7 Days to Save the World...
Sydney loves a good festival. The Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Tropfest, “Sexpo”, The Big Day Out. And let’s not forget our proudest moment, the 2000 Olympics.
Then something like World Youth Day comes along. A religious festival seems unlikely to appeal to the tastes of such a sensual city, and yet there we were, forking out millions, venerating Pope Benedict XVI and offering up the precious grass of Randwick Racecourse.
On the surface it looked the same as any other festival: large crowds; countless volunteers, sporting logo embellished t-shirts; public transport running on what should be the city’s standard timetable; and an abhorrent amount of media coverage. Labelled ‘the week Sydney went Holy’, did WYD inspire a true spiritual experience, or was it all flag waving and patriotic chanting? According to the official website, WYD’s aim was for its young pilgrims to meet and experience the love of God.
Surely this can’t be a 7 day fling.
I must confess that I didn’t actually attend a WYD event. But the inescapable coverage of the week did get me thinking about religious experience. One pilgrim told the Herald, the Harbour Bridge walk was a highlight: “Walking over the bridge on top of the water, is like a baptism.” Another pilgrim reflected, “The stations of the cross touched my heart.”
What did I find so wrong about these reports of spiritual experience? Perhaps it was the lack of reference to the source of salvation – Jesus’ death and resurrection. But maybe these pilgrims already know and believe this, and doesn’t the Bible teach of the Holy Spirit’s power to touch hearts? How can we determine authentic spiritual experience?
A truly spiritual experience will be powerful and emotional, but it will be informed by true spiritual knowledge. Jonathan Edwards explains in The Experience that Counts that spiritual experience can only occur with the presence of the Holy Spirit. “Christians are spiritual because they are born of God’s spirit and because the spirit lives within them. Things are spiritual because of their relationship to the Holy Spirit.”* That is, Christians are spiritual only because God unites His Spirit to them. God’s Spirit is a gift to his children: “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.” (Gal 4: 6) To truly experience the spiritual, you must know God.
The test of Spiritual authenticity is relatively simple. Edwards notes that the Holy Spirit within Christians produces results which are in harmony with the Spirit’s own true nature. As you’d expect, you need to get into God’s word to know what this is.
Still, spirituality is not confined to doctrinal knowledge. The Holy Spirit God pours out on his people is a spirit of power, love and fire. Emotion is a real and important part of this. Edwards stresses that a Christian feels true spiritual emotion when he sees and understands God’s word.
We can see this played out in the New Testament. The way we love God is with our mind, our soul and our heart. Zeal, joy, love and a conviction of Jesus’ divinity are all evidence of a life touched by God’s spirit. True spiritual emotions are prompted by a knowledge and understanding of the truth of the gospel. 1 Peter 1:8 is just one example of spiritual emotion that results from knowing God: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him, and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
Throwing yourself into the events of WYD for seven days, attending Hillsong conference, or going to MYC isn’t a fast track to spirituality or holiness. True spirituality goes further than an awesome experience or an electric atmosphere. Becoming spiritual is a result of faith in Jesus and God’s Spirit dwelling in you. Emotions should be part of this. With the Spirit working in us, we should be serving the Lord fervently, with all our heart, growing in our love for Jesus.
By Keren Moran
* Edwards, Jonathan, The Experience that Counts, Grace Publications Trust, London, 1991
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