I’m pretty sure we didn't talk to anyone “official” about
our plans, or apply for a permit. We just told everyone we could that we were going
to have “meetings” in the park that weekend. We loaded a piano into the bed of
a pickup and that became the stage. We drove the pickup onto the lawn at the
park, set up some folding chairs, and we were set. Somebody played the piano,
someone else led singing, and I stood up to preach the gospel.
It wasn't pretty, but when I gave the “altar call” there
were some folks in the audience who turned to Christ.
But a strange thing happened in the middle of our evangelistic
zeal. Somehow word of our outdoor evangelism had reached a group of Christians
in a nearby town. They showed up on one of the nights, and after I preached, a
group of five or six of them asked to speak to me.
They pulled their chairs in a circle, with me in the middle.
The spokesman, a young guy with a wispy beard about ten years older than I, asked me
a question: “Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?"
At age 19, I was a relatively new Christian, and though I
had certainly heard of the Holy Spirit, I didn't know anything about “the
baptism” he referred to. He and his friends explained that God wanted to give
me the gift of tongues and that when He did, I would be filled with power.
At the time it seemed a bit odd that they were more
concerned to “evangelize” me than they were to see the gospel preached to the
unsaved folks in the audience. I even pointed out that, as we spoke, a teenage
girl in the audience was praying with someone to commit her life to Christ.
This didn't seem to be a matter of any consequence to my
questioners. They really wanted to see me
pray for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. My attitude was, I love Jesus, and if the baptism in the Holy Spirit would please Him or
help me serve Him better, count me in. So I bowed my head to pray, and as I
did, the group around me began to chant very softly. Ecstatic utterance, they
would have said.
Anyhow, I prayed for a while, asking Christ to give me
whatever He wanted to give me, and the main guy stood over me with his hands on
my head the whole time.
They were pretty disappointed when I didn't speak in
tongues, and I guess I was, too. I was hoping for a jolt of energy, and I
wanted my new friends to be happy for their efforts, too.
Well, that’s been a long time ago. And I won’t presume to
question the motives of those believers who were urging me to pray. But I can
say that, as sincere as they might have been, they were wrong in their approach
and misguided in the doctrine they were teaching me.
I found out later that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is
what God has already done for every Christian to unite them to Himself. When we
believe in Christ, we are all united, baptized, into union with God through the
Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). The baptism is not an experience to be
sought, but a blessing followers of Christ already have. We’re never commanded
to “be baptized in the Holy Spirit” or to “seek the baptism.”
However, and this is a pretty big “however,” we are commanded to “be filled with the
Spirit.” And next time I’d like to share what that means, and what the
evidences of the Holy Spirit’s fullness really are.
In the meantime, if you see somebody sharing the gospel,
pray for them. Maybe the Holy Spirit is already at work.
By the way, if you'd like to study more about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, here's a good little booklet you can read online: The Holy Spirit.
