Tools for Monday: What is the Ultimate Purpose in Life? (Part 6)
Let’s continue in this post our discussion about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate who stands with believers in the ups and downs of life (John 14:16). The Spirit helps us walk with and towards Jesus, who is our telos. A telos refers to a goal or finish line. Hence, life’s ultimate purpose is neither a philosophy nor a legalistic to-do list. Our goal is a Person.
Think of it like this. The renowned Methodist theologian and pastor, Leonard Sweet, said that we are not just to live a purpose-driven life. We are to live a Person-driven life. Jesus is the one who drives us towards himself. We are called to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6).
It is possible, however, for us to go our own way and resist the Spirit. In our previous post, we accordingly talked about how to pay effective attention to the Spirit’s guidance. We warned against equating the Holy Spirit to the human spirit, or to whatever seems popular. We also related how the Holy Spirit is more than a feeling or sense. He is a personal guide who indwells and transforms the soul. We also confirmed how the Holy Spirit alerts us to our sin so we may repent and go the right direction.
What else may we say about the Holy Spirit in practical terms? Here are a few more helps.
- Beware of equating activities to the Holy Spirit. It is a common mistake in our American culture to think that we are doing the right thing just because we are active and busy. There is nothing wrong with fruitful, ethical action. Yet, our activities can become rigidly mechanical if we are not careful and prayerful. We do certain things just because we’ve always done them that way. But the Holy Spirit is not a machine-like guide or a computer. Consider how many times Jesus got away by himself to pray and seek God’s guidance. If it was important for Jesus to evade the hustle and bustle, then how much more important is it for us?
- The Holy Spirit operates in an orderly fashion (1 Cor. 14:26-39). The Corinthian church in biblical times provides quite an illustration for us. That church apparently ran more on feelings and emotionalism than by the Holy Spirit—so much so that the worship services were a chaotic, jumbled mess full of misunderstandings and with people trying to “out-spiritualize” one another. Paul corrected the church by advocating that they follow the Holy Spirit. If we’re not careful, we can fall into the same trap by equating our own impulses and popular spiritual shop talk with the Holy Spirit.
- Remember that the Holy Spirit is a Person in the Triune God. He is not a power like electricity or gravity. The Holy Spirit is the very Spirit of God, not an impersonal force. The presence of the Spirit in our lives means that God himself is present.