By Greg W. Heisler
In
a recent Knight Ridder news service article on the Holy Spirit, Michael Clerkley,
pastor of Lighthouse of Church of God in Christ, had this to say about the Holy
Spirit’s role in a Christian’s life: “We are Clark Kent, but with the Holy
Ghost, we become Superman.” Immediately the images of Superman come to mind:
superhuman strength, death-defying capabilities, faster than a speeding bullet,
more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound
. . . it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Spirit-filled Christian? Talk of turning
into Superman via the power of the Holy Spirit may fit well in a culture obsessed
with “Extreme Makeovers,” but it certainly has no foundation in Scripture.
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In
fact, Paul’s self-assessment of his own role in the ministry stands in stark
contrast to any Superman mentality: “What after all, is Apollos? And what after
all, is Paul? Only servants” (I Cor. 3: 5). Paul’s humble approach to the
Corinthian church is less than Superman-like as well: “I came to you in weakness,
and in fear, and with much trembling” (I Cor. 2:3). Superman couldn’t handle
his inherent weakness to kryptonite, yet Paul is willing to boast, even delight,
about his: “Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight
in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, and in difficulties. For when I am
weak, then I am strong” (II Cor. 12:9).
Paul
hardly sounds like a man of steel in II Corinthians 12, yet no honest reader
of the New Testament would contest the fact that Paul’s ministry was empowered
by the Holy Spirit. Paul himself confesses that his ministry had little to
do with his own abilities: “My message and my preaching were not with wise
and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that
your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom (not even Superman’s!), but on God’s
power.” (1 Cor. 2:4).
So
what does the Spirit’s power look like when active in a Christian’s life? More
specifically to the preaching context, what does a preacher look like when empowered
by the Holy Spirit: Superman or Clark Kent? These questions lead us to the
often acknowledged but seldom explained topic of the Holy Spirit in preaching.
WHERE’S
THE SPIRIT?
Arturo
Azurdia, in his influential book, Spirit-Empowered Preaching, candidly
exposes the evangelical quandary when it comes to the doctrine of pneumatology: