Testing The Spirits In Contemporary Christianity

Discerning between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God

In the Bible we are told, “Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (I John 4:1).

It is a message about the importance of discernment.  The very idea of discernment is based on the assumption that some things are true and some things are false; that there is a Spirit of truth and a spirit of deception. 

The need for discernment also tells us that it is not always easy to tell the difference between the true and the false, the right and the wrong, because evil or false spirits are deceptive and not easily discerned.  They are able to appear as good and even as angels of light “For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14).  This means that false spirits can appear to be representing God even as preachers and miracle workers and are capable of deceiving many.   One of the outstanding characteristics of the spirit of anti-Christ is the spirit of deception “Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of unrighteousness” and many will succumb “…because they received not the love of the truth that they might be save” (2 Thess. 2:9-10). The Saviour said that at the last judgment “Many will say to me in that day Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you…”  (Matt 7: 22).  These fearful words remind us that the spirit of deception is real, that it is hard to discern from the spirit of truth and that many who think they are following the spirit of truth are in fact being deceived and are following the spirit of deception.

In the Revelation given to St. John we hear the massage of Christ to the seven Churches of Asia in which they are warned that an outward appearance of Christianity and spiritual prosperity means little.  They will be cast out of the kingdom if they do not do the will of God by casting out the false teachings and teachers and embrace the truth  (Rev. 2-3).

 Contrary to popular belief, just because someone claims to believe in Jesus or even performs miracles, does not mean he/she is of God.  This should raise an immediate question.  If false spirits can appear as angels of light and if good and sincere people can be deceived by the spirit of deception while thinking they are not, how are we to discern what is false and what is not?  This is a crucial question.  

The idea of discernment has almost disappeared from our post-Christian world, both in society at large and in Contemporary Christianity.  (Contemporary Christianity in this article is used to include all church bodies, churches, branches, groups, non-denominational, inter-denominational and denominations that bear the name Christian but have departed from the historic Christian faith to embrace newly invented forms of Christianity.)

In our society today discernment is to a great extent left up to each individual as to what is good or bad.  The only prevailing standards are societal norms and even these are subject to change based on popular opinion, votes and fads.  Interestingly enough, discernment in Contemporary Christianity, for the most part, is also left up to each individual to determine what is of God and what isn’t.  The only prevailing standard is the Bible with interpretations and meanings determined by popular trends, books, gurus and the latest movement or “spiritual awakening”. Contemporary Christianity is usually only a few years behind the world in what is embraced and determined acceptable.  Both in society at large and in Contemporary Christianity all is subject to change.  Even in groups that claim to hold to certain standards, it is rare to see such standards actually enforced or required.  The whole mega and non-denominational church movement has been an attempt to avoid teachings and forms that offend or put people off.  In this setting of user friendly and consumer driven forms of “Christianity” there can be no interest in discernment of the spirits.  After all, who’s to say?  There is no fixed or established rule or measurement by which all teachings and spirits are to be judged since man is understood to be autonomous.  Contemporary Christianity forgets that man’s self assumed autonomy was the cause of the fall in Eden. 

So we see that in Contemporary Christianity there is little to no discernment between the spirit of error and the spirit of truth.  This has profound implications for a potential confusion between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God, as we shall see.

Because Contemporary Christianity has been infected with numerous heresies and lost all sense of what heresy is and what it does, it has lost its spiritual discernment. The distinction between the spirit of the world, the spirit of man and the Holy Spirit of God has been clouded and confused.

Very often that which Contemporary Christianity identifies as the Spirit of God, i.e. the Holy Spirit, would have been (and still is) perceived by the historical Christian faith as the spirit of man, the world or even the Devil.

It is important to understand the distinction between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God in order to see how these are being confused. 

First, there is the spirit of man – the human spirit that has been subjected to sin, death and corruption.  And then there is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.   They are not the same but many today seem unable to make the distinction.  Is it possible that many may think they are being led by the Holy Spirit when they are really being lead by their human spirit?  This is a crucial discernment that begs the question “Is Contemporary Christianity merely an expression of the spirit of man or does it possess the Spirit of God?”

The human spirit is capable of seeking out that which is noble or seeking out that which is base or things in between, neither noble nor base.  The human spirit leads some to a life in the gutter characterized by evil.  In others, the human spirit rises to embrace that which is noble and good and virtuous.   The noble actions of the human spirit even lead man to seek godly things.  But the spirit of man rising to noble heights and even to spiritual hunger, while it may be a path to God, is not the same as the Holy Spirit given to the Church on the Day of Pentecost.  It is the spirit of man. The important point here is that the noble spirit of man, while good and right and even reflective of the light or image of God that remains in the fallen human nature is still not the same as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as given to the Church at Pentecost.  The human spirit, as noble as it may be at times, is still subject to darkness, evil, deception and even misguided good intentions.   

Practical Examples of the Confusion and Lack of Discernment in Contemporary Christianity

Consider the myriad forms of and ideas about worship that have grown up in Contemporary Christianity.   Contemporary worship is designed to reach the un-churched, appealing to them with the ways and mediums of the fallen world.  Seeing worship as a tool for evangelism is of itself a huge departure from the historical faith of the Church and reflects the spirit of man rather than the Spirit of God.  The worship of the Church, all the way back to Israel in the Old Testament has been understood to be divinely revealed so as to reflect the purity of truth about God and intended only for the faithful.  Any changes or innovations were forbidden. It was seen as sacred and holy – a worship of God that reflects the holiness and truth of God to be offered to God only by those who hold these same truths.  

But contemporary forms of worship are not only for outreach; they are what the church members want as well.  People want to be entertained and pleased.  They want to feel good and uplifted and blessed.  They want a pleasant and pleasing and comfortable experience at church no less than at the symphony house, theatre or concert hall.  St Paul said in the last days people “will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

Contemporary Christianity appeals to the spirit of man, noble as it may be, but does not answer to the Spirit of God.  Thus, in contemporary worship, you essentially have all the worldly forms of entertainment adapted to religious words, saying Lord, Lord.   Such is contemporary music, gospel music, praise bands, orchestras, chancel dramas, Christian rap, etc.

The point to be reckoned with here is that there is a seamless transition from the concert hall to the church.  Not only in the forms of worship but also in the design, decorations and appointments of the buildings.  They resemble the lobbies of the finest concert halls replete with coffee and snack bars and theater seating.  People are carried away with the music.  They clap, dance, sway, swoon, yell, whistle or whatever in keeping with the spirit of the venue.  They are moved emotionally by the music.  But it is the spirit of man – his emotions - that is moved, nothing more.  But human emotions and the Spirit of God are two different things. The spirit of man responds in similar ways to different types of music or movies.  People cry or laugh.  They feel uplifted and moved.  They get chills and feel warm and glorious and wonderful.  But it is still the human spirit that is producing all of this.

People also have moving and life changing experiences in religious meetings and services.  During the Great Awakening people who claimed to be possessed by the Holy Spirit would shake, fall out, bark like a dog or crow like a rooster.  Today, in certain churches similar things happen.  Recently there was the so-called holy laughter movement where it was claimed that people who were possessed by the Holy Spirit were overcome with hysterical laughter to the point of falling out in the floor and rolling with laughter.  On religious TV it is common to see people being “slain in the spirit”, jerking, convulsing or dancing a jig “in the spirit”.  All of this is attributed to the Holy Spirit, but is it?  Could it rather reflect a lack of discernment between heresy and truth and between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God?  How does one answer or know?  The person moved to jubilation and chills by a rousing secular concert feels much the same as the person moved by listening to contemporary Christian music?  The responses are very similar as well.  There may be laughter or crying or shouting or clapping with warm and good feelings.  Does anyone even consider whether what he/she is experiencing is the human spirit of emotions or the Holy Spirit?  How do you know or determine which it is?  Are there any determining criteria beyond what I feel or think in myself?  Some will say that they know because the Spirit bears witness with their spirit.  But how is this different from what someone feels in his spirit at a great performance of the Boston Pops?  How do you know it is not just your human spirit being inspired by something noble or good?

People experience the movement of the “spirit” when listening to gospel or contemporary Christian music, or Christian Rap concerts, or moving cantatas or when Elvis Presley or Dolly Parton sing Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art, or listening to Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, or Enrico Caruso’s performance of La Donna e Mobile in Verdi’s Rigoletto Opera, or Luicano Pavoratti singing Ave Maria.  People are moved by the “spirit” when they visit a magnificent cathedral, even people who are not particularly religious.  All these experiences are powerful movements of the spirit.  But are they movements of the spirit of man or the Holy Spirit?  How do you tell?  How do you discern?  Is it all based on whether religious words are being sung?  But even the devil can appear as an angel of light quoting Scripture.  Is it all determined by whether or not you feel like it is the Holy Spirit?  What of those who feel this way but will be excluded from the kingdom of heaven according to the words of Christ quoted earlier?  Many naturally assume they are being touched by the Holy Spirit, but are they?  Could it simply be the powerful and emotional movement of the spirit of man?  How do we discern between the two?

