This week, we’ve been going through some classes required by the state for foster parents. Some of the information has been helpful, but I’ve also had to bite my tongue when the instructor talks about all the different government agencies and organizations we’re supposed to turn to for help. Not only are most of them faceless bureaucracies, they also lack one major thing that Dan Edelen reminds us of in this post:
We must rediscover the one distinction that sets the Church apart from all other groups and institutions on this planet. We can talk about what the Church does, its commission, its command of the things of God, but none of those define the Church.
What makes the Church The Church ? The Holy Spirit.
Have we forgotten the mind-blowing reality of Pentecost? The Eternal Creator God came and indwelt men and women! He sealed them for eternity as His people. He empowered them with charismata by His Holy Spirit. The charge Jesus Christ gave could now be fulfilled because He lived inside those who believed on His name!
The Muslims don’t have the Holy Spirit. The Hindus don’t have the Holy Spirit. The Rotary Club doesn’t have the Holy Spirit. The United Nations doesn’t have the Holy Spirit.
The Church of Jesus Christ alone has the Holy Spirit! That radical truth quakes the world and demolishes every misconception we hold about the task Christ charged those of us who have the Holy Spirit.