Baptists Don't Believe In The Holy Spirit

That's what she said...  "I've heard that Baptists don't believe in the Holy Spirit."  Her statement kinda caught me off guard.  How dare her say such a thing.  Obviously she didn't know what she was talking about.

It was a couple of weeks ago when I was talking to her.  I had never met her before, and she had never met me.  We were a part of a mission team in Guatemala.  She attends a church/denomination that I really know nothing about.  So, we were talking about what we believed...  I asked her if she knew any Baptists.  She admitted she knew very few maybe one or two.  I then asked her what she had heard about Baptists.  That's when she said it...  "I've heard Baptists don't believe in the Holy Spirit."

Well, being the good Baptist that I am, I quickly corrected her.  I quoted a little scripture, defended  all Baptists everywhere, and preached a quick sermonette about our strong belief in the work of the Holy Spirit.  I felt really good about myself and my beliefs and the fact that I had set her straight about what Baptists believe.

And then I got to thinking.  I wonder how many of us "Baptists" really do believe in the Holy Spirit.  I wonder how many of us follow the leading and the inspiration and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  I wonder how many of us are really Spirit-led.  What I said to her was the truth...or maybe what I hoped to be the truth...maybe what I wanted to be the truth.

We sing the old hymn, "All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down..." But I wonder how many of us worship each Sunday with never a hint of the Holy One coming down.  I wonder how many of us routinely say prayers yet never allow the Spirit to lead us as we pray.  I wonder how many of us who are preachers, actually preach sermons where the Spirit has guided our preparation.

I'm afraid we are about the Holy Spirit like Ron Dunn says we are about the Bible.  He said, "Most of us believe the Bible from cover to cover, we've just never read it from cover to cover."  Ouch.

Maybe we do believe in the Holy Spirit, we've just never followed his guiding.  From the Gospel of John we learn these things about the Holy Spirit...  "He will guide you into all truth..."  "He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment..."  Jesus said, "He will testify of me..."  I believe all that, but am I really following Him as he guides me into all truth?  And I really following His convictions about sin, righteousness, and judgment?  And, am I so filled with his presence that I am keeping my focus on Jesus?

I haven't been able to forget what she said.  I have been bothered about what others think about us... Bothered about the possibility of what she said being the truth.  Maybe her perception is reality.  Maybe we don't really believe in the Holy Spirit.  Maybe we are guilty of taking matters into our own hands without the help of the Spirit.  Maybe we're too selfish and judgmental.  Maybe we're too involved in church politics...too busy manipulating and maneuvering to force our will...too busy that we've forgotten Who saved us and why.

I remember reading in Judges 16 about Samson after he had lost his hair...and lost his strength.  Delilah warned him of the coming Philistines.  He went out to fight, just as he had before not knowing his strength was gone.  The Bible says it like this...  He awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free, " but he did not know the Lord had departed from him.  We're just as guilty of going out and doing our best to shake ourselves free from the shackles of sin and selfishness - never realizing the Lord is not with us as He once was.  But we go on anyway...we go through the motions of worshiping, preaching, teaching, and doing all we call "church"...without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks, Olivia, for making me think.  I sure hope what you heard about Baptists is wrong.  But I am afraid, for many of us, what you heard was right.  Thank you for making me examine my own heart and life.  Thank you for making me a little uncomfortable...and for reminding me just how much I believe in the Holy Spirit and how much I need Him.

After a week's worth of thought and self examination I can honestly say, "I believe in the Holy Spirit."  God help us all.      MM