contextual clue is in chapter 17 (same discourse) where Jesus says that he has in view all believers throughout all time, and not merely the limited office of Apostle in the first generation of the Church (John 17:20). So in John 16 we have some instructions about the Spirit which are for all of us.
And a third vital element of this passage is that it clearly sets before us the relationship between the members of the Trinity and the revealed Holy Scriptures. Based on texts like Ephesians 4:11-14, 2 Peter 1:19-21, and Hebrews 2:1-4, we see that the Bible as we now know it is the only continuing supernatural ministry of the Apostles today. But John 16 tells us that the Apostles would hear from the Spirit, who would speak whatever is Christ’s which he had received from the Father. So the Trinity would be unified in revealing the Word to the Apostles, which they have subsequently inscripturated for the Church.
Galatians 5:16-26
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
The big-picture lesson from these verses is that the Spirit generates righteousness and not sin in those whom he indwells. And that we are a walking incongruity if we evidence works of the flesh while professing the life of the Spirit of God inside us.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
In this text we come to things that sincere Christians may disagree on — namely, which of these kinds of gifts are normative throughout all ages of the Church and which are limited only the the Apostolic era. But what is clear and agreed-upon is that the gifts of the Holy Spirit as described here by Paul have the following qualities:
1. The gifts of the Spirit are verified by orthodoxy (vs 1-3).
2. The gifts of the Spirit are granted to all Christians for the common good (vs 4-7).
3. The gifts of the Spirit are administered by the will of the Spirit alone (vs 11).
A Common Thread
We actually could discern a few common threads that run through these texts. None of those common ideas would contradict each other, nor would they contradict other Bible passages which articulate the ministry of the Spirit to the people of God. But there is one common theme which I believe will help make a helpful and practical connection to Christian Education, which is the whole point of this piece after all.
I believe these passages, along with others in Scripture, make a compelling case for the fact that the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of Christians is never separated from the ministry of Scripture in the minds of Christians. And it is this reality which can inform our educational choices so as to put students in a position of maximizing the work of God’s Spirit in them (and I would doubt anyone would argue against seeking to do that in the Christian Education world).
So, I’ll first lay out my argument from Scripture; after that I’ll connect it to the ministry of the Christian school.
The Connection Between the Spirit and the Word
In 1 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul begins a new section in his letter, concerning a new topic that the Corinthians had apparently asked him about. His thorough answer runs through chapter 14, and it concerns the proper and orderly usage of spiritual gifts.
What is paramount for us to recognize in our efforts to faithfully understand these three chapters is that he lays out all his teachings on top of the context of the pagan religious practices which the Corinthians used to follow. He refers to the fact that it is by the leadership of mute idols that pagan worship is driven (verse 2). But, conversely to that, Christian worship and practice results in the confession of truth by the mouth of those filled with God’s Spirit (verse 3).
So, whatever it is that the Holy Spirt does in a Christian, and however he gifts the members of the Church to serve one another, it is essentially different from paganism with respect to truth. Leaders of pagan religions have to invent religious instruction, because the supposed deities they follow are, well, made of stone and wood. But the Christian Church follows the living Word of their God, as revealed by the ministry of the Spirit. This means that all of Paul’s instructions on the functioning of the Spirit’s gifts have a direct connection to the fact that God lives and reveals truth by his Spirit. Put another way, we cannot understand the Spirit’s ministry in the Church apart from understanding God’s ministry of revealing of truth to his people. Or, there’s never a true working of God’s Spirit in the Church which isn’t connected to the comprehension of God’s truth in some way or another — because we are no longer led astray by mute idols.
In Galatians 5 we read about the fruit (singular) of the Spirit as compared to the works of the flesh. And an important contextual clue for us comes in verses 13-15, where Paul indicates that our Christian freedom is supposed to enable us to actually fulfill the law of God — “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Verse 14) This means that Christians obey the law (the revealed instructions of God, i.e. the Bible) when they faithfully love each other.
