In the last blog, I talked about Christian life as living in the tension between two extremes. I examined two extremes related to his power and might, and the need to live in the tension between the two. Today, I want to look at extremes on how one might live life in the Spirit.
This concept came up recently when I was talking to a non-Catholic friend about life in the Spirit. She was focused on the freedom that comes with following him. She seemed to believe that Catholics did not experience such freedom because of our focus on the hierarchical churches’ teachings. While my friend and I seem to have a very balanced view of these things, I want to visit the extremes at the heart of both of these positions.
On the one hand, freedom in the Spirit has led people to incredible spiritual heights, but there are others who have experienced great strife because they accidentally followed the wrong voice. To see the impact of following the wrong voice, we need only look at the early church and the heresies that arose in relation to questions like – was Jesus a man, a spirit appearing as a man, or true God and true man. People, believing the Spirit told them one answer or another, contributed to a lot of confusion and tension in the early church. This type of thing still happens for we occasionally hear about people committing a crime because they believed God told them to do so. There is freedom in the Spirit, but we must always be aware that there are other spirits talking to us as well.
The other extreme is living a life with minimal to no interaction with the Holy Spirit. Christians in this regard can get caught up in a rules based approach, and can lose their freedom under the new covenant. In my opinion, the true problem with this extreme is that it robs the Holy Spirit of his proper place in our spiritual development. While Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the Holy Spirit is the one who shows us the way. He is the Spirit of truth, the Sanctifier, the Comforter, the Advocate, and so much more. In fact, when you read the Old Testament, you see story after story of people failing to be faithful to God. Then, in Ezekiel 36:27, we hear him prophesy that God would place his spirit within us so that we could be faithful to the covenant. The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in our spiritual development.
In looking at these extremes, it seems that there should be some tension between freely living in the Holy Spirit and having some checks and balances; some way of taking heed of the scriptures that instruct us to always discern or test what we hear in prayer. [e.g., 1 Jn 4:1 and Rom 12:21]. For Catholics, we can rely on Church teaching, which is based on lessons learned over 2,000 years from people properly and improperly living life in the Spirit. The Catholic Church recognizes the need for each Christian to have a personal relationship with God, a relationship that allows the Holy Spirit his proper place in directing our lives. It also recognizes that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and that our life in the Spirit will not take us outside of the boundaries of church teaching. If we hear the Spirit directing us otherwise, it is a good time to stop and ask questions to ensure that we are listening to the correct voice.
Spend some time with the Holy Spirit pondering your own relationship with him. What does your relationship with him look like? Is your spiritual life about following a code of conduct without any assistance from him? What checks and balances do you have in regards to your freedom in the Spirit? Ask him how you can better live the tension between these extremes. As you pray, watch for images, memories, thoughts, and words. These are typical vehicles by which he speaks to us. However, I encourage you to use some form of discernment in regards to how you interpret anything you receive in prayer. Close your prayer thanking him for helping you grow in your personal relationship with him.
In Him,
dw
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