Louise's story:

Reflections on the importance of the human spirit

By DAVID ALLEN

LOUISE - that's not her real name by the way - came into the church one Sunday evening. It was, as always twenty years ago, our gospel service. She was an attractive, well-groomed and intelligent woman of about thirty. And she listened intently to the message I was preaching. At the close she was the first to respond to the appeal and took no persuasion to come to the counselling room. Imagine how happy we all were when, having wept tears of repentance, she emerged with a broad smile on her face to be hugged by church members and introduced as the very latest addition to the family of God. Hallelujah! For a few weeks Louise was at almost every meeting and activity; then she dropped off. I was naturally worried and called round to see her. She was very open and frank. "You've a really great bunch of people in your church and you've always been a tremendous help," she said. She went on to explain what a bad time she and been having. Her business was in a bad way; her marriage was in ruins; she had been drinking and smoking too much. A sadly familiar story, but she then went on to say that we had all helped her to get back on her feet again and she would be eternally grateful for that. As for the church "and all that," she had not got the time for it now things were back to normal and she was back on her feet again.

We never saw Louise again. And the marvellous conversion we all thought we had witnessed proved to be a mere phantom. There are few things more disappointing and disheartening to a pastor or his flock.

The Human Spirit: historical and doctrinal

I learned a lot from the experience - chiefly to be a bit more cautions before claiming that anyone has been "born again". But there are other important lessons to be learned; and here is where the matter of the human spirit comes in, not as a mere theological talking point or abstraction but as a very practical issue.

It was only when the gospel spread into the wider Gentile world that the nature and function of the spirit began to be addressed. And the early Christian thinkers and teachers such as Justin Martyr in the second century and Origen in the third felt that the work of Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle-they worked three centuries or so before Christ-supplied them with some useful terms and ideas as they sought to defend the Christian faith and commend it to the Graeco-Roman world.

The upshot was that the majority of Christian teachers came to view the human person or consti

tution as being a trichotomy i.e. consisting of three parts, namely body, soul and spirit. Such passages as Paul's blessing of the saints at Thessalonica, they felt, were the biblical sanction for such a view:

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Though most modern theologians stress that the human person should be viewed in terms of wholeness and essential unity, the tripartite view, unfashionable as it may be, does help to throw light on the kind of situation highlighted by Louise's story as summarised above.

At this point some attempt at a definition of the spirit needs to be made. Eminent theologian Colin Brown speaks of the spirit as "the aspect of a man through which God most immediately encounters him, through which he enters the realm of reality that is beyond ordinary observation".

The implications of this are enormous and it comes down to this: a relationship with God can only be established at the level of the spirit. This is no mere philosophical notion either. Way back in the beginning, it was only when God breathed into the body of clay that He had formed that man
"became a living being" (Genesis 2:7b), set above the rest of creation and alone capable of fellowship with Him.

The respective Hebrew and Greek words used for breath and spirit in the two Testaments can, in fact, according to context, be translated either way; so when God gave man breath/spirit it was that which made him uniquely spiritual: by inspiring or breathing into the clay the Supreme Being made a human being, thereby communicating something of His very nature. Despite the fall, men and women retain a capacity for fellowship: the Lord still communicated with them in the garden and after their banishment, though they had foolishly disobeyed. And, whilst we mustn't forget that God took the initiative in our salvation, that salvation is only possible via the spirit -His Spirit enlivening and acting upon our spirits. The fall damaged the human spirit but did not destroy it: and it still retains as the `God breathed' aspect/part of our constitution, a capacity for contact with the divine. The old hymn puts it well, I think, when it declares. "Deep in the human heart, crushed by the Tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore..."

John Wesley learned the importance of a truly spiritual encounter with God only after a long and agonising struggle. Brought up in an Anglican parsonage, trained at Oxford for the priesthood, he only belatedly found salvation in that upper room in Aldersgate Street some time after August Spangenberg, a Moravian bishop, had pointedly asked him whether he had the witness in his spirit that he was indeed a child of God (cf. Romans 8:15,16).

The Human Spirit: Louise's story analysed

All this may seem a far cry from the story with which we began. Not at all; when Louise came into our assembly, desperate, depressed and almost suicidal, she found warmth, support and genuine Christian love. The message of God's love also moved her deeply. But here's the rub: neither the love she received nor the message she heard seem to have touched or affected her spirit. Our support and my message got her through a bad patch and that's all that can be said. So who, then, was at fault? What was wrong? Firstly - and perhaps most importantly - we have to ask ourselves whether the message she heard was the authentic gospel and, indeed, whether it was preached "in the power of the spirit". I think I can answer in the affirmative to the first question; but I am not so sure as regards the second. God alone knows the answer.

But then there's Louise's part in all this.Remembering those sobering words of the prophet that the human heart is "deceitful above all things" (Jeremiah 17:9) who can fathom what was in her mind at the time of her deep personal crisis? Perhaps it was a case of `good seed' taking shallow root and then being choked by the "cares of the world" as in the familiar story Jesus told (Matthew 13:22).

There are some things we may never know this side of heaven! Just because there are inscrutable mysteries does not mean, however, that we should not seek to learn from our failures and weaknesses. Louise's story teaches us a number of things. The first is caution and prudence in declaring whether someone is truly born again or not. Whatever we feel, however much they may weep, only time will reveal signs of true repentance and radical, permanent change.

Then there is the matter of what we preach. Twenty years ago someone wrote a book with the title Today's Gospel - Authentic or Synthetic? I thought it a bit strong at the time, but I'm quite shocked today by the thought of what some regard as preaching. Interminable, anecdotes, irrelevant jokes, wandering from the text-that's assuming there is one-are what passes for preaching in some circles. There has, I believe, also been a falling-off in terms of music. Much of it is soulish rather than spiritual. Words are often purely subjective and lacking in the theological content of, for example, a Charles Wesley hymn; rhythm predominates over melody. Stylistically, Christian musicians and singers - or many of them - have capitulated to rock, soul, reggae and the like. In short, much of the music today ministers to the soul - emotions are stirred, physical motion is induced - but rarely does it touch the spirit. Yet, with breathtaking presumption, it is termed `worship'! A generation brought up on the theological equivalent of french fries and cola has to be reclaimed if there is to be even the faintest hope of revival.

The Human Spirit: getting back on track

That reclamation or getting back on track will not be achieved overnight. There can be no quick fix. Indeed, that's part of the problem: for decades we have been plagued with ` quick fix' pragmatism. No one has asked ` Is it true?' let alone `Is it right?' Top priority has been whether the `evangelist' will pull in the crowds and boost the offerings or whether the band and the assorted "Boyzones" ^*1 and "Girlzones" will appeal to the kids.

To put it bluntly, the soul and the flesh have been massaged, manipulated and pandered to "after the pattern of this world" (Romans 12:2); but the spirit has become shrivelled and malnourished.

It is going to take nothing short of a New Reformation: a rehabilitation of scripture as the supreme arbiter and authority; an emphasis on the systematic exposition of the Word in the power of the Spirit; the restoration of the breaking of bread to its central place in worship and a refusal to have our music further Corinthianized.

Too many people-both young and old-have been short-changed for far too long. Only after we have taken these radical steps will we dare to pray. "Revive your work in the midst of the years..." And then, and only then, will the revival we all long for begin to happen.

 *1 Name of a pop group in the UK

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Appeared in Issue13 March 2001
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3