We don't create an environment to manufacture God's presence
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| English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
But there are times when God makes his presence known more clearly, more tangibly. Like in 1 Cor. 14:25, when the secrets of a man’s heart are revealed by prophetic words and he declares, “God is really among you” (1 Cor. 14:25). We experience it when our hearts are flooded with peace, or we are suddenly aware of God’s greatness and majesty, or when someone is healed. It might come as well when God’s preached Word pierces to our heart and we find ourselves weeping at the Holy Spirit’s conviction or God’s mercy in Christ. We think, “God is really here.”
While God’s active, or manifest, presence is to be treasured and even sought after (Ps. 27:4; Ps. 105:4), there are some unhelpful perspectives about God’s presence we want to avoid.
No one can consistently and meaningfully “bring God’s manifest presence” to a group of people. No musician, no pastor, no singer, no preacher, no leader – nobody. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit and he functions on his own terms, not ours (John 3:8; 1 Cor. 12:11). God comes to us.
Of course, the Spirit uses means. When God’s Word is preached in an engaging, faithful, Christ-exalting way, people will often experience a greater awareness of God’s presence. When we sing biblical truths together, God will often make his presence known among us in a tangible way. It’s the rare Christian who hasn’t at some time experienced the nearness of God at a Sunday meeting.
The richness of those experiences can tempt leaders to think our ultimate goal is helping people experience the presence of God. Well, yes and no. If “helping people” means doing everything I can to exalt the glory of Jesus in their minds, hearts, and wills through biblically informed words and actions, then yes. But if my goal is to have people “feel something,” and if the measure of my success is the degree of emotional fervor in the room, I’ll tend to use what ever means I can to produce that emotional response. I may start to believe my song, my leadership, my voice, my set list, or my playing will bring God’s presence. And it’s possible I’ll begin to view every experience, regardless of its source, as the result of an encounter with God.
Does a speaker guest speaker insure that “God will show up?” To be clear, God does show up because he is present with his people. Why then do we try to manufacture an atmosphere?
Marketing God’s presence refers to promoting my ministry, song, book, or concert on the basis of how consistently people experience God’s presence as a result.
We can’t take people into the presence of Christ. We can proclaim the gospel that assures us we have been brought near to the Father through the finished atoning work of Christ (Heb. 10:19-22). We leave it to the Holy Spirit to apply that to people’s hearts.
God’s power, like God’s presence, can’t be bought or sold. God doesn’t call us so much to be facilitators of his glory as faithful to the gospel. Our job isn’t to create an “environment of excitement” but an environment of response to the true God through the gospel in the power of the Spirit.
