The Flesh vs. The Spirit
By John Telgren
I used to think that walking according to the Spirit and not the
flesh as having to do merely with moral behavior. I have come to
realize that it goes much deeper than this.
"But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren
beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the
beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and
faith in the truth" (2 Thess 2:13).
"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in
righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit" (Tit 3:5),
This tells me that the Spirit sanctifies me and renews me. This
renewal means that I put off the old self and put on the new
self. It also means that I am no longer conformed to this world,
but transformed by the renewing of my mind. The transformation
needs to come from the inside out. My mind needs to be renewed.
I need to walk AND think according to the Spirit.
Walking according to the flesh can take on the appearance of
religion, yet be devoid of the Spirit of God. Several years ago,
I remember reading a book by Gayle Erwin entitled, The Jesus
Style. In it, he talks about the "style" that Jesus conducted
his ministry in. First of all Jesus is born in a barn to a
Jewish working class family in a backwater place called Israel
in a insignificant town called Bethlehem. That would be like
being born in Toadsuck Arkansas. He is given a very, very common
name, "Jesus," which is a Greek form of the Hebrew name,
"Joshua." Jesus chooses a band of ordinary people to be his
disciples, which included people such as fishermen, a tax
collector and a zealot, which would be like having a member of
the KKK and an African American on the same team. Then there is
the way he died - crucified on a cross. In 1 Corinthians, Paul
said that the cross is foolishness to the Greeks. I couldn't
fully relate to this because we do not use crosses the way they
were used in the 1st century world. A modern day equivalent
would be an electric chair, gas chamber, or hangman's noose. If
people were to hear a preacher say, "Take up your hangman's
noose and follow Christ," or sing a song that said, "At the
electric chair the electric chair where I first saw the light"
or say, "I am gassed to death with Christ nevertheless I live"
we would be ridiculed and mocked.
My flesh would want to do it all differently. I would want the
savior to be born in a wealthy and powerful family with
influence where he could receive the finest education and be
groomed for being a ruler from birth. He would need to have a
name other than something so common as "Josh," perhaps Joseph
Witherington III, or something like that. He would need to
assemble a dream team worthy to carry out the mission. He would
need to go to the finest universities and theological schools
and get a couple of Bible scholars and theologians to expound
intricate theological questions. He would need to go to
Hollywood to find a couple of good-looking guys with charisma to
be the front men for his organization. He would also need to go
to Wall Street and get a financial guy to manage his enterprise.
He would need to get an architect that could build and
impressive headquarters with its own zip code. Finally, he would
need to go to Gold's Gym and get some body guards and put them
in black suits with dark sun glasses. My flesh would want to
have him die on a battlefield in a glorious battle, not in a gas
chamber or electric chair. My flesh would want to clean it all
up and make it socially palatable and acceptable. I would want
to make gold jewelry out of the cross. I would want to build
ornate, breathtaking, beautiful church buildings. There should
be no low-lifes, losers, or people like that in the church. They
need to be cleaned up to look "respectable."
I remember meeting a lady who bragged about her church of over
1,000 people. It had impressive architecture, a modern art
sculpture out front, a foyer that rivaled a shopping mall,
numerous programs, a school, a counseling center, a fleet of
buses, and a professional ministry staff that would rival CEO's
of any cooperation. One of the guys on the ministry staff had an
MBA. What is all of that compared to a little church in Toadsuck
Arkansas? I have preached in places like this where the building
is aging, little white wood frame building on a hill. The
parking lot is gravel, the carpet is worn, the pews are run
down, and a retired guy and along with a preaching student serve
as the preachers. It appears that there is no comparison between
this lowly, backwards church and the huge, successful church in
the city. But when I think of that little church in the hills, I
don't think of the building. I think of people like Clint, who
would drive you over 2 hours to Little Rock if need be. I think
of Brenda who would invite you over to her place for lunch. I
think of George who had the spare room that he would offer out
hospitably. I think of Clara who was wealthy but generous with
any need that arose. I think of the bedridden Mrs. Chamblis who
couldn't get out of bed, but faithfully sent letters to World
Bible School Students. I think of Glenna who would listen to you
like you were the most important person in the world. When I
think of that little church, I don't think of their aging
building, but of wonderful, sweet, godly people.
Isn't this what God looks at? My flesh may look at stained glass
windows, ornate decorations, impressive programs and things of
this nature. However, if I am in tune with the Spirit, I will
see it as God sees it. All the stuff that my flesh sees is
invisible to God. He looks past the façade and into the hearts
of his people. As Jesus demonstrated, ministry is all about
people.
There is a reason why Jesus told his disciples to wait in
Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit before they went out. They needed
to go out in the Spirit rather than in the flesh. I notice that
they didn't try to clean up the foolishness of the cross. They
gloried in it and spoke the message boldly. The power of God was
displayed in their weakness. This is a challenge for me because
my flesh often wants to rely too much on human philosophies of
management, leadership and wisdom. I sometimes have the tendency
to evaluate spiritual things with fleshly measures of success.
My flesh wants what makes me look good. I sometimes want to have
a contingency plan for everything before moving forward, which
tells me I may be relying on my flesh rather than on the power
of the Spirit. I sometimes make ministry more complicated than
it really is. I need to be filled with the Spirit and walk
according to the Spirit and think according to the Spirit rather
than the flesh.
John Telgren
http://epreacher.org