Yet this kind of love is no easy task; our flesh would have us do the opposite. This is why Paul says to “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (verse 16) So, the ministry of the Spirit in Christians can be summed up as the means by which we are empowered to fulfill God’s law of loving one another. Again, we see that the work of the Spirit in us is connected to the commandments of God in his Word, which we have perceived in our minds.
And then in John 16 the connection between the Spirit’s work and the Word of God is explicitly clear. Jesus says that the Spirit will “guide you into all the truth,” and that “whatever he hears he will speak,” and that “he will take what is [Christ’s] and declare it to you.” (verses 13-15)
It’s because of this connection that we can understand a verse like Romans 10:14 — “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” Jesus helps us to see that this Word of Christ (the written Scriptures) is literally the speaking of the Spirit of God for us to hear. And since the Apostles wrote down what the Spirit told them from Christ, we have the truth of Christ in our Bibles as surely as if he were standing with us and speaking to us. (Actually, more surely than that, from what Peter says in 2 Peter 1:16-19.) It’s the ministry of the Spirit that makes it that way, and it’s because of this reality that the Spirit uses only his own Word to accomplish his will in his people.
Finally Making the Point
This all finally brings me to the whole point of this writing.
If the personal ministry of the Spirit of God today is always connected to and dependent upon the ministry of the Word of God (and it is), and if we are to be concerned with maximizing the ministry of the Spirit in our midst as Christians (and we are), then it follows that Christians should be all about emphasizing and prioritizing and clarifying the revealed truth of God in Scripture in all things.
What is more, we should understand that the only means by which the Spirit affects supernatural change in us is through the truth of God’s Word in the mind. If this weren’t the case, we would have no need of the special revelation of the Bible.
So, how does a Christian school make the most of the work of the Spirit in its hallways and classrooms? It’s not necessarily by singing the most passion-stirring songs or by bringing in the most riveting speakers in chapel. It’s not necessarily by setting aside special days for students to focus more on spiritual things. Nor is it necessarily by dumping loads of academic Bible work onto students. None of these things are inherently wrong (although they could be), but also none of them are what Scripture explicitly connects to the ministry of the Spirit in God’s people.
It’s rather the living Word of God, the gracious commandments of the Law of Christ, the voice of Jesus himself in Scripture which accompany the ministry of God’s Spirit. And it’s not a mere coincidental connection that joins the Spirit to the Word. The connection between the Word and the Spirit is operational in nature, in that the Word is the ideological substance which the Spirit utilizes to affect spiritual changes in a person. We put truth from Scripture into our minds, and the Spirit uses it to accomplish supernatural things in us — things that no other process could attain.
I’ve often explained it this way to my kids when teaching them about what the Holy Spirit does in a person: The Spirit does not generate truth in our minds; he rather uses the truth of the Word that has been put there to affect great things in our hearts. He doesn’t work in a vacuum. He operates in powerful ways with the truth of God from his Word that we put into our minds. So, it behooves us to put Scripture in.
At a Christian school, our means for attaining maximum Spirit impact should be the faithful application of Scripture to the minds of our students. As I already alluded, this kind of faithful application of Scripture isn’t done via emotional experience or even by the drilling of Bible facts into the mind as we do math multiplication tables. It’s rather by the skilled and humble weaving of the Word of God into the warp and woof of all things that we do — by praying Bible-rich prayers, by correcting and counseling with Scripture, by vetting a book character’s morality by the Word, by exemplifying Christian virtue, by demonstrating that we love the Word, and by so many other normative and seemingly small things. It’s by such faithful application of Scripture into the minds of students that the most incredible spiritual change can occur by the power of the Spirit.
All too often in our age, Christian organizations look for great spiritual change by means of great external things. Big concerts and conferences. High energy and emotive music. Dramatic stories and appeals to the conscience. The seeking of intense high-impact experience has replaced the faithful application of small bits of Scriptural truth here and there over the long-haul. It’s the patient and faithful approach that the Spirit uses. And I wonder who it is that uses the other.