Out of every point so far this ‘S’ is the certainly the most ‘spiritual.’ The first three elements of The Year of the S relate more to the one28 program, that is, they each relate to things that our ministry does. Small group schedules, senior Wednesdays, and the upcoming snow retreat are really just different events that are planned, organized, and carried out. And by definition such program elements are more focused on that which is earthly and temporal. So what will make our ministry a spiritual ministry?
The obvious answer is the Spirit — so, The Year of the SPIRIT. Our ministry will be spiritual when it is filled with people who have been given new life by the Spirit (John 3:5) and thus are guaranteed eternal life by the sealing of the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). Even more, the temporal things that we do and the earthly events that take place will take on a spiritual nature when we are filled with the Spirit and walk by the Spirit. There are at least three things here that deserve further comment.
First, being filled with the Spirit is an issue of control. In Ephesians 5:18 we are commanded, “do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” The contrast between drunken living and Spirit living is instructive. A drunk person is dominated by alcohol. We talk about a person like this being “under the influence.” So everything an intoxicated person thinks, decides, talks about, or does is controlled by the alcohol. As Christians, however, we are to be drunk with the Spirit. We are to be dominated by, under the influence of, controlled by God’s Spirit. This means that everything we think about, every decision we make, everything we talk about and each thing we do should be directed by the Spirit.*
Second, walking by the Spirit is not natural for us, but it is super-natural. Galatians 5:16-24 describes another contrast involving the Spirit, but here the contrast is between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. It is natural for men to pursue the desires of their flesh and “the works of the flesh are evident.” A representative list of fifteen fleshly works are listed in verses 19-21; works which ought never to characterize individual attitudes or interpersonal relationships of those in our ministry. Rather, if we live by the Spirit we should also walk by the Spirit (v.25). And when we walk by the Spirit there will be visible fruit (note that fruit is singular: “the fruit of the Spirit is…” and not “the fruits of the Spirit are…”). Depending on your perspective the fruit may look like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness” or “self-control,” but this supernatural fruit will be present in a spiritual ministry.
The final comment I want to make is that being filled with and walking by the Spirit logically leads to a discussion on credit. Since we cannot produce any good fruit on our own, and since the Spirit must be the source of all our good fruit, God must get all the credit! In fact, all things are to be for His glory and for His glory alone. This will take us to a future blog and our final S, the year of soli deo gloria.
No matter what our one28 program is, I earnestly long for our ministry to be spiritual. I believe that will happen when we have a ministry full of Spirit-filled, Spirit-walking staff and students.
*A person who is controlled by the Spirit is a person who is richly indwelt by God’s Word, since the same results follow from each (addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart). So a spiritual life is not some mystical life, but a biblical life.
