The Spirit is conveyed as relating to believers as the “paraclete,” which means the “helper” or “advocate.”  The Spirit is understood as one who is “called alongside to help the believer,” and thus our preaching, teaching, and worshiping of God should be understood in light of the Spirit’s aid.

The role of preaching and the Holy Spirit  have as a foremost truth that the one who preaches, i.e., proclaiming the gospel, is one who should have as their central theme the glory of God.  I mentioned the concept of the Spirit being a helper for the believer; and, if this is true (John 14:16), preaching that is aided by the Spirit should model the intent of the Spirit, and that intent is to glorify Christ (John 16:14).  The Messiah himself, Jesus, was dependent on the “Spirit of Power” for the message he proclaimed (Luke 4:14; 18); thus, how much more should human preachers be dependent on the Spirit to enable spiritual preaching?  Paul conveys just this idea (Romans 5:19), as seen in his statement to the Corinthians: “…my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).  Thus, the task of proclaiming the gospel, from its milk to meat (which is evangelism in its purest form), is a task that should be soaked in prayer and dependency on the Spirit.  Further, it should necessarily result in the manifestation of the glory of God, and not seven steps to feel better about yourself masqueraded as gospel.

Secondly, teaching is tied very closely to preaching.  In fact, it is hard to make a distinction between the two, other than to say that preaching usually at some points seeks to answer the question of application, while teaching is portrayed a little more academically and doesn’t necessarily ask that question (although it could).  Teaching is spoken of as a gift in Ephesians 4:11, and like preaching or the other gifts, it is needed for bringing the church to maturity.  Further, John seems to shed a different light on the need of teachers (1 John 2:27) when saying that believers have no need of anyone to teach them because they have the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  However, the concept is not to reject teachers, but that the Spirit aids the believer in discerning true gospel from that which is false; moreover, the Spirit illumines the mind so that we may truly apprehend what is being taught.

Worship is one of the more elusive areas of theology to put into writing.  Yet, all have experienced it in one way or another.  At the heart, it has to do with connecting to something greater than oneself; it is the ascribing of worth to God.  Worship is even seen at rock concerts when fans hold cigarette lighters in the air signifying that something transcending their own sense of reality is being experienced.  In whatever fashion you may deem it, they worship what the music creates.  Believers, however, in a much greater way, connect to the eternal and infinite God. Yet, the manner of doing so, as John writes, is in Spirit and truth.  Thus, emotion and truth together constitute worship.  When one “worships” God without doctrinal substantiation, it lacks the heart and foundation of what the act stands for.  Further, when the mind is only full of knowledge, and no outpouring of the Spirit, it lacks its breath and life.

Will Uminn , Dana Arledge, Phil Meade, Kevin Farmer