Anytime I write on a topic that has even a hint of political implication, I run the risk of causing a kerfuffle (admission: I just wanted to write “kerfuffle”). People usually read what is written through a preformed political filter. I suspect that yesterday’s topic was no different.
My conservative friends read “occupy movement” and they think hippie, law-breaking, rabble rousers (admission #2: I just wanted to write “rabble rousers”). My liberal friends read “occupy movement” and they think Tibetan monks on a holy quest. Neither is completely true.
Admittedly, comparing followers of Jesus to a cultural movement of protest isn’t my best effort. I say this not because it draws political battle lines but because it stops short of any real solution. Part one of this post isn’t enough to make a lasting impact. We’ve tried all of that. Mobilizing Christians usually lasts for about an hour-and-a-half. Besides that, the church is a notoriously heavy sleeper. To roust us from our slumber can be an exhausting effort in futility. We need more.
We need a different kind of occupation. We need a different kind of movement.
Acts chapter 2 gives us a picture of what it looks like when the Holy Spirit occupies. It’s a story that is still sending shock waves throughout history. The early church experienced the movement of the Holy Spirit and the world was changed. We need that movement again.
Moral outrage is a catalyst but not a solution. The solution has always been the pervading presence of a holy God. We need the Holy Spirit to sweep through our churches. We need the Holy Spirit to overtake our cities. We need the Holy Spirit to occupy our hearts.
Let us bow in repentance, worship with abandon, and pray for the work of the Holy Spirit. Because there can be no change without His direction; there can be no movement without His presence. Anything short of that is just shouting in the streets.
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