Discussions with several friends have had me looking at what the New Testament says about focusing on the spiritual. This is a well and good thing, it seems, when balanced with the right priorities. But what happens when people come to God with the wrong motives? What happens when it isn't so much God that people want, as the nifty little things that happen when God comes to town?
One of the first incidents of a conversion gone bad occurs in Acts 8. It focuses on man named Simon the Sorcerer. In Samaria, Simon would woo the crowds with displays of supernatural power. He soothsaid, he enchanted, he cast spells. Early Church historians relate his also having a consort whom he claimed to be a manifestation of the godhead1, and within whom was a pearl of the purest heaven. Through her intervention, and the secret knowledge he held, mere men – heavenly beings imprisoned in these cells of flesh – could ascend back to the state of bliss whence we originated. Or so he claimed.
False messiah, Gnostic syncretist, spiritualist huckster, spellcaster, soothsayer, enchanter... by the standards of Deuteronomy 18, he should have had his head lopped off.
But something happens to him – Simon sees a spiritual power that goes beyond his abilities. He is perhaps scheming the entire time, perhaps genuinely moved. Whatever the case, he decides to listen to Phillip. He gets baptised. He joins the Congregation.
Now, in just a little while, the Disciples down in Jerusalem get wind of this. They're glad. They praise God. But they know water baptism is only half the deal. They need the baptism (immersion) of the Holy Spirit up there in Samaria, so John and Peter go to lay hands and pray.
Now note how essential baptism of the Holy Spirit is. Like I intimated earlier, "baptism" is just a fancy, Greek way of saying "immersion." In the Disciples' eyes, the new Samaritan believers need this blessing in order to truly be a part of the Congregation2. Along with the baptism of the Holy Spirit undoubtedly come the usual signs, wonders, tongues, prophecies and everything else. Indeed, the manifestations and dynamis of the Spirit's work makes Simon's magic pale. Simon saw this and thought this is it!
So Simon uses the only thing he knows to get the power – and one might presume from his past as a crowd-pleaser, enchanter, false messiah and showman for various magical, mysterious and supernatural abilities, his motives might not be entirely altruistic. In fact, they are most likely quite far away from altruistic. Nevertheless, he makes an offer...
"I'll pay you a $50 registration fee for this power... another $200 for VIP passes!"
"I'll pay you a 10% covenant tithe, plus a love offering!"
"I want to sow a seed into your ministry so I can reap a harvest of your ministry's power!"
Whatever the case, Simon tried to use money as a means to the power of the Holy Spirit. The Disciples, on the other hand, are none-too keen on the idea. To be precise, they're furious.
Maybe they remember Jesus' simple command: "Freely you have received, so freely you shall give." Perhaps they recalled the fury of the Lord when He saw the sacrifice-sellers and money-changers at the Temple of God, ripping people off just so they'd be able to worship.
Maybe they recalled Jesus' statement that you cannot serve God and money. Maybe even memories of Judas Iscariot flashed through their minds – one of their own who betrayed the Lord to His death for thirty pieces of silver. What if their fears were that they themselves might fall prey to Mammon's curse? Oh, that we had more ministers in this land in this time who had this concern foremost in their minds!
Keeping with his character, Peter speaks up to Simon. Most translations render his first sentence in Acts 8:20 as "May your money perish with you!" or something along those lines. Not exactly kind words, by any esteem. But here I love how the Living Bible captures the boldness and harshness with which Peter speaks on the matter; "to hell with you and your money!"
Yes, to hell with you and your money! You think you can buy the gifts of God? You have nothing to do with this – your heart is not right with God! Repent of this desire for power, and this notion that it can be bought, and then I'm sure God will forgive you. But you, I perceive, are poisoned with bitterness and enslaved to iniquity.
God's power cannot be bought.
There isn't enough money in the world for it. There's no school that teaches it. There are no indulgences that grant the power of God. Even the institution of apostolic succession could not preserve the wonder-working activity of the Ruach Ha'Kodesh.
Simon wants not just to purchase God's power, he wants to use it for a money-making scheme. He wants to show it off. He wants to reduce the life-giving Spirit of the very Creator of the Universe, and use it for parlour tricks so he can get a decent return on his investment. Comb your mind and ask yourselves if you know ministries like this. Ask, is this the power of God to bring dead men to life, or is it just something else to do because I'm bored? Is this the power of God, or perhaps, mass hysteria? Mass hypnosis? Inducement? Maybe it isn't anything even so benign - when you're toying with the spiritual and not using the utmost caution and discernment, know that there are other spirits that would love to grab a hold of you!
God's power cannot be controlled
Note again that the Disciples refused to lay hands on the man whose heart was not right with God. Those who did receive the power of the Spirit only to go on into outright rebellion had this odd habit of winding up dead. God's Spirit does not fall on people because of rituals, commands or ordinances. When it does come, it will not stay put in the nice little "happy Holy Spirit time" corner we want to make. The Spirit comes in and wreaks havoc on the strongholds the Devil once held. There won't just be jumping, laughing and crying, but repentance. Deep, deep repentance. There will also be signs and wonders, but they glorify the Lord and spread His Kingdom - they do not live at the service of mere men!
God's power cannot be ignored
Simon Magus, hardened sinner that he was, even had to recognise this. When Jesus opposed demons in His earthly ministry, they knew who He was, and knew their number was up. When the Spirit of God drops like a bomb on a place, when real revival comes, the doubts fly away. The occurrences are obvious. In Wales, 1904, pubs and bars were shutting down because men weren't binge drinking enough. In America in the early 19th century, the second Great Awakening set the roots for abolition, women's suffrage, and united the country for the last time before the slow, steady spiritual decay that led to the Civil War set in.
Throughout history we can see signs of the power of God. It's never just fun and games. It's never a dog and pony show. And every time it happens, things shake. Foundations are set and others are uprooted. The course of nations has changed because of how God's Spirit has acted over them.
But as it was in the beginning, so it is nowadays. Everywhere we look in the church, another Simon Magus is offering spirituality and contentment for a price. Another huckster is trying to delude God's people and line his own coffers. Another charlatan is taking advantage of our desire to see revival so he or she can sell us a revival of their own design.
Will we stand aside and let Simon Magus subvert our Lord and poison His reputation with falsities and impurities? Or will we take the zealot's course - will we stand with Peter saying that this is wrong! Greed and the Gospel are wrong! Trying to command God's Spirit is wrong! Christian spirituality without deep, meaningful change is wrong!
To hell with that! To hell with all of that! This land is in too much pain to let us compromise in our hearts with the impurity that saps God's people of their power. I want revival. I want Him.
Nothing else matters.
Perhaps even yet we may repent, and come to experience the glory of the Holy Spirit. Until then, pray. The time for revival could be nigh. It could also be very, very far away.
1 - Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity. Boston: Beacon Press, 1963. p.103ff.
2 - For a powerful and scholarly assessment of the importance of baptism of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament see J.D.G. Dunn, Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Re-Examination of the New Testament Teaching on the Gift of the Holy Spirit in Relation to Pentecostalism Today. Philadelphia: John Knox Press, 1970.
Wow. that was powerful man.
Posted by: Jason | 15 May 2008 at 06:51 PM