Hi, I’m Josh, and I’m Confused About the Holy Spirit

Last updated on: September 26, 2017 at 5:06 am by Josh Daffern

Hi, I’m Josh, and I’m Confused About the Holy Spirit 2017-09-26T05:06:36-06:00 Josh Daffern

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Josh Marshall

Hi, I’m Josh, and I’m a recovering Baptist. I was blessed to be born and raised in a Baptist church, a heritage I thank God for. I was taught right from wrong early on, I knew the Bible stories, I even learned how to sing in four part harmony and I pretty much rocked youth choir. I was a church kid. I had a love/hate relationship with church growing up because they loved me but sometimes they weren’t too sure about the friends and new Christians I kept bringing to church with me.

One of the main aspects of my church upbringing that I’ve had to deprogram myself from (hence the label ‘recovering Baptist’) is what I was taught about the Holy Spirit. Growing up, we just didn’t talk much about the Holy Spirit. It was a bunch about God, with Jesus a close second, and then the Holy Spirit was a distant third. The way it was talked about, it kind of seemed like the Bible had replaced the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. We didn’t really need the Holy Spirit, we had the Bible.

As I got older I heard rumors and whisperings of the Holy Spirit from my friends that went to different churches. Apparently He showed up at other places regularly, although He never decided to stop by our church. In my mind growing up, the Holy Spirit was something to be avoided. As for our charismatic and pentecostal cousins, well, we prayed for them. When I went off to college my curiosity got the better of me and I began to read books from authors like Watchman Nee that claimed Christians needed a second blessing or baptism of the Holy Spirit to be truly effective (or even truly saved). The claim of something more for Christians intrigued me because I had this gnawing sense that I wasn’t living out my fullest Christian potential, and I knew in my soul that it had something to do with the Holy Spirit. And yet I seemed to be given two extreme options, neither of which I was comfortable with.

My upbringing taught me to effectively ignore the person and work of the Holy Spirit. I didn’t need a person of the Godhead, I had a book. The other option seemed to be to seek an emotional experience in a worship service, as if the Holy Spirit’s only role was to give you spiritual goosebumps once the worship service got going good. Neither option seemed it fully lined up with what I read in the New Testament.

I once even went to an English-speaking charismatic church while I was missionary in Africa. I wanted to see how it differed from my experience in church growing up. I loved the contemporary music, I loved the energy, I didn’t love the two invitations that were given, one to accept Jesus and one for Christians who were ready to be baptized in the Holy Ghost, as if salvation and the full Christian experience came in two separate parts. At the end of the day, the majority of my life thus far has been characterized by confusion about the work and person of the Holy Spirit. And I don’t think I’m the only one.

Previous Post

September 21, 2017

Jesus and the Kegger

Next Post

October 2, 2017 Don't Stereotype the Senior Adults In Your Church (Two Surprising Things I Heard)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Family Matters Ministry in the Trenches Morning Brew MTVpastor New Wineskins Top Menu Truth from Life Uncategorized Watch Sermons

Select a Month June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Three friends refused to bow to a golden image and were thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter than usual. Who were they?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Belteshazzar, Hananiah, and Mishael Azariah, Michael, and Gabriel Daniel, Hananiah, and Mishael Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego