Becoming a Holy Spirit Projector in the Marketplace Part 2

Remember how exciting it was to discover the wonders of digital access, the world wide web, and all the information and access it gave us from just a few keystrokes of a computer?

Imagine what it was like when people who for the first time knew what it meant to be “full of the Spirit!”  They couldn’t stop talking about the difference. There was a wholeness they had they never had before. They discovered that they not only could detect the Spirit of Connection. That somehow, when they were completely at peace and relaxed with God’s agency in their lives, they could project it! And wonderful things happened as a result.

I would like to submit the same thing can be true of us today, as we realize we’ve all been given true fullness in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

Let me explain what I mean.

Understanding of The Trinity and the Spirit of Connection

After his resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven as a human being. Having received the Holy Spirit on all humanity’s behalf, he subsequently poured Him out on “all” flesh (Acts 2:33).  So unless I’m reading this wrong, “all” means “all.”

God, we might say, gave humanity “Free God Wi-Fi.”

Some, of course, resisted it—and continue to do so to this day (Acts 7:51). But others were open to it—and since He’s always been “at work on purpose” in the lives of all, perhaps understanding this can change we perceive of allowing God to do His ministry through us in the marketplace.

Since God has in one sense connected with all, even seeking believers and nonbelievers, perhaps this can help us consider the ways we “connect” with seekers and nonbelievers.  The way to connect might not be to hit them over the head with a Bible and its rules.  It might be more about helping them to discover where the Triune God is already been at work in their lives and already made connections and inroads with them.

The God Who Is There For All

Jesus exists in our lives as the deepest reality, in the midst of all our hurt and pain and confusion, and in constant healing care and love. God is not randomly here or there, He is a constant presence in our lives, and at work on purpose. Paul even showed in Acts 17 how he was in the midst of the idolatry of the Athenians, somehow in the idol known as “the unknown god” Acts 17:23. If He was present in the midst of that incredibly non-Biblical lifestyle, where might he be in our everyday workplaces in people’s lives we might never dream He’d be?

When you approach God’s love and presence in all people in this way, the possibilities for discovering Kingdom manifestations become endless. Since free God Wi-Fi has indeed fallen on all flesh, that means God’s Spirit is meeting you in the people you cross paths with every day, in every child, every teacher, every worker, every server, every medical professional, every checkout cashier, in every marketplace, every gym, every retail store, every hair salon, every everything. “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” the Psalmist declares (Psalm 139:7). Such a perspective fills our lives with adventure and expectation. It’s complex, but we are called to discern this dimension of God’s presence even in our enemies.

As Jesus shared with his disciples just before his death (John 15:18-27), if unbelievers oppose you, or if unbelievers accept your teaching, they don’t necessarily know who they are opposing or who they are obeying. Our job, Jesus continues, is to testify about him, to prayerfully endeavor to move people from concepts about God to a personal knowledge of Christ already present in their lives through this “free God Wi-Fi” that has fallen on all flesh.

“This is eternal life,” Jesus said, “that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).  Even if they’re not calling Him the right name yet, it doesn’t matter. Just like the good folks at Alcoholics Anonymous discovered, God will even accept the name Higher Power or The Universe. Did you reject your babies when they couldn’t say Dada or Mama yet? I think you get the point.

We can help these intuitive recipients and funnels of the good the Spirit is doing in them to see Who it is that is empowering the good they are doing.  By becoming astute Spirit detectors, we’re enabled to be effective Spirit projectors—or like I like to say it, become Holy Spirit Hot Spots.

How did God’s people of old do that?  We’ll look at that next time.