Interactions with God #48
February 9, 2015
Interactions with God #48
I have never been big on “Christian-ese” terms. They always seem to be a means of denoting greater biblical intelligence or “spiritual” awareness. It just seems really prideful and irrelevant to me. The term, for what happened in this interaction, would be called “the Anointing” by many hyper-spiritual circles within the church. Me, I simply dubbed it “going off”. I think that better described what actually happened.
Anointing, is a biblical term. However, “I do not think it means what you think it means” really applies here. When God called a man of God to anoint someone, they would pour oil on them. The oil pouring was nothing more than a symbolic act to show that GOD had picked them for a special purpose. Does this happen from a spiritual perspective? Possibly, but I don’t see any great evidence of it in the scriptures. Yet it is taught that way on a regular basis. It is also how many men and women elevate themselves over others. That is just plain wrong.
“That guy is really anointed!” What they are really saying is that God is using them at the moment. Is that REALLY an anointing? Maybe, maybe not. God uses lots of people. That doesn’t make them better than anyone else, or even called with a “special” purpose. God uses whoever He wants, whenever He wants. Success, in an action, also does not signify God’s approval or anointing. Keep in mind, Judas was among those who came back after the first “outing”, thrilled about their authority to cast out demons.
Since the acts of God, through a man or woman, seem to elevate them so, evil-hearted men/women, will fake it. These are those who boast often enough of their wonderful spirituality. A true man of God would not do such things. Why? Because they know God is not pleased with that at all. If they continue, punishment WILL follow. God does NOT want us to elevate ourselves. That is abundantly clear in scripture.
Yet, many Christian’s love these self-proclaimed heroes. These “anointed” ones. Of course when the separation happens on judgment day, these goats will be made known. The differentiator will not be how “anointed” they were. Nor what great things they did. No, it will be how they treated others. That is really not a difficult thing for us to see, even now. “You shall know them by their fruit”. Do they have thorns?? In other words, are they jerks? We need to stop defending these men and women. If they are jerks, who cares how powerfully God appears to be using them. “Depart from me, I never knew you!”…. Yea, they should be warned, not worshiped.
Ok, so off my rant. While teaching the Sunday school class, I always made notes on the topic I planned to teach. The document I used was a simple outline with scriptural references and anecdotes to cover. On most Sunday school messages, I followed these outlines without much deviation. However, every now and again, something odd would happen. The best way I could describe it was that my heart would explode. Right in the middle of a scripture, line or example, I would get this wave of heart felt emotion and confidence. I would then go completely off my lesson plan. For the remainder of my message, I had no idea where I was going. Even so, without fear and no real direction, I would continue. The message would always round out at the end and make complete sense. In fact, what came out was by far better than what I had planned. I don’t really think my voice changed, nor did my demeanor or posture, but something changed. Something definitely spiritual and I absolutely loved it.
The clearest sign, was the reaction of the teens. In one moment they were barely there. They might be talking quietly to their neighbor, passing notes, or even seconds from nodding off. The next moment, they would be listening as though I was talking about their favorite topic in all the world. The change was immediate, and obvious. I realized after a few months what was happening. God moved, or in the “spiritual” vernacular, God’s anointing came.
Every time this happened, the students would line up after the class to talk to me. I don’t think they ever understood why. They would stand there awkwardly fishing around for something to chat about. “How is your family?” “What are you doing today?” “Nice weather we are having.” Since the Spirit of God moved through the message, the students got a taste of Him and they liked it. When the class ended, the flood of God’s presence that had poured out from me, stopped. Yet, the teens, just like us adults, still wanted more. They didn’t’ even know what they wanted. This left them in that awkward place, asking pointless questions while trying to syphon more out of me. The problem was, the flood wasn’t coming FROM me, only through me. I had not yet learned a valuable truth. It was my job to redirect their attention to the source of that wonderful flood, Jesus Christ himself.
While, it took a few years for me to realize that truth, I did understand that God’s presence was there and He did His work through my puny efforts. That was a big deal to me. It still is. Unfortunately, I have been unable to be used this way for years. Not because of sin or unwillingness, but rather opportunity. Though this sometimes makes me sad, I do have His promise that my time on the bench will end. My hope is that when I do get off the bench, I will hit the “field” with a new vengeance and far greater capacity to “go off”.