Presence
From Neoredemptive
In my experience, the subject of "presence" is habitually neglected by theologians and thinkers; at the same time, our understanding (and lack thereof) of this subject often has a direct bearing upon the life and health of the church, both for good and for ill.
I am not talking specifically about doctrines of the "Real Presence" of Christ in the eucharist, or whether a believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the time of conversion, or of how many must gather in what what way for Jesus to be "among them", although all of these are small pieces of the puzzle. Rather, I am deeply concerned with the common thread which ties these concepts together with Moses' prayer in Exodus 33:15, the Psalmist's fascination with the Old Testament typology for God's manifest presence (the temple, the holy place), and Paul's experience-laden pneumatology.
As is almost always the case, there are deep pits on every side.
The direction of the popular dialog is toward "encarnational" faith and communities, which is fine and good - acting as the hands and feet and voice of Jesus in places where they are desperately needed. Not doing this enough is certainly a peril of Christian community, but there exists an opposing peril of mistaking our own "encarnational" presence in Jesus' name for the actual experienced presence of God which actually sets us apart from countless other professed do-gooders.
Charismatics and Pentecostals are (in)famous for an emphasis upon the experience of God's presence as an indispensable component of gathered worship, and in principle this position is virtually unassailable textually. In practice, however, in the name of this end some embrace all sorts of abiblical (and even anti-biblical) means while others so fear these excesses that they recast God's Presence from an experience to a proposition and leave no room for any happenings which are not self-evidently under the control, authority, and power of man qua man.
In Ephesians 5:18, Paul's exhortation is more ethical than didactic; he is not telling us that we are already filled with the Spirit (which we are), but that the living-out of being filled with the Spirit is something we must choose to do, and it is not something which simply happens by accident. The refrain of Paul's letter is "thus you now are; therefore, do thusly"; this is no different. Is every believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit? Yes. Does this mean that every believer is faithfully obeying Paul's command in Ephesians 5:18 to "be continually being filled with the Spirit"? Not by a long shot.
Helpfully, Paul goes on to list some of the ways we go about being filled with the Spirit:
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Eph 5:19-21)
There is clearly a connection in Paul's mind between the active experience of the Spirit and musical expression, both gathered ("addressing one another") and private ("in your heart"), and to active thanksgiving (probably also both corporate and personal), and to mutual service among believers (which, naturally, does not have any strictly private expressions).
Good Reads
- Karl Barth in Evangelical Theology: An Introduction
- Gordon Fee in God's Empowering Presence and Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God
- Engaging With God