Many of these extraordinary experiences and movements of the “spirit” can be found in various non-Christian religions and even in pagan demon possessions.   Even in religions that do not believe in the Christ of the Bible people are moved by the “spirit” and claim to have life changing conversions.  Could any or all of this in some way be related to the words of the Saviour that “…in that day many will say to me Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in Thy name and in Thy name cast out demons and in they name done many wonderful works?  Then will I say unto them, ‘depart from me for I never knew you’”?

Since the Bible warns of a spirit of deception and a lack of love for the truth that will lead people to seek out those who tell them what pleases them or is satisfying to their ears (human spirit), shouldn’t it behoove us to take seriously this question of discernment between the spirit of man and the Holy Spirit? 

And so the question is how can we know and discern the truth?  The obvious answer is by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth.  But then the question is where is the Holy Spirit to be found in all the confusion, contradictive voices, conflicting experiences and myriad of feelings and emotions?  If it is not enough to say “Lord, Lord” or to profess to work and speak in His name where do we turn for answers about truth?

There is only one place to turn and that is to what St. Paul called “the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15) and to what St. Jude called “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).  

Christ established His Church for this very purpose and gave the Holy Spirit to the Church on the Day of Pentecost by which He said the Church would be led into all truth and preserved from deception.  

But now we are confronted with another question.  Where is this Church?  Is it the Baptists, the Methodists, the Charismatics or another of the hundreds if not thousands of groups claiming to be the Church?  How can such a myriad of voices, contradictions and uncertainty be the pillar and ground of the truth or THE FAITH ONCE DELIVERED?   Or is it some invisible fellowship in the sky that can’t be clearly defined or known?  How can you find truth in something invisible, uncertain, uncontained and undefined?

Just as there is one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ, there is also one Holy Spirit.  This one Spirit reveals one truth, one faith, one baptism and one Church (Eph 4:3-6).  Man cannot recreate the Holy Spirit in each generation and each culture.  He can only unite himself to the one undivided, unchanging, Holy Spirit that has always revealed Himself as the same in all generations.  Consequently, the same is true for truth, the Christian faith and the Church as well as Christ Himself.  They cannot be recreated.  They can only be believed and embraced as they have always been.

The Holy Spirit once given to the Church indwells those of each succeeding generation who embrace the one and same truth and life as it is passed on by Apostolic Succession.  In this way there is one unchanging truth from beginning to ending.  Apart from this Holy Spirit there is only the human spirit or human emotions that many identify with the Spirit of God.

This distinction becomes very apparent when you take a closer look at the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church that has remained in one truth from the Day of Pentecost and is known today as the Orthodox Church – which means right believing/right worshipping Church.  The spirit experienced in Contemporary Christian churches is foreign and alien to the Orthodox, and the spirit experienced in the Orthodox Church is foreign and alien to the spirit of Contemporary Christianity.  They are not the same.  Someone who desires the spirit experienced in Contemporary Christianity will be put off and turned off by the spirit of Orthodoxy.  Orthodoxy distinguishes these two spirits as the spirit of man and the Holy Spirit.   While the spirit of man can be equally moved by a Rock concert, a Gospel concert, a Pops concert or Dolly Parton singing Amazing Grace, the Holy Spirit known in the Orthodox Church is very different from these venues and is known and experienced differently. 

The worship of Contemporary Christianity is earthly and fleshly and strikes a note of accord with the human spirit or human emotions.  The worship of the Orthodox Church is of the Holy Spirit and does not appeal to fallen human emotions.  That which is of the flesh is flesh and that which is of the Spirit is Spirit.   This distinction can be observed in the following.  A non-Christian person living a worldly, carnal, immoral lifestyle who doesn’t pray or believe much of anything can walk into a contemporary service and find great enjoyment there much as he would at a rock concert.  He enjoys the service.  He is moved emotionally.  This same person would definitely not enjoy an Orthodox worship service.  The spirit of Orthodox worship would not appeal to his spirit at all.   They are two different spirits. 

The early Church did not permit the un-initiated to attend their worship services.   In fact, the un-initiated clearly did not want to attend those services.  We read in the Acts of the Apostles that the believers were gathering in one accord in Solomon’s porch (part of the Temple separated out from others) but the rest (unbelievers) did not join themselves to them (Acts 5:12-13).  The Church manifested a Spirit different from and unappealing to the spirit of man – the spirit of the world. 

The spirit of man, as noble as it may be, is not the same as the Holy Spirit given to the Church.  In our day Contemporary Christianity fails to make this distinction.